continue … describe the possibilities of the Italian antipasto would be akin to attempting to summarize Boccaccio's Decamerone in a paragraph. In other words, impossible.
Despite its minor role, when compared to any other national cuisine which does not necessarily include pasta as a first course, the Italian antipasto includes a seemingly endless number of surprises, soppresse, soufflé (soufflé no) and so on.
Here, we could apply the "law of the boot" (look at a map of Italy), with the top attached solidly to the Europe of butter and pork, central Italy crisscrossed from north-northwest to south-southwest by mountains and hills which mysteriously lend flavor to any food, and the heel dug into the south of olive oil and tomatoes, all contributing to the wonderful Mediterranean "soup".
The unique characteristic and strong point of Italian cooking, with the extraordinary quality of the raw materials it uses, has miraculously remained intact despite the leveling effect in progress in markets and tastes.
Consequently, the Italian antipasto is, as it should be, quality in its purest form. Salumi, sausages, preserved vegetables, small spiced breads, pizzas, frittini, meat salads and cold fish, the saor of Venice, the scapece of the south, the Roman supplì, the Neapolitan pepper roulades (involtini), Jerusalem artichokes with the bagna cauda of Turin, the Sicilian caponate, the Genoese farinata and the raw squid of Bari… There are literally thousands of ways to begin an Italian meal. But a word of warning, eat sparingly because, afterwards, the pasta is coming.

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