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History of Italian Food
"Italy was invaded by barbarians during the 5th century AD. The cuisines of Barbarians were different from that of Italians. The Barbarians cuisines consisted of dishes such as stuffed-pastries, baked pies and roasted meats. The barbarian cuisine has influenced the Italian dishes to an extent. The Italians introduced fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet in the early 1000 AD. This period is known as the revival of the Italian culinary art. " |
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"The stereotypical Italian restaurant in America (and to a great extent any country outside of Italy) reliably serves up plates of hot pasta with tomato or cream-based sauces, this is far from true Italian cuisine. Or, at the very least, the stereotype represents only a small part of the many diverse and multi-regional styles that make up Italy’s total gastronomic picture." |
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Cross-cultural influence on the early identity of the Italian peninsula was amplified by Italy’s proximity to the great kingdoms of the Etruscans, Greeks and, later, the Saracens from the Arab empire making contact across the Mediterranean. Though the origin of the Etruscan people is uncertain, the major contribution of the Etruscans to Italian cuisine was a kind of porridge eventually called pulmentum, a mushy-grain dish that was a predecessor to the cornmeal-based polenta popular throughout Italy and internationally (once corn arrived in Europe from America). The maritime Greek nation popularized the kind of fish chowder recognizably called bouillabaisse in French and brodetto throughout the south of Italy (Root 1971). The Arabs were especially influential in the south and especially Sicily, where the origins of dried pasta production can be traced. |
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The Liber de coquina (Book of Cooking) from the late thirteenth century is considered the oldest book on “Italian” cuisine, incorporating manners and styles from across the country as well as elements of the Roman style. It chronicles dishes from every corner of the peninsula, from Lombardy to Campania to Apulia, as well as incorporating styles from individuals, cities, and neighboring cultures. While the significance of a number of the dishes might be attributable to individual honors or celebrations, what is important about the cookbook is its apparent acknowledgment of regional specialties. |
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individual “compartments” of the Italian peninsula made distinct, individual contributions to the total gastronomic picture. Out of that picture emerged influential cookbooks such as Pellegrino Artusi’s La Scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangier bene (The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well) which collected typical Italian household dishes. In the middle of the twentieth century, Italy saw a revived focus on the natural flavors of quality ingredients, and that emerged in large part due to improvements in transportation that have made regional specialties and tastes accessible across the entirety of Italy and throughout the world (May 2005). |
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A predecessor to the modern lasagna, called lagana, existed in ancient Rome and points to an older customs of making dough out of flour and water, but the technology of the kind of dried pasta in extensive use today has clear Arab origins (Capatti and Montanari 2003). Other notable imported cultures include the Germanic Lombards who left their mark in the north of Italy as well as the Hapsburg Spanish influence especially on the rich and savory aspects of Neapolitan cuisine (centered around the city southwestern port city of Naples) (May 2005). |
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De re coquinaria had recognized quality in individual products from specific regions and extolled extravagance, and the Liber de coquina took the next logical step by pointing to dishes becoming important to specific subgroups of the many small states (Capatti and Montanari 2003). Within those regions, the cultural activity of cooking “obey[s] geographical dictates when it comes to supplies, as well as norms, rules, and customs inherited and adapted by the society in which it is practiced” (Redon et al. 1998). |
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Many non-Italians identify Italian cooking with a few of its most popular dishes, like pizza and spaghetti. People often express the opinion that Italian cooking is all pretty much alike. However, those who travel through Italy notice differences in eating habits between cities, even those only a few miles apart. Not only does each region have its own style, but each community and each valley has a different way of cooking as well. |
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Every town has a distinctive way of making sausage, special kinds of cheese and wine, and a local type of bread. If you ask people, even in the same area, how to make pasta sauce, they will all have different answers. Variations in the omnipresent pasta are another example of this multiplicity: soft egg noodles in the north, hard-boiled spaghetti in the south, with every conceivable variation in size and shape. Perhaps no other country in the world has a cooking style so finely fragmented into different divisions. So why is Risotto typical of Milan, why did Tortellini originate in Bologna, and why is Pizza so popular in Naples? |
