We don't know about you, but we can't imagine anything better than travelling Italy from top to toe, sampling the culinary delights of each of the places you stop at along the way. But menu panic is a common pitfall for the uninitiated. If you're searching for authentic Italian food, you'll often find there's no translated version of the menu (sometimes there won't be a menu at all, but just a nonna or nonno reeling off the list of dishes on offer).

Many dishes known overseas, such as fettuccine alfredo or spaghetti bolognese, don't actually exist in Italy, except when restaurants are catering for tourists. And the cuisine varies a lot from place to place, so if you simply order the only thing on the menu you've heard of before, you might end up underwhelmed.