southern italian food is as varied as the landscape, each region having its own specialties.
while pasta, for example, is eaten throughout italy, nothing matches the handmade orecchiette of puglia.
think of naples, and wafer-thin pizza springs to mind. sicilian food is both rustic and voluptuous. across the south, the dishes are enlivened with seafood, fruity green olive oil and dry white wine and, together with fresh green vegetables and huge, bursting tomatoes, account for one of the most enviably healthy diets in europe.

· sliced vegetables: brushed with olive oil and lightly grilled are often served as an antipasto (appetizer).
· pizza napolitana: is a simple thin pizza topped with tomato, garlic, basil and anchovies.
· maccheroni con le sarde: a sicilian classic, contains sardines, fennel, raisins, pine nuts, breadcrumbs and saffron.
· pesce spada (swordfish steak): grilled or pan-fried with lemon and oregano, is a favourite in campania, puglia e sicily.
· agnello arrosto (juicy roast lamb): is a sardinian speciality, roasted on a spit or in casseroles with rosemary and thyme.
· sicilian cassata: is ice-cream made with ricotta cheese, candied fruit, pistachios, sugar and chocolate in a sponge cake.
· nougat: is a sweet sardinian speciality that can be made simply with nuts, or flavoured with chocolate.
· many biscuits and cakes: are made in honour of a religious festival or saint's day. they might be deep-fried in oil, soaked in honey, encrusted with almonds or stuffed with rlike the tube-shaped cannoli biscuits much favoured in sicily.
· southern cheeses: cheese exists in almost infinite varieties. creamy mozzarella di bufala, made with buffalo milk, is delicious eaten on its own. scamorza, a similar spun cheese, is exceptional, expecially from basilicata.
it is also smoked. provolone, with a hard texture, can be mild or piquant, while ricotta, from sheep's milk, is creamy.