LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2025

Italy: A tapestry of tastes Discover a delectable regional variety of culinary offerings, wine and spirits ITALY IS KNOWN FOR MANY THINGS: INSTA-PERFECT HILLTOP TOWNS, SWEEPING MOUNTAIN VISTAS, CRYSTAL CLEAR WATERS AND HONEY-COLOURED BEACHES, ART, FILM, FASHION, MUSIC, LITERATURE, SPORTS CARS, AND, OF COURSE, FABULOUS FOOD AND WINE. AND ANYONE FAMILIAR WITH ITALIAN CULTURE KNOWS HOW INSEPARABLE THESE LAST TWO ARE – THEY FLAVOUR A WAY OF LIFE, AND A DOLCE VITA AT THAT.

With six distinct climate zones and countless microclimates, Italy has as many soil types as there are ragùs. Add to this many hundreds of indigenous grape varieties and the supremacy of la cucina casalinga —home cooking without rules—aend the result is one of the most breathtakingly varied collections of culinary offerings, wine and spirits under a single national flag. From a culinary perspective, Italy can be divided along the Via Salaria. The “Salt Way” is an ancient Roman road that crosses the peninsula from Rome to the Adriatic Coast, more or less splitting the peninsula into equal halves. NORTH & SOUTH

What might surprise you is how fiercely regional and varied Italy’s gastronomic and beverage offerings are. As culinary author Waverley Root once observed, if you ask for a Béarnaise in 200 French restaurants, you’ll get 200 identical sauces. Ask for a ragù in Italy, and you’ll get 200 variations on meat sauce. The beautiful country we know as Italy today is more of a loosely federated patchwork of cultures, traditions and even languages, separated by history and geography. Each region, and often even each isolated valley, evolved independently over millennia in harmony with the natural surroundings and resources. MOUTHWATERING DIVERSITY

VIA SALARIA

ROME

LANDSCAPES © JOHN SZABO, VERONA BY CHRISTOPH JKUGLER / PIXABAY