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This diversity stems largely from peasant heritage and geographical differences. Italy is a peninsula separated from the rest of the continent by the highest chain of mountains in Europe. In addition, a long spine of mountains runs north to south down through this narrow country. These geographic features create a myriad of environments with noticeable variations: fertile valleys, mountains covered with forests, cool foothills, naked rocks, Mediterranean coastlines, and arid plains. A great variety of different climates have also created innumerable unique geographical and historical areas. |
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The Romans politically controlled the territory about two thousand years ago, integrated Greek civilization, and created an empire that laid the foundations of Western civilization. They imported all kinds of foods from all over the known world. Roman ships carried essential food, such as wheat and wine, as well as a variety of spices from as far away as China, to satisfy the Romans’ appetite for exotic ingredients. Roman cooking habits fascinated and influenced generations in the centuries that followed. The fall of the Roman Empire was caused by unstoppable waves of invading people—barbarians who came from as far away as Tibet. They pillaged and destroyed, but they also took with them new cooking customs. It took centuries before some order was restored and medieval peoples could begin to rebuild something that could be called a cuisine. |
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During medieval times, the absence of a powerful central authority allowed the creation of many fiercely independent cities. These Comuni, from the Alps to the border of the Kingdom of Naples, progressed faster than the other European towns of that time in wealth, and in artistic and intellectual achievements. The cities of northern Italy developed mostly through the trading of valuable merchandise, such as spices and fabric, with northern Europe and the East. A rich cuisine developed offering great diversity from one town to another. |
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After the decline of the city states, the territory of northern Italy was partially occupied from time to time by France or Austria, which left additional culinary influences in the Northeast. The richness of the cities of northern Italy is reflected in particular in the creation of a “culture” of fresh pasta. While dry macaroni was an item of mass production, fresh pasta associated with eggs, cheese, sugar, cream, and other expensive items was a luxury item. Even though fresh pasta became diffused throughout the peninsula and outside the borders of Italy, it is in northern Italy that we find the most spectacular recipes. It is no coincidence that many consider Bologna the gastronomic capital of Italy |
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Tuscany represents a phenomenon by itself in Italian history. Starting from the thirteenth century, the city of Florence in particular became rich during the evolution of the banking system. The De Medicis, a family of merchants and bankers, would become patrons of the arts and would accelerate the movement that became known as Renaissance. It was the birth of a new way of seeing human beings as controllers of their own destinies. New social rules were created here and were exported all over Europe, which at that time was on the verge of great transformations due to the discoveries of the age of exploration. The Renaissance initiated a great revolution in the arts, which was also reflected in spectacular and extravagant new ways of cooking. |
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While the north would see the creation of many small independent political entities, the south of Italy remained mostly unified for a long time. Separated from the great trading routes with northern Europe, the south suffered greater poverty and isolation. The people of southern Italy made the best of what they had. But it is here, in southern Italy, that spectacular dishes like spaghetti and pizza, originated. Born as the poor people’s way of cooking, these dishes were exported by groups of Italian emigrants and disseminated outside their regions of origin, making them extremely popular everywhere. Dry pasta is the greatest contribution from southern Italy. |
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Dry macaroni is suitable for storing, trading, and transporting. The invention of the bronze press industrialized the manufacturing of pasta, making macaroni affordable. Present in Sicily since Arab occupation, macaroni became extremely popular in Naples in the 1700s. It is from there that dry pasta started its journey to conquer the world. Sicilian history is fascinating for all the different people that occupied the island during different times. The greatest influence was left by the Muslim occupation that lasted for two centuries. Muslims contributed greatly to Western cuisine with a variety of foods: rice, spinach, alcohol, oranges, lemons, apricots, sugar and more. And in Sicily their influence is still greatly felt today |
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3
Local traditions result from long complex historical developments and strongly influence local habits. Distinctive cultural and social differences remain present throughout Italy, although today mass marketing tends to cause a leveling of long-established values. In a country so diverse, it is impossible to define an “Italian” cooking style, but traditional food still is at the core of the cultural identity of each region, and Italians react with attachment to their own identity when they are confronted with the tendency toward flattening their culture.
