Guanciale

• Guanciale is the cured cheek of a pig. In Lazio, Italy, it is cooked and added to spaghetti and other pasta dishes alongside traditional ingredients such as Italian herbs and spices.
  
  

Alba Truffle

• Fonduta, a dish in Northern Italy, is treasured for the odorous Alba truffles added to melted Fontina cheese. These white truffles, considered an aphrodisiac, are so popular that people travel from miles around to eat them. In this particular dish, they are crumbled on the melted Fontina cheese and poured over eggs.
  
  

Braulio

• Braulio, named after an Italian peak, is an alcoholic type of drink called a "bitter." The oddity of this drink is that while it resembles wine in consistency, the color is brown. The flavor tastes not of grapes but of herbs, with a pungent smell of sage.
  
  

Sambuco Blossoms

• Sambuco, also known as black elderberries in English, comes from a bush-type tree. Cooked berries are made into normal marmalade and syrups, but the real treat is eating the tiny sambuco blossoms that appear each spring. Considered a healthy food, they also provide an ingredient for a homemade syrup rarely found in stores. In addition, cooks add them to frittatas, which are a mix of foods covered in dough and fried.
  
  

Bottarga

• This appetizer is sliced thin and served on crackers with olive oil and lemon juice. Bottarga consists of either tuna or gray mullet fish eggs called roe. Making bottarga is a process of compressing, salting and drying the eggs before slicing strips for serving.