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Food in Calabria is influenced by two important factors: its close proximity to the sea and the huge mountain areas. The type of food depends greatly on where you are in Calabria. Naturally a stay along the coast will mean fish, fish and more fish, whereas a stay in the mountains will mean game and generally much more meat.
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Fish and seafood: Tuna and swordfish are plentiful. From the small ports the fishermen still go out in their traditional boats and catch the big fish using old methods. In Calabria sea urchin is also very popular.
Meat, game and poultry: Lamb and kid are available everywhere in Calabria. In the mountains game like hare and deer is also on the menu.
Sausages and ham: All over Calabria it is possible to get the sausage Capocollo di Calabria made of pork. Nduja is a special kind of spreadable sausage and is very piquant. Pancetta di Calabria is air-dried bacon spiced with dried chili powder. Salsicci di Calabria is also available all over the region and is made from pork.
Cheese: Reputedly the best cheese in Calabria is Pecorino del Monte Poro. It is a sheep's cheese from the mountains. The area where the sheep graze is full of herbs, which flavour the cheese. It is best enjoyed medium matured.
Sweets: Marzipan and dried figs with various fillings are among the favourite sweets.
Wine and vineyards: Calabria has not yet produced great results on the wine front even though there are a few excellent vineyards. Of course, this does not mean that you cannot get a glass of good local wine, but rather that the great wine experiences are far and few between. Nevertheless there are some really fine vineyards in Calabria producing wine on good local grapes. They are as follows: Odoardi, San Francesco, Librandi.
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