We suggest you try this dish on the 11th November every year in honor of San Martino. The date is now, in effect, Vino Novello Day and many related events are staged across the country.

Who makes the best Risotto alla Milanese in Italy? Well now we know thanks to the initiative "GIALLO MILANO" which is a competition to find out.

The event was developed to promote and save the gastronomic traditions of the city of Milan and the territory 'ambrosiana'.

Over 50 restaurants in Milan and the province of Milano participate.

The regional border starts at the coast and is marked by a huge swathe of open land dominated by the Magra Valley where the river pours into the sea. Set against the stark backdrop of the marble mountains of the Apuane Alps its an impressive spot.

I am interested in a recipe to make pandolce. My mother in-law is from Genoa and I would like to make her the Traditional Genovese pandolce. If you can not send a recipe can you please advise where I may be able to purchase some in the New York/New Jersey area.

The local cuisine of Levanto near the Cinque Terre is a product of a harsh land which has always been difficult to cultivate. Perhaps because of this what is produced is of an intensity and flavour rarely matched.

The flagship product is of course pesto, but look further and you will discover delicious savory pies filled with anchovies, beautiful olive oils as well as fine red and white wines.

But the king of Levanto gastronomy is the little known 'gattafin' or 'finezza della gatta'. Translated from the local dialect that's 'fineness of the Gatta' which still gives absolutely nothing away.

This pasta recipe is a classic of the typical cuisine of the province of Ascoli Piceno, especially in the zones of Amandola and Montefortino in the shadow of the imposing Monti Sibillini. Do head to Amandola for the first week of November and the annual 'Diamanti a Tavola' celebrating the prized white truffle.

ingredients

60g prized white truffle from the Sibillini Mountains, 350g egg tagliatelle, 3 liters chicken stock, 40g butter, salt.

Ascoli Piceno is, of course, famous its fried olives or 'oliva all’ascolana DOP'. Fried olives from AscoliEvery spring the city is transformed, suitably enough, into the capital of mixed fries 'or 'fritto misto'.

For years, La Tuscia in north Lazio has refused to take off as a tourist destination. Many initiatives have come and gone and made little difference to overall visitor numbers, which is certainly no fault of the territory or the history and treasures to see.

This recipe for fried broccoli or 'frittura di broccoli' comes from Lazio. They make a simple and tasty side dish or antipasti, traditionally on the Christmas eve menu. The broccolo romanesco differs from other broccoli by its distinctive pointed green top, easily recognizable in the markets of Rome.

I cannot find a recipe for the Easter Pigna, can you help me? My grandmother was from Frosinone area, near Rome. This Pigna was a rich pannetone style cake with different liquers added. One thing I do remember was she would let it rise for 24 hours, kneading in between. Thank you kindly. Eva, Canada

Pigna is an oven baked Easter cake or traditional panettone containing dried fruits and is typical of the town of Arpino in the province of Frosinone, south Lazio.

Just over the border in Molise, the town of Guardialfiera boasts a similar Easter equivalent.

It is a very rich cake made from 12 eggs for every kilo of flour, potatoes, lemon rind gratings, sugar and aniseed liqueur or 'anice', among other things.

It requires two processes to allow the cake to rise correctly. One is to cut a cross into the mixture. This also acts as an appropriate symbol.

The cooked cake is covered in colored confetti, we think sugar almonds, and 'naspro' delle suore' or beaten egg white.

The photo is of a Pigna made by the Pasticceria "Le Delizie di Maria" in the small locality of Scaffa near Arpino.

Be warned a true pigna can take up to 4 days to make as the secret is in the kneading of the dough.