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There are not too many nations that can say their national dish has become an international phenomenon. Italy has two such dishes, pasta and of course pizza. In America pizza usually falls into two categories: thick and cheesy Chicago style or thin and more traditional New York pizza. In Italy pizza also falls into two distinct categories: Italian pizza and the rest of the world. It might seem silly considering the basic ingredients, but one taste of a true Italian pizza and that's it. You will never feel the same about this simple and delicious food again. |
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Pizza in its most basic form as a seasoned flatbread has a long history in the Mediterranean. Several cultures including the Greeks and Phoenicians ate a flatbread made from flour and water. The dough would be cooked by placing on a hot stone and then seasoned with herbs. The Greeks called this early pizza plankuntos and it was basically used as an edible plate when eating stews or thick broth. It was not yet what we would call pizza today but it was very much like modern focaccia. These early pizzas were eaten from Rome to Egypt to Babylon and were praised by the ancient historians Herodotus and Cato the Elder. |
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The word "pizza" is thought to have come from the Latin word pinsa, meaning flatbread (although there is much debate about the origin of the word). A legend suggests that Roman soldiers gained a taste for Jewish Matzoth while stationed in Roman occupied Palestine and developed a similar food after returning home. However a recent archeological discovery has found a preserved Bronze Age pizza in the Veneto region. By the Middle Ages these early pizzas started to take on a more modern look and taste. The peasantry of the time used what few ingredients they could get their hands on to produce the modern pizza dough and topped it with olive oil and herbs. The introduction of the Indian Water Buffalo gave pizza another dimension with the production of mozzarella cheese. Even today, the use of fresh mozzarella di buffalo in Italian pizza cannot be substituted. While other cheeses have made their way onto pizza (usually in conjunction with fresh mozzarella), no Italian Pizzeria would ever use the dried shredded type used on so many American pizzas |
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The introduction of tomatoes to Italian cuisine in the 18th and early 19th centuries finally gave us the true modern Italian pizza. Even though tomatoes reached Italy by the 1530's it was widely thought that they were poisonous and were grown only for decoration. However the innovative (and probably starving) peasants of Naples started using the supposedly deadly fruit in many of their foods, including their early pizzas. Since that fateful day the world of Italian cuisine would never be the same, however it took some time for the rest of society to accept this crude peasant food. Once members of the local aristocracy tried pizza they couldn't get enough of it, which by this time was being sold on the streets of Naples for every meal. As pizza popularity increased, street vendors gave way to actual shops where people could order a custom pizza with many different toppings. By 1830 the "Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba" of Naples had become the first true pizzeria and this venerable institution is still producing masterpieces. |
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The popular pizza Margherita owes its name to Italy's Queen Margherita who in 1889 visited the Pizzeria Brandi in Naples. The Pizzaioli (pizza maker) on duty that day, Rafaele Esposito created a pizza for the Queen that contained the three colors of the new Italian flag. The red of tomato, white of the mozzarella and fresh green basil was a hit with the Queen and the rest of the world. Neapolitan style pizza had now spread throughout Italy and each region started designing their own versions based on the Italian culinary rule of fresh, local ingredients. |
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The Pizza Margherita may have set the standard, but there are numerous popular varieties of pizza made in Italy today. Pizza from a Pizzeria is the recognized round shape, made to order and always cooked in a wood fired oven. Regional varieties are always worth trying such as Pizza Marinara, a traditional Neapolitan pizza that has oregano, anchovies and lots of garlic. Pizza Napoli Tomato mozzarella and anchovies. Capricciosa: a topping of mushrooms, prosciutto, artichoke hearts, olives and ½ a boiled egg! Pizza Pugliese makes use of the local capers and olives of the area while Pizza Veronese has mushrooms and tender Prosciutto crudo. Pizzas from Sicily can have numerous toppings ranging from green olives, seafood, hard-boiled eggs and peas. |
