Food and Wine of Lombardy Italy - Travel Guide & Information

This description page of Lombardy, region Of Italy, will guide you in planning your trip to Italy and help you to find useful travel information about the Food & Wine of this Italian Region.

Food (Cibo)

The foods and wines of the region are very good.  Though there should be several familiar and famous dishes, there will be some interesting surprises from this land with long and rich culinary traditions.

As with all regions, the cuisine of Lombardy varies considerably throughout following the contours of the land, from the Alps in the north, the lakes of Garda to the east and Maggiore to west plus Lake Como in between, down to the sprawl of Milan to the fertile plains of the Po River Basin in the south. Though industrialized and cosmopolitan Milan might have lost much of its historical cuisine, the other ten provinces in Lombardy have kept much of their culinary traditions. But, it is from Milan where originated several dishes that are now part of staples of international cuisine: osso buco, the saffron-tinted risotto alla Milanese, costollette alla Milanese (better known in similar guises as weinerschnitzel or milanesa), and panetonne.

Varied with the terrain, all Lombard cuisine is generally hearty. Maybe excepting modern Milan, much of the cooking follows what is available, which is typical of all regional Italian cooking. But, Lombardy is the richest Italian region with plentiful agriculture, dairy and meat-packing. It is a cuisine of meat and dairy that is often hearty. A good deal of fat is used in Lombardian cooking, especially compared to other cuisines on the peninsula. This causes Italians from other regions to often comment that the food is overly heavy and difficult to digest. The cold winter climate easily calls for hearty and rich foods. So, the antipasti course here often features meats, such as one of the numerous types of excellent salami, prosciutto, carpaccio and the unique bresaola. Peperonata (sautéed red peppers, tomatoes and onions) and artichokes are also popular.

Risotto and polenta are much more common as the primo piatto than pasta in most of Lombardy. But, pasta is always found on menus. It is often served with Gorgonzola, one of the famous food products of the region. If pasta is served alla mantovana (“in the style of Mantua”), it will be served with a sauce made with meat, crushed walnuts, cream and white wine. The risotto is commonly made with saffron in Milan. In the areas in the southern portion of Lombardy which are just across the Po River from Emilia, stuffed pastas are popular as these are in that region including tortelli di zucca, pasta stuffed with pumpkin. But, there is also a famous ravioli dish from Bergamo, and fresh pastas with fresh are popular on the eastern and southern shores of Lake Como.

Corn and wheat are grown in the western parts of the region. Buckwheat is grown in the Valtellina valley in the north. In the mountainous Valtellina and the areas east of Lake Como where buckwheat is a staple and the specialty is pizzoccheri, which is basically a casserole of buckwheat noodles, vegetables, the distinctive Bitto cheese and butter. Another specialty of Valtellina is polenta taragna, which is made with buckwheat, butter and Tallegio cheese. In humid and marshy southern Lombardy, rice is cultivated. This is also the basis for a large cattle and dairy industries, which are evident in the cooking. Beef, veal and pork are common throughout much of the region, cheeses are plentiful, and butter is prominent. Unlike most other regions, butter is the preferred traditional cooking fat in Lombardy. After butter, bacon, cream and meat juices are typically used before olive oil. This is due to the fact that there is not much olive oil produced in the relatively cold climates, just fairly small amounts in temperature areas on the coasts of Lake Como, Lake Garda and Lake Iseo, and cows and butter are much more readily supplied. Legend has it that butter was invented in the Lombardian town of Lodi, and that Julius Caesar was the first person of note to appreciate its culinary worth. 

Pork is an important component in most diets. Pancetta and lard are widely used as cooking fats, and pork is the prime ingredient in the famous casoeula, a hearty stew with cabbage. But, pork is most evident in the production of salami, which is a staple in the cuisine of Lombardy. Some of the notable versions are the prosciutto crudo that is common throughout the country, which is a specialty of the hills of Brianza and those near Mantua, interesting salami from Brianza and Barzi, and cotechino bianco, a spiced white sausage from the northern area of Valtellina. Also originally from Valtellina is the delicacy, bresaola, air-cured beef.

