Ciao, Italia! If you ever find yourself in Italy, you have to try the street food. Italians love for food is phenomenal and street food is categorized as sidewalk cafes, street vendors, kiosks, carts, and the many restaurants where the doors are kept wide open to welcome anyone in.
Moreover, you will be amazed at the selection of foods being sold on the street which will probably make you forget your favorite pizza and pasta back home.
Panino con Lampredotto – Commonly seen in Florence, Tuscany, this is a sandwich made of tripe, veal leg, and head cooked in broth and served with tomato sauce.
Fried Olives or Olive Ascolana – You can find this in Le Marche which is a part of Italy that is between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennine Mountains. The olives are stuffed with meat, breaded, and then fried. It is sold in a paper cone so you can eat it while on the move.
Porchetta – This is roasted pork common everywhere but more so in Rome where it is heavily salted and stuffed with different herbs like rosemary and garlic.
Fried Rice Balls or Arancini – Italians do like rice but fried with cheese, meat ragu, and peas which is the traditional version. Today, there are a dozen other versions especially in Sicily where it originally comes from.
Tortello alla Lastra – This is bread stuffed with potatoes and then grilled so you get it hot, delicious, and fast. This snack has graduated and is now being served in restaurants and hotels around the country. The street version is still around in the mountains of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna.
Arrosticini Abruzzesi- This looks like barbeque but the main ingredient is not pork meat, rather mutton or bull meat. They originally come from Pescara province but have become popular in other parts of Italy including Rome.
Gelato – Italian ice cream is a little sweeter than the ice from North American and other countries. Gelato typically has 16 to 24% sugar content compared to the ice cream in the US which has from 12 to 16% sugar. Still, they’re great and worth trying!

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