The significance of food in Italian life cannot be over-stated. The Italian meal time is the time to relax with family and friends, it is not just a time to eat. Therefore Italian meals last longer than elsewhere often lasting for quite a few hours.
Traditionally an Italian meal is made up of four courses; primo, secondo, contorno, digestivo, translating as first course, second course, side dish and digestive. In more formal situations, for example a wedding (or Easter or Christmas) meals will be made of up to nine courses.
The Italian meal is usually served as a progression of plates. Distinct from the north of Europe and other parts of the world, where the parts of a main course are served all together, in Italy the foods are served separately. So for example, you might have a plate having only a cut of meat or a bowl of salad. After that you might be given a plate with grilled vegetables (the contorno). In northern Europe and the USA those foods would be served all together. Thus an Italian night out at a restaurant contains more courses and much more washing-up! Italians often take an aperitivo before eating. This is a light alcoholic drink, such as a white wine. It is often taken at a bar, which in turn turns into the meeting point for friends before going to the restaurant.
At the restaurant one as a rule would start with the antipasto (literally translating as “before the meal”) which could be either a hot or a cold appetizer.
The primo course (the first course) is often a soup, rice or pasta dish, or every now and then a bruschetta.
The second course is the major dish, as a rule consisting of meat or fish, most commonly chicken, pork or veal. Since the second world war beef has become a lot more popular in Italian cooking.
Grilled vegetables or a salad, the contorno, is served separately or if requested, along with the secondo.
The final course is quite diverse. It could be a sweet dessert (such as panna cotta) or just cheese and fruit.
And, of course as Italy is well-known for a choice of different kinds of coffee, which is enjoyed after the food prior to the round of liqueurs.
And Now - Pizza
Pizza is the classic Italian dish. Indeed it was invented in Naples (Napoli) to commemorate the 1889 visit of Margherita of Savoy the Queen Consort of Italy to that city by chef Raffaele Esposito. His first creation was named ‘Pizza Margherita’. To embody the white, red and green of the Italian flag he used tomato (red), mozzarella cheese (white) and basil (green). There had been versions of this prior to the Margherita, such as the Neapolitan flat bread also known as the Naples Pie, was essentially a flat dough.
Let’s Not Overlook Pasta
An additional food class Italy is renowned for is pasta. Pasta is a broad term for an assortment of foods made from a wheat based dough and sometimes with vegetable extracts and egg. There are hundreds of different types of pasta, due to the texture, shape and size. Accordingly pasta can be used in scores of different ways. Some of the most common varieties are spaghetti (thin sticks), lasagne (sheets), macaroni (small tubes) and fusilli (small swirls of pasta).
Wine
Wine of course plays a focal position in Italian culture and the Italian economy. Italy is well-known for its wine and creates and exports more wine than any other country on the planet. Vino cotto is a form of wine made in central Italy, made for personal use and not for sale commercially. The wine is heated in a copper vessel until the volume is condensed to around half. This wine is allowed to mature for a few years, every year a a small amount of wine is added to compensate for evaporation.
