Italian cooking is not only one of the most popular and healthiest cuisines worldwide, it is also one of the most varied. Starting with pizza – except for the aborigines, who else doesn’t know of its existence? – and ending with Italian-style ice-cream. A journey throughout taste consisting of hundreds of varieties of wine alongside sea, river and lake fish, as well as succulent cuts of meat, cheese, fruit and… coffee-related products.

Apart from the top ten Italian dishes that are renowned worldwide (maccheroni, lasagne, tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce…), what actually makes Italy the queen of food and wine tourism is the extremely wide range of local products of excellence, multiplied by the almost infinite regional recipes that Italian creativity, together with the contaminations it has undergone over the centuries, has been able to produce.

Not by chance, there are many chefs, ambassadors of Italian cuisine throughout the world, who have been able to distinguish themselves for their sensitivity and creativity, skills that originate precisely from within Italian kitchens and that these connoisseurs of taste successfully re-interpret by developing ever-new proposals. In this way, we could also explain the reason why a period of training in Italy is considered of paramount importance for many aspiring foreign chefs.

Almost everyone knows that food is one of the main economic drivers in Italy. In fact, the definition of food and wine tourism was coined in order to identify a precise share of the market, relating to tourists who make this their main reason for travelling, yet what many people are still not aware of is that Italian cuisine is actually the driving force behind all trips to Italy.

Perhaps this, in itself, is nothing new: but can we really be sure that we are enhancing the value of this characteristic to its full potential? Yes, it’s true, some of the Italian golf clubs have fine, top-quality restaurants and a great many of these, although they are not Michelin-starred, offer local delicacies prepared in an authentic gourmet style, yet we must not illude ourselves: in the vast majority of cases, the international golfer is not aware of this when he arrives on the course. What’s more, it will not be the only food and drink experience that he wishes to have.

In this respect, as often happens to Italians, all the positive aspects of Italy are so often taken for granted, that those who would love to come and visit are rarely told about what Italy really has to offer. For this very reason, it is important to know how to effectively communicate the potential, added value.

It is necessary to say (and this would already be a great leap forward) what specialities a golf tourist can eat in the bistrot in our golf club, but also what he can find in the surrounding areas, the food and wine culture in the context in which the golf club is located, perhaps also working in collaboration with enterprises in the catering sector that share affinities with our golfing environment.

Therefore, with the aim of doing justice to Italian cuisine, by creating an even stronger link between Italian cuisine and golfing enterprises as well as promoting the interest of such among many foreign golfers, who cannot wait to combine these two elements, we would like to open a section dedicated to this specific topic: “Golf & Food”, a golf tour in pursuit of good food and wine throughout the Italian territory!