4 Must-Try Foods in Tropea, Calabria
- ItaliAndrea
- May 26
- 2 min read
In Calabria (the Italian region comprised of the 'toe' of the boot) they like their food spicy, onions sweet and their driving speed FAST. There are 4 foods that you must try when visiting Calabria: n'duja, onions from Tropea, peperoncino chili and tartufo for dessert.
N'duja
N'duja is a spreadable cured pork spiced up with Calabrian chili. Its vibrant color hints at its spicy kick! It's spread on bread for an antipasto or heated with local red onions as a condiment for the Calabrese pasta shape of choice, feleja. At La Casetta del Piccantino the husband and wife duo are will offer you a sample (or five) of their products and provide helpful cooking tips.
Cipolla di Tropea
CIPOLLA ROSSA ARE SOLD EVERYWHERE!
Cipolla di Tropea, onions of Tropea, are sold in town, on the side of the road, in stores, out of wagons, everywhere! Outside the region of Calabria, we have them at our market in Padova- always boasting their provenance, 'Tropea'.
Peperoncino
To spice things up, Calabrese peperoncino chilis are added to most dishes, particularly n'duja or anything with tomato.
Tartufo
Finally, a sweet treat, tartufo, which is an ice cream (gelato) ball filled with gooey, oozy dark chocolate. Trust me, you must have one!
Between meals
Go for a boat ride. This was our favorite activity. Companies offer both half day and full day trips. We opted for a private boat which could be tailored to what we wanted to do versus a pre-set itinerary. Our skipper, Dominico, came from generations upon generations of Calabrian sailors and offered personal anecdotes of the places we passed along the way to Capo Vaticano. Svein even went for a brisk swim!
Hit the beach.
Take in a breathtaking Tropea sunset.
Buy some made-to-measure Capri-style sandals, embellished with Swarovski crystals and ready in just 2o minutes.
Don't miss eating fish!
We tried to eat as much fish (mainly spigola, sea bass) as we could during our 3 days in Tropea. A particularly fascinating cooking method was a whole fish cooked in pizza dough, rendering the flesh steamy and juicy and its cooking vessel, eatable.
Restaurants we loved
We found the food in Tropea to be excellent in quality, especially for a tourist town. Our favorites in town were: Il Convivio, That's Amore (dumb name, excellent pizza dough crusted fish- reco by our skipper) Deodato and Incipit. We had a fantastic meal at the Bistro at Villa Paola, but were disappointed with their main restaurant, De'Minimi.
Sleep
Villa Paola is just a short 10 minute walk to town, although it does involve a few flights of stairs so you get your steps in! The rooms are ample and the staff members were friendly and helpful.