Fans of the transparent liquid, which packs a punch harder than a two-timed Neapolitan port worker, should look out for Mondograppa. Here is a some more information about the grappa from the region.

To make your Friuli recipes taste as authentic as possible, try and buy a Montasio DOP c heese. It is a compact cheese which is produced on the high Alpine plain of the same name at some 1500 meters in altitude.

Anyone familiar with Italian cooking will have heard of San Daniele ham from the region, but the cuisine of the zone is varied and rich.

Visitors might like to order a 'cotechino' joint or the local frico cheese with polenta. Snails are a delicacy as is 'cialzons' a local 'puff' pasta and barley with beans.

If you are after tasty sweet ham you could do worse than Prosciutto San Daniele. It is the umbrella label for 27 small producers who are based within the confines of the town of San Daniele, one of the most important centers for prepared meats in the country.

The Colli Orientali wine growing zone east of Udine stretches from Tarcento in the north to Corno di Rosazzo in the south. It is a narrow strip of land designated as the 'Parco della Vite e del Vino' or 'Park of Vine and Wine'.

We like DOC Collio wines made from the following grapes growing in the province of Gorizia.

A number of readers have asked for more information about the traditional frascas or frasche. We have found it difficult to locate a definitive source for these local variants of the trattoria, but we thank the Comune of Gorizia for letting us know about the following initiative.

The coastal areas of the province of Udine produce some fine heady DOC wines which must be sampled. The wine growing zone is known as Friuli Latisana and roughly borders Veneto and the River Tagliamento to the west while the waters of the Marano lagoon, including Lignano, lap its eastern shores.

The local tourism board recommend three historic cafés for the visitor to Trieste. They are Caffè Tommaseo, Caffè San Marco and Caffè Pasticceria Pirona.

The Trieste Coffee Cluster also mentions the Bar Torinese which recall the interior of a luxurious ship; the Caffè degli specchi in Piazza Grande and the Café Tergesteo.

The oldest is Caffè Tommaseo which opened its doors in 1830. Located on the sea front the classical interior is sober and discreet and popular with businessmen and politicians. The café features 100 year old mirrors imported from Belgium.

The Caffè San Marco opened on 3rd January 1914. Not good timing, as the outbreak of the first world war destroyed it completely. Rebuilt in the twenties, it then had a makeover in the 30's to make it more Viennese.

Here's an interesting idea proposed by the Antica Trattoria Schönburg at Malborghetto in the province of Udine. Their menu still contains the exact meal served to the captain who defended the town during the French siege in the Napoleonic Wars.