In Mantua, the ancient and historic specialty is straccotto di asino, a stew of donkey. Horse is also still common on their menus, too. In the mountainous area and less-populated hills and valleys, wild game is popular. Spit-roasted small birds served over polenta is a traditional dish of the area around Bergamo.

Freshwater fish is very important in the numerous towns on lakes Garda, Iseo, Como, and Maggiore. There is perch, carp, shad, small whitefish, trout and occasionally even the rare sturgeon finds itself in a fisherman’s net. The perch and smaller whitefish are often breaded and fried in butter. Shad can be dried and roasted for an unusual dish. In the marshy areas of the Po and around Mantua, frogs, eels and snails are common in dishes.

As with the rest of Italy, but even more so given the prominent dairy industry, cheese is very important. One of the world’s most famous cheeses, Gorgonzola, the excellent blue cheese made from cow’s milk, is from a small town of that name in the Lombardian plain. Other native cheeses include the pungent, but flavorful Taleggio from the hills of northern Lombardy, and the piquant cow’s milk DOP Bitto and Valtellina Casera in the north. The semi-firm Provolone is produced on much of the plains south of Milan. Then there is widespread, hard grating and eating cheese, Grana Padano. Though accounting for only a small portion of its overall production, Parmigiano-Reggiano, arguably Italy’s greatest cheese, is produced near Mantua, on the right bank of the Po. Inoffensive, industrially-produced Bel Paese is produced in Lombardy. Marscapone popular throughout Italy is commonly used in the region, also.

Some other food specialties of the region include prized wild asparagus and truffles are found in the southern plains and forests and make onto plates in those areas.  Mostarda is a unique fruit chutney spiced with mustard that is a specialty of Cremona and its surroundings, it is used a condiment. Torrone, nougat, is also a famous product of Cremona. Nearly every city and town has its own sweet, including the famous panettone from Milan that is a Christmas season staple throughout Italy.

Wine (Vino)

Vineyards are plentiful, and the wines that are produced here come in a variety of styles, from sturdy red to rosé to light white to flavorful, medium-bodied white to sweet dessert, from still to effervescent to sparkling, made with indigenous grapes to French varietals that took root over a century ago. Most of these unique wines are quite good, if somewhat underappreciated. Most of the wines don’t leave the region, or just make it across the border, snatched up by knowledgeable Swiss consumers. There are two DOCG wines produced in Lombardy are Franciacorta from around Lake Como and Lake Iseo, and Valtellina Superiore produced just west of Lake Garda.

The red wines from the Valtellina, well regarded since pre-Roman times, are made primarily from the temperamental nebbiolo grape. These do not reach nearly the heights as these do in Piedmont with the Barolo, Barberesco and Ghemme regions, but are very good with the Superiore DOCG designation, which has the sub-regions, Sassella, Grumello, Valgella and Inferno. Much of the regular Valtellina is light and refreshing. At the higher elevations that are denoted “Valtellina Superiore” the wines develop more body and higher concentrations of alcohol. These are helped by a minimum aging of two years in oak casks. The wines of the Valtellina Superiore have to be harvested by hand because of the steep terrain.

Under the Franciacorta name are a red, white, sparkling, plus pinot nero (pinot noir) and pinot grigio, which are labeled as such. The red is a blend of cabernet franc, barbera, nebbiolo and merlot. The white and sparkling wines are made from chardonnay and pinot grigio. Sparkling wine, spumante, is produced in great quantity in the eastern part of the region.

The western shores of Lake Garda are an important wine production area. The crisp white Lugana, which is made from one of the very best clones of the trebbiano grape, is produced near here, and has been exported in recent years.  Chiaretto is a long popular rich-colored rosé that is light and dry. The newly exported, local Gropello is bottled as a varietal, and produced a rich, tannic wine with berry flavors.

There are good wines from Oltrepò Pavese, in the Po River Valley in southwestern Lombardy. This DOC has three hearty reds with interesting names, Barbacarlo, Buttafuoco, and Sangue di Guida. Sparkling wine from this region is popular throughout Italy. The very light, quaffable lambrusco is popular in Mantua, as it is in nearby Emilia. North of Mantua there is a DOC that produces good whites, rosés and Merlot.

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