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Besides regional styles there are several varieties that are popular throughout Italy. Quattro Formagi uses a four cheese combination using fresh mozzarella and three local cheeses such as Gorgonzola, ricotta and parmigiano-reggiano. Italian tuna packed in olive oil is also a popular topping along with other marine products like anchovies, shellfish and shrimp. Quattro Stagioni is a pizza (similar to the Capricciosa) that represents the four seasons and makes a good sampler pizza with sections of artichokes, salami or Prosciutto cotto, mushrooms, and tomatoes. In Liguria you may find pizza topped with basil pesto and no tomato sauce. Of course there are hundreds more to discover and all of them are delicious, not to mention the other members of the pizza family. |
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4
Pizza al taglio also known as Pizza rustica is sold everywhere in Italy, usually by weight and often piled with marinated mushrooms, onions or artichokes. This style of pizza is cooked on a sheet pan at street stalls and makes a good quick lunch. Focaccia resembles the earliest pizzas being without tomatoes or cheese but covered in olive oil, caramelized onions and other savory toppings. Sfincione is a thick Sicilian sheet pizza that uses tomato sauce, anchovies (usually anchovy paste) breadcrumbs and caciocavallo (or another local variety) cheese. Italian calzones are ( no surprise here !) smaller than their American cousins and are often filled with either meats or fresh vegetables (a favorite is spinach) and mozzarella. A newer trend that is gaining popularity is the emergence of sweet pizzas and traditional Italian pizzerias are trying to accommodate this trend by using unique ingredients. These dessert pizzas often have flavor combinations such as Nutella, honey, fruit jam, yogurt, even mustard and liquor. |
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5
"By the 1300's dried pasta was very
popular for its nutrition and long shelf life, making it ideal for long ship voyages. Pasta made it around the globe during the voyages of discovery a century later. By that time different shapes of pasta have appeared and new technology made pasta easier to make. With these innovations pasta truly became a part of Italian life. However the next big advancement in the history of pasta would not come until the 19th century when pasta met tomatoes." |
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5
"It is estimated that Italians eat over sixty pounds of pasta per person, per year easily beating Americans, who eat about twenty pounds per person. This love of pasta in Italy far outstrips the large durum wheat production of the country; therefore Italy must import most of the wheat it uses for pasta. Today pasta is everywhere and can be found in dried (pasta secca) and fresh (pasta fresca) varieties depending on what the recipes call for. The main problem with pasta today is the use of mass production to fill a huge worldwide demand. And while pasta is made everywhere the product from Italy keeps to time-tested production methods that create a superior pasta." |
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5
"Although tomatoes were brought back to Europe shortly after their discovery in the New World, it took a long time for the plant to be considered edible. In fact tomatoes are a member of the nightshade family and rumors of tomatoes being poisonous continued in parts of Europe and its colonies until the mid 19th century. Therefore it was not until 1839 that the first pasta recipe with tomatoes was documented. However shortly thereafter tomatoes took hold, especially in the south of Italy. The rest of course is delicious history." |
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5
"There are roughly 350 different shapes and varieties of dried pasta in Italy.Shapes range from simple tubes to bow ties (farfalle, which actually means "butterfly"), to unique shapes like tennis rackets (racchette). Many, but not all of these types are usually available wherever pasta is made." |
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5
"By Italian law dried pasta must be made with 100% durum semolina flour and water, a practice that all but the worst quality pasta makers worldwide have since adhered to. However there are two factors in dried pasta from Italy that make it typically better than most other products: extrusion and drying methods." |
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5
"Dried pasta, especially the more complex shapes (such as radiatore) are designed for grabbing and holding onto sauces. Dried tube pasta (ziti or penne) often has ridges or slight abrasions on the surface to hold onto the pasta sauce as well. These ridges and bumps are created during the extrusion process, when the pasta is forced from a copper mold and cut to desired length before drying. These molds, while expensive and prone to wear are favored for making the best dried pasta." |
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5
"After the pasta is cut it must be dried using a process of specific temperature and time. This is another area where mass produced pasta falls short of good Italian pasta made the correct way. The mass produced pastas are dried at very high temperatures for a shorter time than quality pasta. Traditional pasta is allowed to dry slower, up to 50 hours at a much lower temperature. It is after the pasta is fully dried that it is packaged. The result is a product with a much better mouth-feel, quicker cooking time, and superior sauce holding noodles." |
