In the same way that every 200 kilometres in India sees a shift in cultural norms and eating practises, Italy's several regions each have their own distinct culinary identities, which are constantly evolving. Italy is widely regarded as the world's culinary capital, and its cuisine is renowned for being both visually stunning and intellectually challenging. However, as a result of globalisation, some of Italy's most famous culinary products, such as pizza, pasta, spaghetti, and gelato, are now consumed all over the world in a variety of ways that are not always particularly appetising. Nevertheless, pizza and pasta are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Italian cuisine. 

The vastness of the cuisine can also be judged from the fact that a meal starts with the antipasti (appetisers) and moves on to prime piatti (first course), entrees (second course), contorni (vegetables), insalata (salad), frutta (fruit) and dolci (desserts). In order to demonstrate the country's extensive and well-established food culture, the Italian Embassy in India recently organised a World Week of Italian Cuisine that lasted for ten days and took place in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru.

“Rice suppli' is one of the most popular street snacks in Italy, and eggplant parmigiana is a lesser-known but much-loved dish. It is possible that Indians will enjoy all of our dishes. We produce risotto and pasta with different kinds of vegetables and fish, and from that we can create an infinite variety of dishes. Vegetarians in India will enjoy our soups like the Acquacotta and Ribollita from Tuscany. It's important to highlight all of our ravioli, agnolotti, tortellini, and other stuffed pastas. Not to mention the wonderful range of Italian desserts, from the northern Italian Panettone and Pandoro, which are seasonal favourites served at Christmastime, to the southern Italian cannoli and many more. In addition, I believe that people in India would like Italian ice-creams that use only natural, fresh ingredients,” the ambassador of Italy to India commented while in the event. 

It is true that just a small portion of the potential offered by Italian cuisine has been explored so far. "Pizza and spaghetti are only two staples of Italian cuisine. In point of fact, the majority of the pizzas that are sold in this location are American, Mexican, or Indianized variations. The range of foods that make up Italian cuisine is extremely extensive and includes things like salads, pizzas, pastas, grilled meats, and desserts "The proprietor of a restaurant that specialises in homemade Italian cuisine, Dheeraj Arora, explains the following:

Because pizzas could so readily be made in an Indian style, their popularity skyrocketed. When it comes to the other dishes, the components are all quite pricey because they have to be brought in from other countries. According to Ramneet Trehan, who is also an owner of a restaurant, this is the reason why the majority of eateries only offered pizzas. The vast majority of items in genuine restaurants have prices that are higher than 800 INR. The servings, too, are on the meagre side. Because India is such a price-conscious market, the majority of Italian cuisine was unable to gain traction there and become popular. However, the popularity of pizza might be attributed to the fact that it can easily be incorporated into a variety of different cuisines. It is more of a fusion meal than anything else. Name a nation that does not include pizza as part of its traditional cuisine.

However, according to Arora, things are quickly changing, and younger people in particular are interested in experimenting with a wider variety of dishes. "There are currently a lot of Indians travelling in other countries, and trips to the Mediterranean are particularly popular. That is also the reason why there are now more restaurants serving cuisine from Spain, Lebanon, and Italy."

"The same can be said about pastas and pizzas; together, they only account for 20–25 percent of our total sales. 10–12 percent of the total is accounted for by grills, while the remaining percentage is accounted for by Indian soups and salads "Arora explains. The trend these days is more on home style, where flavours play a very important role in determining its authenticity. The thrust is on creating a balance between Indian and Italian flavours while maintaining its authenticity.

In India, Auroville's Italian food scene has kickstarted to show its real authenticity that started back in 2008 with the opening of Tanto's Pizzeria, which quickly became nationally renowned for wood-fired pizzas. The scene has grown quite dramatically since back then. More recently, four Italian chefs have been cooking up a storm on a single lane in Kuilapalayam, a dusty village neighboring Auroville. They serve what is arguably some of the most genuine, delicious Italian cuisine in India, balancing the imperatives of being both indulgent and healthy. Whether you're in the mood for classic pastas, pizzas, Italian cheeses, or gelato, Kuilapalayam has it all. As Francesco Carboni, owner of The Gelato Factory shares, recently, these restaurant owners have been joking that they should speak to the village panchayat about changing the name of their lane to "Little Italy".

“Being the top most sought after cuisine of world, it has a very strong acceptance in India too. Global exposure of more and more Indians has tremendously increased because people now a days travel a lot. From last few years’ people have started exploring more and more authentic Italian dishes. The cuisine known for its healthy ingredients, cooking methods and preserving. Also the ingredients used in Italian dishes are easily available in Indian market at an affordable value. For example, now a day most of the food lovers in India are well versed about Risotto, Lasagna, cured meat, focaccia, polenta etc. It shows that the cuisine has great potential to get deeply rooted in Indian market. India is definitely ready to accept the authentic Italian cuisine,” Aneesh Joseph, executive chef at Sayaji Raipur shared.   

Most of the multi cuisine fine dine restaurants have already started propagating the Italian cuisine in their menu with high esteem. For which many of them have hired skilled chefs who has proper exposure to Italian cooking. In future many restaurants are expected to be established exclusively for traditional Italian food lovers. Like most of the Hotels promoted Mediterranean food, Italian will also be advocated and popularized. “Authenticity is the key to success. For which cooks who have worked in Italian market will be in high demand. Under the guidance of them rest of the culinary crew will be expertized,” Joseph further added.