Ligurian cuisine is one of the best representatives of Italian food, with Genoa as its capital. Today, we’ll go over what foods you simply have to try while in Genoa. Let’s take a look!
Trenette al Pesto
Genovese pesto
This is both the most popular and the most famous dish of Genoa and, frankly, all of Liguria. Pesto is a paste made of basil, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, salt and parmesan. Trenette is a local pasta variety, a bit similar to fettuccine. The dish is just trenette pasta with the famous local pesto. We recommend trying Trenette al Pesto in Pastificio Artigianale di Canneto at Via di Canneto IL Curto 49, they have truly fantastic pasta.
Focaccia with cheese
Italian flatbread
Focaccia is a popular type of Italian flatbread popular all across the country, not just in Genoa. It’s typically served with toppings, like olives, tomatoes, rosemary or just blessed cheese. In Genoa, you will typically encounter focaccia with crescenza cheese inside. You can also find some traditional regional focaccia variants here, like the version without yeast, ending up a paper-thin pancake.
Farinata di Ceci
Faina
Speaking of pancakes, Farinata is a type of flat pancake made of chickpea flour, salt, water and olive oil. You may have encountered it before, though with a different name, like faina, socca, cade, etc – Farinata is simply the regional name for them in Liguria. Typically, it’s served with onions or artichokes.
We recommend going to the Farinata at Antica Sciamadda in Via S. Giorgio, 14/R, 16128 Genova GE, Italy.
Cima
The meats of Genoa
Cima is a traditional Ligurian stuffed meatloaf with lots of additives. It’s often made from veal with onions, parmesan, peas, offal, garlic (and so on) and various spices. It was effectively a way to use up all sorts of leftovers. It’s a tad difficult to make on your own, so just try it in a restaurant or buy some slices for a sandwich.
Panera
Genoa ice cream
What else is a must-try in Genoa? Something sweet for a change – Panera ice cream. While Italy’s famous for its Gelato, Genoa tends to prefer its Panera. What is it? It’s ice cream made from cream, ground coffee, sugar, egg yolk and spices. Legend has it that an apprentice accidentally poured coffee into the cream mix and unwittingly created a new mix – boy got yelled at hard for it, yet here we are, praising his concoction. Though it may sound like it’s just coffee ice cream, it varies in texture a lot.
Where can you try it? We recommend going to Cremeria Buonafede in the city centre.
Pansotti alla Genovese
Genovese dumplings
Pansotti alla Genovese is a traditional Ligurian version of Italy’s famous dumplings. The ravioli-like dumplings are stuffed with cooked vegetables and topped with either sage butter or walnut sauce.
Salsa di Noci
Walnut sauce
Speaking of walnut sauce, you can find more of it in Genoa. It’s a combination of walnuts, parmesan, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and it’s surprisingly delicious. You can use it with the aforementioned ravioli or with pasta!
Seafood
Fishes of Genoa
Genoa is also a port city, so you can obviously find some delicious fish here too. We recommend checking out Alla Lunga Ristorante at Vico Giannini 10r and Hostaria Ducale at Salita di San Matteo 29/R.
Trofie al Pesto
Local pasta with pesto
This is another pasta with pesto variety, this time with trofie pasta, another local variety. It’s a thin, short, twisted pasta, traditionally produced in Liguria. Though trenette tends to take the front stage, make sure you try trofie too!
Ravioli alla Genovese
Ravioli from Genoa
You’ll also find plenty of stuffed ravioli in Genoa – some even think ravioli comes from Genoa. Ravioli alla Genovese is a square ravioli with meat filling, often made with veal and pork.
Typically, ravioli alla genovese includes the so-called Tocco sauce – a meaty sauce made from long-cooked meat. It’s one of the festive dishes of this part of Italy.
Sciroppo di Rose
Rose syrup
Sciroppo di Rose is a syrup made from rose petals, prepared traditionally in Genoa and Liguria as a whole. It’s typically used as an accompaniment to desserts, water and other drinks. It’s literally just rose petals, lemon, sugar and water.
You can buy it practically anywhere in Genoa. Check out our shopping list for Genoa!
Cappon Magro
A dish of Genoa fishermen
Cappon Magro means ‘fast-day capon’, as it includes only fish and other ingredients which pass the fast day test for Catholics. It’s a salad-like dish consisting of all sorts of seafood with olive oil, biscuits as a base, eggs and all sorts of vegetables and other additives. It’s a dish traditionally prepared by fishermen – it was likely a poor man’s dish. Now, it’s still served on Christmas Eve.
Ingredients of Genoa cuisine
Local products from Genoa
Typical ingredients used in Genoese cuisine include: Ligurian oil, pesto, basil, seafood, courgettes, cheese, chickpeas, rossese and vermentino wines, chinotto oranges, walnuts and pine nuts.
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