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5
"Fresh pasta can be made with slightly different ingredients than the dried variety. Many northern regions of Italy use all-purpose flour and eggs while southern Italy usually makes theirs from semolina and water but it depends upon the recipe" |
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6
"The foundations for Pizza were originally laid by the early Greeks who first baked large, round and flat breads which they "annointed with oil, herbs, spices and Dates." |
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6
"Eventually the idea of flat bread found its way to Italy where, in the 18th century, the flat breads called "Pizzas", were sold on the streets and in the markets. They were not topped with anything but were enjoyed au naturel. Since they were relatively cheap to make, were tasty and filling, they were sold to the poor all over Naples by street vendors.The acceptance of the tomato by the Neapolitans and the visit of a queen contributed to the Pizza as we know and enjoy it today |
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6
Pizza spread to America, France, England and Spain, where it was little known until after World War II. While occupying Italian territories, many American and European soldiers tasted Pizza for the first time. It was love at first taste! Italian immigrants had been selling Pizzas in their American stores for some time, but it was the returning soldiers with a lust for the saucy delight that drew the Pizzas out of the quiet Italian neighborhoods into the main stream of city life all over the continent. In fact, the square "Sicilian Pizza" which is so popular and was the forerunner of the now well-promoted "Party Pizza" is an American invention. Real Sicilian Pizza has no cheese or anchovies. |
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| Pizza Moves to more countries :O |
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6
In about 1889, Queen Margherita, accompanied by her husband, Umberto I, took an inspection tour of her Italian Kingdom. During her travels around Italy she saw many people, especially the peasants, eating this large, flat bread. Curious, the queen ordered her guards to bring her one of these Pizza breads. The Queen loved the bread and would eat it every time she was out amongst the people, which caused some consternation in Court circles. It was not seemly for a Queen to dine on peasant's food. |
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7
Pasta is present at both the midday and evening meal, but even though it's eaten twice a day, it never tastes the same twice and never gets boring. Naples is the food center -- perhaps you've heard of pizza? Poor Italians from Naples and Sicily came to the United States by the boatload in the early part of this century |
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7
The name translates literally to "a stupid person" but the reason for the reference is unclear. Gnocchi, an Italian specialty, is served with a variety of sauces including a simple butter and parmesan, pesto, gorgonzola cream or a light marinara. |
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Recipes for gnocchi have been documented back to the 1300's. Gnocchi is more common in Northern Italy but can be found in other regions of Italy as well. Similar dishes are served in other countries as well. |
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8
Most likely the first variety to reach Europe was yellow in color, since in Spain and Italy they were known as pomi d'oro, meaning yellow apples. Italy was the first to embrace and cultivate the tomato outside South America. |
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8
"Originally from the Americas, chili pepper found its ideal habitat in Calabria, although it may seem a paradox that there is relatively little commercial cultivation of this crop here: everybody grows it at home, either in the garden or in a pot, and everyone has a string of chili peppers hanging on a door or at a window." |
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8
"The name melanzane alla parmigiana, or eggplant parmesan, sounds like this popular dish (eggplant that is fried, then baked in the oven with tomato and cheese) is a specialty of Parma. But it was invented in Calabria (and is a typical Calabria food as well as of much of the Italian south), where the eggplant has been the queen of vegetables for centuries." |
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8
"Calabria’s dry climate, high temperatures, and nearly calcium-free soil are ideal for growing eggplants because they prevent a build-up of the fruit’s bitter juices and concentrate its sweet flavor. The name melanzana derives from the Latin malum insanum, which translates as “the fruit which makes one crazy”! Perhaps this is why until the late 19th century, the eggplant was viewed with great suspicion in central and northern Italy. Today, it is enjoyed throughout the country." |
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8
