Amazing food in Padua, Italy

Italian culinary traditions are some of the most admirable and well-developed in the world. Among many dishes invented and perfected within these traditions is a savoury, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast called porchetta, often used in burgers and sandwiches. The key to making the dish is spitting or roasting a deboned meat carcass over wood for at least eight hours. Porchetta is usually heavily salted in addition to being stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel, or other herbs. The Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy has named porchetta an important traditional agricultural food product.

Bar Nazionale is a great place to start exploring local cuisine.

Meat has always been important to Italian cuisine, but cheese holds a special place as well. One of the more exquisite variations of Italian cheeses is burrata, a cow cheese made from mozzarella and cream. Sometimes, buffalo milk is even used to make it. Established as artisanal cheese, burrata maintained its premium-product status even after it began to be made commercially. Finding proper hand-made burrata in local restaurants is an interesting quest.

Pe Pen Ristorante serves burrata with several dishes and gets a lot of praise.

Sausages of all types have also been a staple of Italian cuisine, and some of the Italian offerings are quite distinct from their counterparts made in other countries. Salsiccia is a type of sausage, mostly pork, often noted for being seasoned with fennel as the primary seasoning. The sausage can be hot, mild, and sweet. The main difference between hot and mild is the addition of hot red pepper flakes, and the sweet variety adds sweet basil.

Trattoria San Pietro is for food like this.

Many Italian dishes are quite hefty and fatty, but there are always lighter alternatives. The term "piadinas" refers to thin Italian flatbreads usually made with white flour, lard or olive oil, salt and water. Piadinas are often used as components in combined dishes and wrapped around meat and a variety of cheeses and vegetables. Also, they can be cooked with sweet fillings, including jam or Nutella. The piadinas made in Padua often have their own twist on the formula.

La Caveja Piadineria Padova has the right name to try some piadinas.

Authentic sandwiches are always interesting, they show exactly how the thought process of their inventors and makes goes. Judging by tramezzini, their inventors were very practical people. These authentic Italian sandwiches have a distinctive shape, usually triangular, and are constructed from two slices of soft white bread with the crusts removed. Traditional fillings include tuna, olive, and prosciutto, but many other options are available these days.

Mille Voglie has some interesting tramezzini.

Talking about pasta when discussing Italian cuisine is nearly impossible, and spaghetti is the most famous type of pasta, so it inevitably ended up on this list. To be more specific, spaghetti carbonara is particularly popular in Padua. Carbonara is made with eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and black pepper, a recipe introduced to the wider public in the mid-20th century. Normally, guanciale or pancetta are used for the meat component, but lardons of smoked bacon are acceptable.

Il Gancino has great carbonara.

Pizza is another unavoidable subject when talking about Italian food, and there is no better place to try some authentic pizza than in Italy itself. Surprisingly enough, a Neapolitan pizza is quite popular in Padua - pizza Margherita. This pizza is made with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, salt, and extra-virgin olive oil. The tasteful thickness of the pizza makes it a very desirable first try of the Italian classic.

Pizzeria Al Vecio Cason is probably the safest bet here.

There is another popular type of pasta that is in high demand across Padua. Ravioli is probably the most aesthetically interesting Italian pasta, with the filling being neatly packed inside a thin dough. Ravioli is traditionally served in broth or with a sauce. Naturally, ravioli play the part of the main dish, but sometimes they can be combined with additional sauces, and fillings may be modified to achieve a special taste.

Terrazza Carducci is an interesting place to check out and order some ravioli.

Scaling down a bit, it would be interesting to check out smaller Italian products a curious visitor might want to try. There is a variety of Italian dumplings made of small lumps of dough most traditionally composed of a simple combination of wheat flour, egg, salt, and potato. They are called gnocchi, and many regional versions exist across Italy, with the Padua variation being the most prominent in local restaurants.

La Casa is one of the restaurants to check out.

With all the hot, spicy, and fatty food on this list, adding something sweet is almost a must. Tiramisu is well-known across the globe as the sweet Italian dessert characterized by its coffee-flavoured taste. The recipe itself looks and reads pretty - traditional tiramisu is made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, flavoured with cocoa. This is a perfect dessert to consume with tea or a soft drink.

Zafferano is a great place for tiramisu.

The beauty of Padua extends to it food. Make sure to enjoy it while you are exploring the beauty of the city.