Italian Food

The European Regulation describes the agricultural and food quality systems and defines PDO, PGI, and STG.

DOP – Protected Designation of Origin

The designation of origin is a name that identifies a product:

• originating in a certain place, region, or, in exceptional cases, a specific country;
• the quality or characteristics of which are essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical environment and its intrinsic natural and human factors;
• whose production stages take place in the defined geographical area.

IGP – Protected Geographical Indication

A geographical indication is a name that identifies a product:

• originating in a certain place, region, or country;
• to whose geographical origin a given quality is essentially attributable; reputation or other characteristics;
• the production takes place for at least one of its stages in the defined geographical area.

STG – Traditional Specialty Guaranteed

The traditional specialty is a name that identifies a specific product or food:

• obtained with a production method, processing, or composition that corresponds to a traditional practice for that product or food;
• obtained from raw materials or ingredients used traditionally.

Italy has more protected foods than any other European country. These include:

• 138 Italian products have protected designation of origin (PDO) or DOP (denominazione origine protetta)
• 83 Italian products have Protected geographical indication (PGI) or IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta)
• 39 Italian products have Geographical Indication (GI) or IG (Indicazione Geografica)
• 2 Italian products are Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG)

There are 19 PDO and 25 PGI products in the Emilia-Romagna region.

There are three PDO products in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region:

• Prosciutto di San Daniele PDO
• Tergeste PDO
• Montasio PDO

Also, there is one PGI product:

• Prosciutto di Sauris PGI

There are two PDO products in the Liguria region:

• Basilico Genovese PDO
• Riviera Ligure PDO

Also, there is one PGI product:

• Acciughe Sotto Sale del Mar Ligure PGI

There are eleven PDO products in the Puglia region:

• Canestrato Pugliese
• Collina di Brindisi
• Dauno
• La Bella della Daunia
• Pane di Altamura
• Terra di Bari
• Terra d’Otranto
• Terre Tarentine
• Caciocavallo Silano
• Mozzarella di Bufala Campana
• Ricotta di Bufala Campana

Also, there are three PGI products:

• Arancia del Gargano
• Clementine del Golfo di Taranto
• Limone Femminello del Gargano

Additionally, there are many traditional dishes including:

• Pasticciotto
• Ciceri e tria
• Sagne ncannulate
• Orecchiette
• Octopus alla pignata

There are ten PDO products in the Tuscany region:

• Chianti Classico PDO
• Farina di Neccio ofla Garfagnana PDO
• Lucca PDO
• Marrone di Caprese Michelangelo PDO
• Miele ofla Lunigiana PDO
• Prosciutto Toscano PDO
• Terre di Siena PDO
• Zafferano di San Gimignano PDO
• Pecorino Romano PDO
• Pecorino Toscano PDO

Also, there are seven PGI products:

• Toscano PGI
• Ricciarelli di Siena PGI
• Castagna of Monte Amiata PGI
• Farro ofla Garfagnana PGI
• Marrone of Mugello PGI
• Fagiolo di Sorana PGI
• Lardo di Colonnata PGI

Finally, there is one IGP product:

• Panforte IGP

There are four (4) PDO products in the Umbrian region:

• Farro di Monteleone di Spoleto DOP
• Pecorino Toscano DOP
• Salamini Italiani Alla Cacciatora DOP
• Olio Extra Vergine d’Oliva DOP

Also, there are five (5) PGI products:

• Prosciutto di Norcia IGP
• Patata Rossa di Colfiorito IGP
• Agnello del centro Italia IGP
• Vitellone Bianco dell’appennino Centrale IGP
• Lenticchie di Castelluccio di Norcia IGP

Additionally, there are several traditional products that are not protected by law, including:

• Truffles
• Porchetta

There are eight PDO products in the Veneto region:

• Veneto Valpolicella, Veneto Euganei e Berici, Veneto of Grappa
• Casatella Trevigiana
• Monte Veronese
• Piave
• Aglio Bianco Polesano
• Asparago Bianco di Bassano
• Marrone di San Zeno
• Prosciutto Veneto Berico-Euganeo

Also, there are fourteen PGI products:

• Asparago Bianco di Cimadolmo
• Asparago di Badoere
• Ciliegia di Marostica
• Fagiolo di Lamon ofla Vallata Bellunese
• Insalata di Lusia
• Marrone di Combai
• Marroni of Monfenera
• Pesca di Verona
• Radicchio di Chioggia
• Radicchio di Verona
• Radicchio Rosso di Treviso
• Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco
• Riso Nano Vialone Veronese
• Riso of ofta of Po