Buon Appetito!

Food glorious food

Who doesn’t love Italian food?

It is no surprise that year after year Italy is voted No. 1 in the world for the best food. Deservedly so.

Italians eat so well because eating enriches their sense of where they come from and who they are. Food isn’t simply fuel here. It is a sacred communion with family and friends and an intangible connection to place and identity.

Combine culinary passion with commitment to artisan produce and the result is SLOW FOOD, an Italian movement which has taken the world by storm.

The year is 1987. McDonalds has just begun expansion into Italy with the opening of its largest outlet to date in the heart of Rome in the Spanish Piazza. Mamma mia! Enter Carlo Petrini and a few journalists from small town Bra in Piedmont. Determined to stop it, they did more than just join anti fast-food protests. They created a manifesto. Published in the culinary magazine Gambero Rosso, it declared that a meal should be judged not by its speed, but by its pleasure.

The organisation they founded became known worldwide as Slow Food. Its mission to reconnect artisanal producers with enthusiastic, educated consumers became bigger than they could ever have imagined.

Let’s begin with aperitivo!

Aperitivo is a deeply ingrained ritual that we are very happy to adopt when in Italy. Whether enjoying the sunset in a hilltop medieval village or the heart of Rome, we are missing one of the quintessential cultural expressions of Italy if we don’t include aperitivo at the end of the day, traditionally between 6:00-8:00pm.

When you consider that the meaning originates from the Latin word ‘to open’ which translates to ‘opening your stomach’ to the delights of a later meal, it makes perfect sense. As the Italians say “L’appetito vien mangiando”, appetite comes when you eat - surely justification for delicious pre-dinner salty snacks.

Since most Italians eat lunch around 1:00pm and dinner at 8:00—9:00pm, it’s a good way to kickstart the metabolism to work up an appetite for dinner. For those of used to eating dinner a lot earlier, it helps us make it through.

Sam with a negroni in hand…

Aperitivo originated in the north of Italy with Milan considered ‘King of Aperitivo’. The famous red bitter liquor we know as Campari was invented by Gaspare Campari who opened a bar in the 1860s in Milan. He served his drink straight, eventually mixing it with vermouth and soda. Milan is also where the famous Martini family is from and where they invented their Martini bianco and Martini dry. This Italian tradition has spread throughout Italy with Rome, Florence and Naples doing it very well.

Unlike Happy Hour as we know it in Australia, drinks are not cheaper. However, the value is in the appetisers that can vary immensely from cheese, olives and chips to bruschetta, vegetables and pizza. Sometimes food will be buffet style, but it is polite to adhere to one plate of food per drink and not see it as a replacement for dinner.

While wine is common, this is a perfect time to try a classic Italian drink like the bitter Campari or slightly less bitter Aperol, both mixed with prosecco and soda. Italy’s famous cocktail, if you’re brave, is the Negroni which is a dark martini with gin, campari and red vermouth.

In the 1920s Count Camillo Negroni asked for an Americano with gin instead of soda and so the cocktail was born. If that sounds a little strong, ask for a “broken Negroni” which replaces the gin with prosecco.

Understanding an Italian menu

A full Italian menu consists of four or five courses, but few Italians eat meals this large. Perhaps choose from antipasti and primi or secondi and dolci. It is perfectly acceptable to choose one course for lunch. Italians do not share meals, especially pasta!

Antipasti

Literally translated as ‘before the pasta’, this is the appetiser which typically features bruschetta, platters of salumi, fruit such as melon or figs and soft cheeses like mozzarella and burrata.

Primi

This is the heart of the Italian meal, the ‘first’ course, and is mostly pasta.

Secondi

This is a meat, fish or vegetable main dish. Popular secondi include pollo (chicken), bistecca (steak), manzo (beef), agnello (lamb) or frutti di mare (seafood). The way the dish is cooked can be al forno (baked), fritto (fried) or alla griglia (grilled).

Contorni

Primi and secondi don’t come with vegetables. They are side dishes, usually grilled seasonal vegetables or salads. Some of the most popular include patate al forno (oven baked potatoes), spinaci (spinach), verdure miste (mixed vegetables) and insalate verde (green salad).

Dolci

SO many irresistible desserts to try in Italy. Some personal favourites are tiramisu, cannoli, torta di nonna (grandma’s cake) and panna cotta.

Bevande

The wine list! Most of the time, the house wine by the bottle or glass is really good and inexpensive. Italians wouldn’t dream of serving an inferior wine, given they export more wine than any other country in the world.

“A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.” Italian proverb.

Vino Italiano

Not only does Italy make more wine than any other country in the world, they also make some of the best. The history of wine is as old as the culture itself. Italy was one of the first countries to start producing it, before 700 BC. Imagine a place that is home to innovative trends in the vineyard and a nation with the largest heritage of grapes on the planet and you get an idea of how special Italian wine is.

In Italy, wine isn’t just a drink. It is something that represents history, society, food, geography and the evolution of the country. The vino itself is seen as the guardian of tradition, a bit like a time capsule for each year and a way to tell the story of each vintage.

Wine is so important that Italy soon became the country with the largest number of classifications:

DOCG: Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin

DOC: Denomination of Controlled Origin

IGT: Protected Geographical Indication

These letters are given to different wines depending on how the grapes are grown and the wine is made. They are badges of honour for many wine producers, as it means they have followed the strictest of guidelines to produce great wine. When you see these letters on a bottle, it is a guarantee of quality and that the wine’s flavour perfectly expresses a single territory’s characteristics. Only Italian wines fall under these classifications known as appellations.

Ci vediamo la prossima settimana,

Deb