We always hear so much about Florentine food, Neapolitan nosh, Roman cuisine and sometimes even Sardinian, Sicilian or Ligurian delicacies. Of Milanese food we hear very little and of Piemontese even less. Could it be that in these places people are too busy working to remember to eat?

Joking aside, not only has Milan got its own gastronomic tradition but it is also a very good one; it is a culinary tradition that in a way is similar to the city itself, pleasant with not to many frills, made up of hearty, easy to prepare dishes, created mainly to nourish the body than to tickle the palate.

The few concessions to frivolity all have amusing tales to tell; like that of the famous Milanese risotto invented by a painter whose nickname was Zafferano (Saffron) thanks to his penchant for adding a pinch of yellow to all his colours; a friend teased him that one day he would end up by putting it in his risotto and he took him at his word: needless to say it was a great success.

Another happy ending that was created from a mistake is the Negroni cocktail. One fine evening at Bar Basso (a well known Milanese watering hole) one of the barmen ran out of gin and decided to use sparkling spumante instead; the result has gone around the world and back, becoming one of the thirty cocktails that every respectable barman has on his repertoire, and has to be able to make blindfolded.

However, there are also those who do not surrender their taste for adventure when faced with the poverty of the Milanese cuisine; glam cooks and master chefs from all around the globe have tried their hands at jazzing it up it with light, fusion, chic and politically correct recipes; the results are surprisingly… surprising… and well worth a try.