Italian Food - A Few Facts
Food has always played a substantial part in Italian society. Sharing, enjoying, buying and cooking food are carried-out with an uncommon sense of enjoyment that one doesn’t generally find elsewhere. In Italy a meal is something to be savored, whether with friends or with the family - it is a time to relax and slow down and not be hurried.
Traditionally an Italian meal is made up of four courses; primo, secondo, contorno, digestivo, translating as first course, second course, side dish and digestive. Some meals such as Christmas, Easter and Weddings have more courses, often nine, ten or even eleven.
A conventional Italian night-out begins with the aperitivo. This is a light alcoholic drink such as Vermouth, Campari or Prosecco wine, or possibly a non-alcoholic fruit juice. This is often drunk at a separate bar with friends, prior to moving on to the meal. Italian meals are served in a number of courses with each type of food served separately. Thus an Italian meal is really quite different from the equivalent in other countries.
At the restaurant one typically would begin with the antipasto (literally translating as “before the meal”) which could be either a hot or a cold appetizer.
The first course (the primo) habitually contains something hot like broth, risotto or pasta.
The second course is the main dish, customarily consisting of meat or fish, usually chicken, pork or veal. Since the World War Two beef has become far more popular in Italian cookery.
The contorno is usually a side salad or a side of grilled vegetables to accompany the second course.
The second main dish is followed by formaggio e frutta (cheese and fruits). Many local cheeses would be eaten with fruits of all kinds. The dolce course would follow bringing with it cakes and cookies.
And, of course as Italy is famed for a variety of diverse kinds of coffee, which is sipped after the food before the digestive liqueurs.
About Pizza
One of the foods Italy is well-known for is pizza. Pizza is loved worldwide and now has a vast range of sizes and flavor toppings. Renowned at one time as the ‘Neapolitan pie with tomato’ it wasn’t until 1889 that cheese was added to the pizza by chef Raffaele Esposito. It was initially created in honor of the Queen Consort of Italy and represented the colors of the Italian flag with its green herbs, red tomato sauce and white mozzarella cheese.
About Pasta
A different food type Italy is recognized for is pasta. Pasta is a broad name for a collection of foods that are made out of dough made from wheat and water and at times including vegetable flavorings and colors and egg. There are hundreds of different types of pasta, due to the texture, shape and size. Therefore pasta can be used in countless assorted ways. Some common types are spaghetti (thin sticks), lasagne (sheets), macaroni (small tubes) and fusilli (small swirls of pasta).
Let’s Not Overlook Wine
Wine of course plays an essential part in Italian culture and the Italian economy. Italy is celebrated for its wine and creates and exports more wine than anywhere else on the planet. Vino cotto is a form of wine created in central Italy, made for private consumption and not for sale commercially. The wine is cooked in a copper vessel until the volume is condensed to something like half. This wine is left to age for a some years, each year a little more wine is added to make up for evaporation.
