Italy has always been a magnet for foodies. The mere mention of it has a mouthwatering effect on some people, and who could blame them. With all of those charming meals and extravagant wines, only a fool could fail to wish upon an exotic trip to the wondrous Italy. It is not that a person truly needs a special guide in order to learn how to wine and dine in Italy (like there is a way to go wrong with food and wine over there), but if you are interested in more than fine and want to save time learning how to do it the Italian way, the following bits of advice will be worthwhile.
The traditional Italian menus consist of many different sections. A full meal in Italy means the following: an appetizer, first course followed by a second course with a side dish. It is not a strict requirement to go through every course, but in Italy, it happens quite rarely to order just one course. Traditional Italian meals last quite long, sometimes even two hours. If you want to truly experience the Italian culture, you should go out for lunch on a Sunday when every Italian family is out, happy to spend some quality time with their loved ones.
Before the main meal, Italians like to eat appetizers. There are plenty of choices, so you can choose your appetizers according to your personal preference. The options consist mostly of cold cuts from the local surroundings. The bite sized mozzarella, basil, tomatoes and garlic bread are among the most popular appetizers.
- For the first course you will have to choose from one of the amazing pasta dishes, or if that is not your thing, you can have a soup or one of the rise dishes. When you order pasta, do not be surprised by the scarcity of the sauce, Italians pay much more attention to the pasta itself and it is how they prefer it.
- The second course usually consists of fish, poultry or some other kind of meat. If you are vegetarian, ask for a vegetarian alternative. Although they may not have one on the menu, they will surely find a way to fix you something nice. Potatoes and other vegetables are not served with the second course, therefore you will need to order a side dish or as Italian call it, contorni. This could be a vegetable (verdura), potato, or insalata (salad). I sometimes order only a salad instead of the meat course. While in Italy, you must not and you simply cannot avoid the opportunity to drink good Italian wine.
- After the second course, the waiter will offer you dessert (dolce). Sometimes there may be a choice of fruit (often whole fruit served in a bowl for you to select what you want) or cheese. After dessert, you will be offered caffe or a digestivo (after dinner drink), but you may also choose to continue to drink good Italian wine and breath in the eternally passionate Italian.
- Most Italians drink wine, vino, and mineral water, acqua minerale with their meal. Often the waiter will take the drink order before your food order. There may be a house wine that can be ordered by the quarter, half, or full liter and will not cost much. Coffee is not served until after the meal and iced tea is rarely served either. If you do order ice tea or soda, there will not be free refills.
