Lombardy is without a doubt one of the regions in Italy that you should visit if you love the culture, art, fashion, and food. This is a beautiful part of Italy, with green mountains during the summer and white mountains during the winter. The three most popular lakes in Italy can also be found in Lombardy.

What type of food can you expect when you are visiting Lombardy? This is a complete foodie guide to Lombardy and their popular food that tourists should try

Meat and fish

Lombardy is famous for dishes based on meats like veal, beef, and pork. In this part of Italy, you will get a larger variety of meat than in most other Italian regions. This is because this part is wealthier and meat is much more readily available. You will see that most restaurants in Lombardy will have more meat dishes than in other Italian regions.

Very famous meat dishes include:

• "cassoeula", made with less noble parts of the pork, like skin and intestines. Because of its Spanish influences, legend has it that a Spanish soldier in Italy fell in love with a cook and taught her the recipe.
• "Cotoletta", a breaded, shallow-fried in butter cut of veal. A favourite among people of all ages.
• "Trippa milanese", tripe cooked with beans, butter, herbs, and pancetta.

Because of the three lakes that are going through Lombardy, there is a huge variety of freshwater fish also available. And, locals are making some great dishes with these fish. Some fish that you will find here are freshwater sardines, agoni, and carpione -excellent in a deep-fried assortment. 

Cheese

No region in Italy would be the same without cheese. However, each region has its own favourite cheese that they use more than other regions. Lombardy has a huge variety of cheese and butter products. Cow cheese and goat milk cheese can be found here. Lombardy is actually famous among the Italian regions for using more butter in their cooking than olive oil.

And, you will not have a problem to find any of the popular cheese that you can purchase in any part of Italy in Lombardy. Making this one of the best places to purchase cheese.

Rice, grains, and pasta

Rice and other grains grow nicely in Lombardy. It’s why there are so many risotto and rice dishes that you can find in this region. In fact, thanks to the influences of Spanish, French and Austrian invaders, many dishes in Lombardy have in common polenta instead of bread and rice instead of pasta. This might not come as a surprise to you, since arguably the most famous dish from Lombardy is Risotto alla Milanese! 

Pasta isn’t as popular in this region as in other parts of Italy. There are some stuffed pasta dishes, but other pasta dishes aren’t really popular. Very popular pasta dishes that you can order are:

• "tortelli di zucca", filled with pumpkin
• "Pizzoccheri", a pasta shape similar to linguine which has been awarded with the IGP mark; the ingredients are wheat flour, potatoes, vegetables, cheese and butter.  

Italian desserts and sweet treats from Lombardy 

When you are visiting Lombardy and you want to make sure that you are finishing your meal in the best way possible, and by that, of course I mean with some Italian desserts. Lombardy is not far behind when it comes to sweet treats. Panettone, the very famous, very typical Christmas brioche originated in this region. Also, the very delicious Torrone from Cremona, handmade nougat made with sugar, honey, egg whites and nuts.     

A great region in Italy that you can visit is Lombardy. Not only is this a beautiful region with the three lakes, but there are some interesting food choices as well. With this foodie guide, you will see the different food options of Lombardy and the food that you can find here. If you love meat and rice, then this is the region for you to visit.