While traveling in Italy, learning about food is a wonderful way to soak up Italian culture. Food can provide a window into the Italian experience and can help you gain insight into the Italian cuisine beyond the menu turistico. To maximize your culinary and cultural enjoyment, it is helpful to understand the cultural differences between Italians and North Americans regarding food. Some tips to consider:
Meal Duration
Meals in Italy usually take longer to be served and to be eaten than in many North American restaurants. The focus in most Italian restaurants is not on prompt service or quick turn over of tables, but rather providing you with the freshest ingredients prepared for your ultimate enjoyment.
Deciphering the Menu
Many Italian menus offer a type of freedom not often found in North American restaurants – everything on the menu is a la carte! Menu categories include antipasti (appetizers); primi piatti (normally pasta or soup); secondi (meat or fish course); contorni (vegetable side dishes served at room temperature); insalati (salads); formaggi (cheeses); dolce (desserts).
Meal Times
On average, Italians eat later than most North Americans. While most restaurants in Rome open at 12:00 or 12:30 for lunch and 7:00 or 8:00 for dinner, the majority of Italians do not sit down for lunch until 1:00 nor do they sit down for dinner until at least 9:00. If you want to do this but start to feel hungry in the late afternoon, have a late afternoon pastry or some fresh fruit from an outdoor market to tide you over until the dinner hour.
Native Italian Ingredients
Take advantage of unique, seasonal ingredients that are common in Italian cooking but difficult to find at home. By eating food that is in season (usually listed as specials in most restaurants), you will be assured the freshest and highest quality ingredients. Depending on the season, vegetables like carciofo (artichokes), puntarelle (type of chicory), finocchio (fennel), arugula (type of lettuce), and chantrelles or funghi porcini (mushroom varieties) are plentiful. When in Rome, try the famous filetti baccala (salt cod). Or, you might find coniglio (rabbit) or cinghale (boar) on menus.
Menu Modifications – Don’t Ask
If you do not like one of the ingredients listed in an entree or you do not like the way it is prepared, do not ask the waiter to modify the dish. Order something else. While this may seem harsh, food is personal to the Italians. If you ask the restaurant to change a dish even slightly, it is likely that the person you are dealing with (often the restaurant owner or a family member) will take this as an insult. To him or her, you are suggesting that the food is not suitably prepared or the recipe they use is wrong. There are plenty of options on the menus of Italian restaurants to suit many tastes. Eating dishes prepared in the traditional way is part of your authentic dining experience.