"Most Italians consider breakfast to be a brioche and a steaming cappuccino, but the Calabrians insist on a cooked breakfast called murseddu. It consists of a ragu made from pig and calf’s liver that are cooked slowly in tomatoes, herbs and hot red pepper, and then stuffed in the local pitta bread." |
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8
"Though modern biscotti are associated with the Tuscan region of Italy, the popular Italian cookie traces its origins to Roman times. The word biscotto derives from “bis,” Latin for twice, and “coctum” or baked (which became “cotto,” or cooked)." |
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8
"Tuscan biscotti were flavored with almonds from the plentiful almond groves of Prato. There, the cookies were—and still are—known as cantucci. Cantucci di Prato can be found in the window of every pasticceria in Tuscany." |
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8
"17th century - A dessert similar to tiramisu was was created in Siena, in the northwestern Italian province of Tuscany. The occasion was a visit by Grand Duke Cosimo de' Medici III (1642-1723), in whose honor the concoction was dubbed zuppa del duca (the "duke's soup"). He brought the recipe back with him to Florence. In the 19th century, tiramisu became extremely popular among the English intellectuals and artists who lived in Florence. The dessert made its way to England, where its popularity grew. " |
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8
"Perhaps it's simpler to break down tiramisu's ingredients and examine the dessert's history from a slightly more defined angle. The savoiardi cookies at the heart of this treat have been around since the 15 th century. They get the nickname “ladyfingers” from their long cylindrical shape and are often used as a base for desserts such as fruit or custard trifles" |
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8
"Espresso also has a storied past. While coffee itself can be traced back hundreds of years, espresso is a relatively recent invention. Created in 1903, when the world seemed to be turning to the modern inclination of wanting everything done better and faster, an Italian businessman named Luigi Bezzera was looking for a way to make coffee brewing less time consuming." |
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9
Wine (lots and lots of wine)
Coffee
Lemonchello
Italian Soda |
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9
Tiramisu
Biscotti
Amaretto Truffles |
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9
"A visit to any Italian bakery will show just how many flavors, shapes and colors Italian style cookies come in. Many Italian cookies have a crumbly, slightly sweet flavor and texture similar (but not nearly as hard) to biscotti. Much like biscotti, some cookies are slightly bitter and are served with red wine. However most Italian cookies are sweet, but usually not too sweet, being flavored with nuts, candied fruits or light glazes." |
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10
"Pasta certainly existed in places other than Italy, however. The Chinese had been making it since at least 3000 B.C. And Greece claimed its share of the credit -- according to Greek mythology, the Greek God Vulcan invented a device that created long strings of dough." |
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Definition
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10
"1519 that the explorer Cortez brought the first tomatoes back to Europe from the New World. And when tomatoes were first introduced, they were grown exclusively as a decorative plant. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family, and it was assumed that it was poisonous as well. (Actually, the leaves and stems are toxic.) Eventually, it was discovered that tomatoes could be used as a food source, but it wasn't until the 18th century that it became a popular food item" |
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11
"Basil comes in over 40 varieties (in some circles it is reported to be above 60), but the variety that comes to the minds of most people is "Sweet Basil" also known as Ocimum basilicum. It originated in Asia, but just where in Asia is not known. It could have been as far east as the Hunan region of China. The most ancient record we have of it is from India. It spread from there by seed and plants to Egypt where it was used as an embalming and preserving herb in mummies." |
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11
"The name comes from the Greek thymos meaning spirit or smoke. Properties attributed to thyme by the Greeks included the giving of valour and restoring vigour. The Romans also attributed these qualities, their soldiers bathing in it before battle to gain vigour, strength and courage." |
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11
"It is mentioned by the ancient Romans in the forth century BC. Two types, one with dense crowded leaves the other with open, broader leaves are described. Pliny, in the first century AD writes that there would not be a salad or sauce served without parsley." |
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11
