The culture of Italian dishes goes beyond how their tables are presented and perhaps even how restaurants present their menus. Their culture is locked deeper in their Italian blood. Since Italians adhere to certain beliefs which encompasses tradition or education.
All About Pasta
A simple example includes the pasta’s seasonings and shapes. Consider that dry pastas are actually the same and the only difference are the shapes – whether its angel hair, lasagna or etc. but the Italians are very particular about their pasta. The different shapes dictate the kind of pasta dishes they will transform to become later on.
Another sauce for certain pastas comes from a region in Roma and is called “Pasta all’amatriciana” and its ingredients are bacons and tomatoes. This sauce is usually served with pasta called bucatini, a huge kind of pasta wherein its center has that hole inside it.
The Italians don’t want to hear that this kind of recipe would be paired with some short kind of pasta. Like pasta paired with garlic and oil called aglio e olio will only be served with spaghetti and nothing else. In this aspect, Italians are quite fussy and strict with their pasta. Certain sauces are for certain pastas only and cannot be interchanged.
Cappucino
Many people all over the planet would drink milk and coffee. In good old Italy, they are accustomed to drinking cappuccino – its coffee mixed with milk blended together then topped with an extra layer of milk’s foam.
In general people can drink milk and coffee whenever they feel like it. Although Italians would never drink cappuccinos during night time because it’s just intended for drinking during breakfast. The Italians frown upon people asking for this drink during or after dinner because they would just not like that kind of concept in general. They are very fussy when it comes to food and traditions.
Drinking
Bars are everywhere in Italy. Because of relatively small sized cities with about one thousand five hundred inhabitants they would have approximately twenty bars opened. Italians closely associate their drinking with social greetings. It’s tradition among Italians that when meeting someone during the night they naturally have to really drink something together.
Meals
Most countries the salad is usually eaten at the start of each meal. But it doesn’t happen like that in Italy. Because they eat their salad, which is considered as one side-dish, served with their second entry course.
Italians also pay much respect for their lunch period. When coming to Italy & wanting to get some lunch, pay close attention on the time the restaurants’ close. If it’s over two thirty in the afternoon their kitchens would all be closed & you won’t even have a place to buy one sandwich.
An Italian who is actually traveling out of Italy will only search for one restaurant during the lunch period. Whenever they can’t locate one restaurant and suddenly they find 1 restaurant at three in the afternoon, they would probably tell you they are no longer hungry and won’t desire to go and have lunch anymore.
Italians really have this strong attachment with their style of food and eating. When Italians are touring outside their country they would only request for their very own Italian dishes since they are hesitant to consume different and new kinds of food. Versus the many tourists who are open to sampling local Italian dishes.
They only slowly start to open up to something new regarding food once they go out of Italy & slowly they start to learn and appreciate & eventually trust new foreign food. Besides loving and trusting their very own kind of food, the Italians disdain upon the idea of other people mixing their food with different kinds of cultures. Like adding some ketchup on pasta, Italians would hate this idea.
Italians are very traditional and they strongly adhere to accustomed ways that should never change since it’s been with them passed down from generations and generations. Change for the Italians is really something of an alien concept where their food and traditions are concerned.