Liguria is a region of simple and natural tastes and where the culinary art fully reflects the Mediterranean diet principles. The wine and food tradition of San Remo is based on ingredients such as the extra-virgin olive oil, produced by means of a cool pressing of little, dark and tasty Taggiasca olives. The product is a sweet and perfumed oil with low pikes of acidity, perfect for exalting the typical dishes of this land. Vegetables stuffed only with lean meat, fritters of “gianchéti” (juvenile fishes of blue fish), the “cundiùn” (a salad with “cuori di bue” tomatoes, basil, garlic, oregano and olives), the green cake (of pumpkin or chards, or artichokes, or courgettes preferably of “trombetta” type) are only some of the dishes that you can taste in the typical restaurants. Furthermore, it deserves attention “pan e pumàta”, that is to say the steak of San Remo, prepared with wet stale bread, tomato, basil and seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil, but also the “coniglio al vermentino” and the “sardenàira”, a focaccia (not a pizza!) seasoned with tomatoes, olives, capers, unpeeled cloves of garlic and anchovies.

All these dishes can be tasted at their best with one of the excellent wines of the Riviera of Flowers. Among the local labels, the position of honour belongs to the wine Rossese, followed by Pigato, Vermentino and Ormeasco.

Rossese of Dolceacqua, the first Ligurian wine to obtain the title of D.O.C. wine, has a ruby red colour, a delicate flavouring and a dry and soft taste. The area of production has as its epicentre the medieval village of Dolceacqua and Valle Nervia, a few kilometres away from San Remo. It is fit for meat dishes, particularly for rabbit casserole.

Ormeasco Wine, on the other hand, is a “mountain” wine: it has an intense ruby red colour, a fruity and spicy perfume and a dry taste with a rather bitter vein. The area of production of this wine is comprised among the cities of Imperia, San Remo and Ventimiglia. It is ideal for accompanying ravioli “cu u tuccu” (the meat sauce), important meat dishes and tender cheeses.

Among the white wines, the protagonists are Pigato and Vermentino. The Vermentino vine is the most common in the area but, particularly renowned, is the wine produced on the Riviera of Flowers, which is characterized by a fresh and slightly fruity taste and by the typical straw colour. It is suitable for accompanying a wide range of dishes, such as sea food hors d’oeuvre, stuffed vegetables, pansotti with a walnut sauce, lasagna with pesto, rice with cuttlefish sauce, ravioli of fish in stock, boiled or roasted sea-bass. Pigato is characterized by an intense and pleasantly aromatic perfume, a rather bitter taste that recalls the almond and by a straw-yellow colour. In order to taste it at its best, we recommend accompanying it to sea dishes.