Lombardy

Lombardia, in Italian, is the large and dynamic region of Milan, the Po plain, the great alpine lakes and valley, the Valtellina, which claims a full sixth of Italy's population and produces much of the country's wealth.

Lake fish such as lavarello are tasty, and hearty dishes prevail: polenta, cotoletta and risotto alla milanese, ossobuco and cassuoela. Among its many cheeses are Grana Padano. The Valtellina is famous for its buckwheat (grano saraceno) pizzoccheri.

The name comes from the Lombards (or Longobardi), a Germanic tribe who occupied much of Italy in the 570s and made Pavia their capital.