Even the most conservative of Italians can’t get enough of the sexy cakes that are meant to look like small, firm breasts

Customs include sleeping in coffins, having sex the night before the new year, and smashing crockery

Cheese and other dairy products have not been historically popular in China, but imports are increasing, and cheese ambassadors from Europe are working to break into a market that is potentially the world’s biggest.

More Chinese tourists have visited Italy this year than any other European country, with many seeking out places that offer space and solitude – a trend that is helping revitalise depopulated villages in rural areas of the country.

Italy’s seasonal sweet bread is soft and fruity, yet tougher than tiramisu – but is it really better than Christmas cake?

The traditional Italian dish is a semi-liquid cornmeal mush that doesn’t look appealing, but wives know that it is a potent sex booster and a ‘reproduction’ culinary secret

One of the most frequent mistakes tourists make when travelling to Italy is ordering spaghetti bolognese – a guaranteed way to conjure a confused, or concerned, waiter

Dating back to Ancient Rome and literally meaning ‘ugly blood’ in Italian, innuendo-inducing sanguinaccio is a huge salami-shaped tube of meat or chocolate, made with pig blood and believed to be a powerful aphrodisiac

A year’s production of Nutella would wrap around the Earth 1.7 times – but where does the chocolate spread come from?

The weird story of how white chocolate was made is surprisingly tied to medicines and energy-booster formulas discovered by its creator, Henri Nestlé

Gorgonzola and Roquefort’s origins are said to be in the ninth century. However, a recent publication suggests that Roquefort could go back even earlier, to when southern France was part of the Roman Empire

It’s official: spumante trashed champagne at this year’s wine awards – but what is the story behind this bubbly Mediterranean upstart?

San Pietro, off Sardinia, has a population of 6,000 and is one of the biggest exporters to Japan of bluefin tuna. Fishermen there have caught tuna for generations, but have only recently learned to eat it raw thanks to their dealings with Japan.

Granita is a dense mixture of sugar, water and ice blended with crushed pistachios, toasted almonds and the best of Sicily’s seasonal fresh fruit.

Traced to Treviso, tiramisu is said to have begun as a prostitute’s treat served to reinvigorate clients and keep the sex business ticking over

It may have been rebranded by New Zealand, but the Chinese gooseberry comes from China; now it grows in abundance south of Rome, and Italy harvests more kiwis than New Zealand. It’s not the only exotic fruit growing there as temperatures rise.

Was risotto born from an artistic accident, or ‘culinary contamination’? We went to Milan to find out

Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage is a fan of lewdly named, legendary hot pasta offering made with capers, anchovies, tomatoes, olives, chilli pepper and garlic

Abandoned homes in Sambuca were first put on the market for €1 but went up for auction after thousands of offers flooded in. Buyers are supposedly attracted to the local lifestyle because they want to escape the stress of Chinese cities.

Lavishly decorated 15-bedroom property which was built in Tuscany, Italy, in 1750 and sits on a 27-acre estate, includes a room named in honour of Italian film star