A food guide for eating like a local in the most picturesque coastal villages in the World
Cinque Terre is in Liguria region of Italy is famous for it's amazing flat breads, pasta sauces and anchoives.
These are the region's specialities:
Foccacia is flat bread baked in oven, special to this region. There are bakeries specialise in this called in foccacerias, but you can find them in any bakery really.
Farinata is thin pancake like bread, best consumed fresh from the oven.
Pesto is the olive oil, basil and mint based sauce is discovered in the region's capital Genoa.
Commonly used as pasta sauce but you can find it in pretty much anything from minestrone soup to lasagne.
Trofie is this Liguria is thin, twisted and short type of pasta, usually served with pesto.
Trennte is pasta sauce with pesto, potato and green beans
Anchovies is a must-try in Monterosso, as it is famous for anchovies throughout Italy and even the World. They even have a festival for it twice year in June and September.
And of course Pizza and Gelato are always a must.
Here are some of tips along with places I've tried and loved in the villages.
1- Eat local fruits in the Monterosso's beaches
During summer you can have snacks from local shops and markets while chilling at the beach in Monterosso.
The peaches and berries taste really good. Looking at the zucchinis with flowers, I wished I can take them home to cook.
2 - Find your local Foccaceria, get lost there
There are focaccerias and bakeries around the town that you can one. This one is from Focacceria Antonio in Monterosso al Mare. There are many toppings options for focaccia, you can go for pesto and anchovies as Monterosso is famous for it.
3 - Have Lunch looking over Riomaggiore's alley
For lunch, we head to Riomaggiore's and find the nicest spot to watch the village while we eat. As antipesto we had flatbreaf with local cheese and homemade pesto.
4 - Eat Liguria's famous Trofie Pesto
It is the best when accompanied by Cinque Terre's local wine. Cinque Terre has many vineyards across the villages and produce great dry, full of flavour white wine.
I also went for another pasta with tomato sauce and extra cheese in Riomaggiore for a change. If you want a more filling pasta you can always go for Trennte sauce.
4- Grab your Pizza fresh out of the oven
Next day morning I grab a pizza from our local bakery. I just had breakfast but couldn't resist. They were preparing Farinata as well, which sold out in a blink of an eye.
5- Eat gelato in Vernazza
Every gelateria I tried in Cinque Terre was pretty good. In fact some of them amazing. Gelateria Vernazza, is one of the best in Cinque Terre.
When picking gelateria be careful to pick the homemade gelato. Queue is always a good sign, always. I went for local flavours like berry and melon, amazing after a hike.
