Pizza, pasta and beyond: How Italian food is changing Indian dining

A guide to how to pick and how to cook one the world's most popular cuisines

For long, Italian food for Indians was pizza and pasta. That perception is changing as restaurants serve a diverse menu and their customers devour the food.

While pasta, sauces, and cheeses are staples across Italy, every region has its own unique dishes. South Italy’s food is dominated by tomatoes, olive oil and pasta and North’s common ingredients are alpine cheese, meat.

It’s a myth that Italian food is all pizza and pasta, or that it is unhealthy, said Amit Rana, general manager at Holiday Inn in New Delhi’s Aero City. The hotel recently launched an Italian restaurant called L’Osteria Bella.