A Taste of Genoa: A Tasty Itinerary to Discover Traditional Flavors and Trades
Genoa, Italy (PRWEB UK) 10 August 2015 -- As you stroll through the historical center in Genoa, it is easy to become inebriated by the aroma of oven-fresh focaccia and bread at all hours of the day. Typical Genovese focaccia is a true delight for the palate and an ideal snack at any hour. If you want to try a real Genovese breakfast, dunk a strip of focaccia into your coffee – you are in for a surprise!
Taking a walk through the ‘caruggi,’ the narrow alleyways of the medieval quarter, you can find small piazzas, porticoes, old marble and slate doorways, Romanesque churches and sumptuous Baroque cloisters, niches with statues on every corner, important museums, and the splendid Rolli Palaces, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Along with the artistic itineraries, don’t miss the flavors: discover 32 historical shops recognized by the Superintendence of architectural heritage where handicrafts with their old-world charm are passed down from generation to generation.
There are tailors where you can buy a made-to-measure shirt; historical shoemakers with liberty-style furnishings; a pharmacy that conserves even today mortar and pestle and precious scales; the cork factory frequented by Garibaldi and Gilberto Govi; the shop for rubber stamps, brass plaques and incisions, a silver-maker whose shop dates to 1763. Then there are many shops linked to local cuisine where you can taste and appreciate authentic flavors: bakeries and sciamadde, drug stores, poultry shops, butchers and shops for tripe, candy or chocolates… It is a real trip through flavors, tastes and know-how, something that should not be missed!
The historical shops in Genoa are truly jewels of architecture that maintain their furnishings, their archives of photos and documents, old machinery and precious old tools.
Every Saturday afternoon tours of the historical shops are organized to take tourists on a discovery tour of the historical center and its narrow alleyways, a path through tradition. Discover all the city’s guided tours on http://www.visitgenoa.it and choose the one that suits you!
At lunch time, stop at one of the old sciamadde where you can taste specialties like farinata, made from chickpea flour, stuffed anchovies, frisceu or fritters, and a variety of vegetable pies and stuffed vegetables.
To get to know the ingredients and typical products of the area, don’t miss a trip to the Mercato Orientale, the city’s best-known and biggest market, found in the centrally-located Via XX Settembre. Browse the stands, lose yourself in the aromas and colors of basil, spices, fruit, vegetables and fresh fish.
At happy hour, stop off at one of the many places in the historical center and Porto Antico, or try a seaside happy hour in Boccadasse, the old fishing village just a stone’s throw from the center, with a little beach and pastel-colored houses, or go to Nervi, on the eastern side of the city, with its rocky shoreline.
For dinner, there are many typical restaurants where you can taste the specialties of Genovese cuisine, first and foremost pesto, the special basil sauce for pasta, candidate to be part of the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. Whoever comes to Genoa must absolutely try it! And if after tasting pesto, you cannot do without, here is the solution: participate in a cooking experience where you can learn the secrets for preparing real Genovese pesto at home!
Among the specialties to try is cappon magro, a marvelous, elaborate and delicious cold dish in the form of a pyramid with many layers. The bottom is a salty biscuit brushed with garlic and dressed with vinegar, topped by firm fish filets, boiled vegetables, boiled eggs, artichokes, tuna, shrimp, capers and olives. The entire dish is dressed with green sauce and finished off with lobster on the top of the pyramid. Not to be missed is stoccafisso alla genovese, in all of its variations, all to be tasted!
And then if you want to conclude the evening with something sweet, the choice is between frisceu (apple fritters), canestrelli cookies, pinolate (little cookies of almond paste and pine nuts); "gobeletti" (sweets of pastry crust filled with jam, considered the oldest Genovese dessert) and the famous candied fruit and flowers (rose and violet petals). Don’t miss the typical Christmas cake, pandolce genovese, rich with raisins, candied fruit, and pine nuts, and the quaresimali, delicious sweets of almond paste, typical of the Lenten period that bring together the liturgical propriety and sweet tooth!
Genoa, a city, a thousand answers and ….a thousand tastes to try!
On http://www.visitgenoa.it all the details about promotional discounts, useful information for visiting and experiencing the city and the calendar of events.
Tourist Information Office [email protected] - tel. +39 0105572903, www.visitgenoa.it, http://www.visitgenoa.it, +39 3441900082, [email protected]
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