The best Ligurian gourmet to carry home

Liguria is a land of aromatic and intense scents. Its breathtaking landscapes are the ideal place for any sports activity, and every year they gift unforgettable moments to thousands of tourists. The old town centers, the valleys and the thousand-coloured villages are the result of an ancient past. The personality of its inhabitants is anchored with the seascape, magnificent yet unpredictable.

The food is without doubt a major attraction in our region, mostly due to the excellent starting materials, as the olive oil. For this very reason, we wanted to suggest to you a variety of Ligurian typical products, after all Christmas is getting nearer by the day, and you will be able to carry them in the luggage. In your own home, you’ll be preserving a part of the Ligurian fragrance.

Pesto alla genovese (Genoese Pesto sauce)

Pesto constitutes is one among the emblems of the Ligurian tradition. To make a good pesto sauce it is necessary to use leaves from PDO Genoese basil, a special kind of basil with unique properties. The small and young elliptic-shaped leaves emanate a delicate fragrance of saltiness. A good Genoese pesto sauce is also recognizable from the bright green color. It won’t be difficult finding and buying a good pesto in Liguria, but always read carefully the labels and ask for information regarding its origin if you really want to make a good impression with your gourmet souvenirs.

Traditional Ligurian pasta

Liguria has an ancient pasta tradition. It seems that the first italian pastificio (pasta factory) was born right here in Savona, not so far away from Loano. This is the result of the ideal environmental conditions of our region that in the past expedited the natural pasta drying.
Among the most famous dried pasta we mention the trofie, characteristic for their twisted shape. The “croxetti” is another curious kind of pasta, shaped in medallions, with in their center are drawn particular decorations. On the other hand, “Trenette” is a type of long pasta we can find either fresh or dried, an absolute best with pesto,  green bean and potatoes.

Ligurian extra virgin olive oil

In all Liguria we readily find shops or oil mills in which we can buy good olive oil to gift to our friends and relatives. Our oil is distinguished by a delicate taste, dovuto due to the peculiarity of the taggiasca olive. In addition, the companies that produce it  are often proposing attractive packagings. As a result, the idea to take with you home a flask of Ligurian extra virgin olive oil as gourmet souvenir is a killer idea! Other delicacies you could carry home could be  olives in brine, walnut pesto, jams and preserved vegetables or fruit.

Ligurian wines

Due to its geographical conformation, Liguria is not well accustomed to vines cultivation. However, it is present in our territory since ancient times. It is not unusual to look at the Ligurian terraced vineyard scenery. Especially in the Cinque Terre area, narrow vineyards crawl up on a steep terrain, difficult to access. The grape harvest is done manually, and carried by foot, as in the past. Even if the production is reduced compared to the one of the other regions, Liguria offers high quality wines, among them Pigato, Rossese from Dolceacqua and Sciacchetrà from Cinque Terre.

If we made you want to come and visit Liguria, have a look at our offers. We are open in the winter season, too!