"Rosemary was one of the cordial herbs used to flavour ale and wine. It was also used in Christmas decoration. Both in Spain and Italy, it has been considered a safeguard from witches and evil influences generally. The Sicilians believe that young fairies, taking the form of snakes, lie amongst the branches" |
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11
"The word oregano means “joy of the mountain” from the Greek oros, meaning mountain and ganos meaning joy. Oregano grew prolifically on the Greek hillsides and was encouraged because it was believed to make the meat from the grazing goats and sheep more tender and tastier." |
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12
"Pigs destined to become Prosciutto di Toscano must weigh at least 145 kilos and be no less than nine months old. Before curing, each fresh prosciutto must weigh in at a minimum of eleven kilos. The Tuscan DOP rules of prosciutto production demand that each prosciutto be aged for more than one year; 14 or 15 months is usually considered the perfect amount of time for curing." |
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13
*Gorgonzola*Ricotta*Provolone
*Parmasan*Romano*Mozzarella
*Mascarpone*Caprino*Asiago* |
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14
•Appetizers
•Pasta
•Meat / Fish ( with Vegetables or salad )
•Salad
•Cheese
•Fruit
•Sweets and coffee
•Ammazzacaffe ( Grappa or Amaro ) |
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14
"Even McDonald's in Italy serves cappuccino for breakfast. In Italy, forget eggs and bacon or sausages for breakfast except possibly in a hotel that caters to American or English tastes. Cappuccino and Brioches are one of the few 'legal' options. Maybe you could have yogurt... probably having tea is pushing it too far." |
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7
"4.Have mineral water and or wine with your meal. Forget sodas or milk unless you are a teenager or a small child. An exception can be made if you are eating pizza at lunch time." |
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7
"3.No bread should be eaten together with pasta - this is a major no-no. In the US, we make fresh bread when guests come; however, serving hot fresh bread is what Barbarians would do" |
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7
"6.Coffee may be drunk with fruit or dessert but never with the main meal. In addition, traditionally coffees with milk (capuccinos and lattes) are for breakfast only. Lunch and dinner are followed by espressos, or, at most an espresso macchiato" |
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7
"8.If you are eating at someone's home, there is still an expectation that you will eat everything on your plate. Again, this has changed somewhat over time, but leaving large amounts of food is still considered an insult to the cook. But watch out for the clean plate problem: cleaning your plate too quickly can cause the home chef to refill it and expect another clean plate." |
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7
"10.Salad dressing: Italians use oil and vinegar so do not expect ranch, thousand island, or, worse yet "Italian" salad dressing." |
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Definition
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Term
7
"11.Spaghetti: Italians (above 4 years of age) never cut their spaghetti. Well, Italians have been eating spaghetti all their life ..they should be able to roll it up on their fork easily. Once upon a time (mainly up to my grandfather's generation) the use of the spoon was common. However, it is not used anymore - the spoon is definitely out of fashion now." |
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Definition
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Term
7
"Traditionally, white wine goes with fish, red wine goes with meat. White wine is traditionally chilled, red wine (except for sparkling red) is traditionally not chilled." |
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Definition
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Term
7
During Lunch and Dinner "No butter will be served to spread on your bread." |
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Definition
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Term
7
"Timing of meals is crucial. Lunch is served at 1.00 PM and dinner at 8.00 PM. In northern Italy it can be a little earlier and a little later towards the south but don’t dream of eating at 4.00, the restaurant kitchens are closed until dinner time." |
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Definition
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Term
8
Meals consist of a "primo" (pasta or rice)"segundo" (meat or fish) and "contorno" (side dish) |
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Definition
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Term
8
"Every dish is served in a different plate, mixing is strongly discouraged." |
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Definition
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Term
8
At the end of dinner (and sometimes lunch) fruit, cheeses and coffee |
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Definition
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