La cucina italiana

Christopher E. RennerInstructor of Italian, Kansas State University

Agenda:Culinary differences between the US and Italy; regional differences in ItalyEating by the season and Slow FoodMeal structure and eating timesThe hows - what to do and not doWhere to take your palate

Culinary DifferencesIn the introduction to “Why Italians love to talk about food” Umberto Eco states:

“a gourmet is not merely someone who is content with an excellent duck à l’orange or a generous portion of Volga caviar... this person is just a normal individual whose tastes haven’t been perverted by McDonald’s. A gourmet, an epicure, a true enthusiast of cuisine, is someone capable of travelling hundreds of kilometers to go to that special restaurant where they make the very best duck à l’orange in the world.”

You might be poor college students, but you are going to Italy, the land where food is not something to be quickly inhaled, but to be enjoyed, savored, and most of all to dazzle your senses.

Culinary DifferencesItaly, as you will discover is very different from where we live. Open spaces are rare; the horizon never expands to the titanic proportions we can experience on a walk along the top of a flint hill. Roads are rarely straight, with a couple exceptions in the Po Valley, and your vision is often limited to a couple of miles at the most, either by a hill or a mountain, village, or woods.As you traverse Italy, over the Apennines, you will get the impression that you are entering another country from where you have just come. Even the seas are different: those of the Tyrrhenian coast offer panoramas, beaches of a sort, and coastlines very different from those of the Adriatic seaboard, not to mention the great islands.

Culinary DifferencesThis geographical variety also applies not only to Italy’s landscape, but also to her peoples. Yes peoples.In the north you have the descendants of the Celtic and Ligurian tribes who inhabited the north long before the Romans appeared on the scene. In the east were Illyrians, the the central west region were Etruscans and various Italic tribes. In the south, Magna Grecia - Greater Greece - spread over the heel and toe of Italy’s boot, half way up the peninsula and across Sicily and Sardinia. Following the Romans came the Goths, the Lombards, the Arabs, and the Normans, then the Spanish, French, and Austrians.All these peoples have created a cuisine that is unlike any other in the world.

This diversity of peoples means that Italian cuisine is very different from region to region. What is often thought of “Italian” food in the US, is not even found in most parts of Italy. Tomato sauce is a prime example of this... the tomato is a southern Italian tradition. Northern pasta dishes are more often made with vegetables, legumes or cream than with tomato. In the Veneto, pasta takes a back seat to polenta - a corn meal mush ate with hearty stews. This is also reflected in the bread as well, with southern bread being heartier and with salt, while northern breads will be drier, more compact and without salt.What this means for Americans and our expectation of homogeneity - we can find the same food in New York as we do in Dodge City - does NOT exist. Each region has it cuisine and it will be as different as the people who inhabit the area.

Culinary Differences

Americans eat to survive.Italians survive to eat.Philosophy of Food - For Italians food is more than fuel; it is part of life, family, celebratory moments, and it is important in everyday life as something to be appreciated with a sense of artistry and delight. For the U.S., food is regarded as fuel, simply a physical necessity. As such Italians would never -

grab a bite on the run, then walk and eathowever attitudes are changing, younger people often eat fast food on the runDue to the excessive littering caused by tourists eating on the go, Rome has passed an ordinance that prohibits eating on the streets. The fine: 500€!

Culinary Differences

Culinary DifferencesThe words “fast” and “food” can’t go in the same sentence. “Slow” and “food” are a perfect match, instead.Enjoying your meal slowly and comfortably at the table, more or less at the same time every day, is something given for granted in Italy.Don’t run into a restaurant thinking you will be able to “grab a bite.” Plan on a meal taking 30 minutes at least, a hour more likely, and 90 minutes as being normal.

Born in Italy, Slow Food is now a global, grassroots organization with supporters in 150 countries around the world who are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment.It opposes the standardization of taste and culture, and the unrestrained power of the food industry multinationals and industrial agriculture. It believes that everyone has a fundamental right to the pleasure of good food and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible.

Culinary Differences

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Culinary DifferencesPhilosophy of Food - Freshness.Italians simply will not eat food that is not fresh. As a way to measure freshness, look at "food miles" which is the distance food travels from where it is grown to where it is ultimately purchased or consumed. The U.S. government says food miles in America are an average of 1,400 miles. This makes sense when you consider that Heinz ketchup eaten in California is made with California-grown tomatoes shipped to Canada for processing and returned in bottles.In Italy food travels an average of 27 miles. Italians eat food that's grown close to where they live.

Culinary DifferencesPhilosophy of Food - IngredientsThe hallmark of great Italian cuisine is the use of high quality ingredients, combined sensibly and prepared simply for maximum flavor. Using fresh product, Italians enhance the inherently delicious flavors of food with simple yet sophisticated preparation techniques. Italian cuisine is very seasonal. The high priority placed on the use of fresh, seasonal produce distinguishes the cuisine of Italy. Americans on the other hand, add many different flavors to most foods and mask its authentic taste.

Misconceptions...Food and drinks are normally served close to ambient temperatures. It is a common Italian belief that consuming extremely hot or cold food does not aid digestion, and Italians are all about digestion. Ice is not common, and water is seldom served from the tap, even though 95% of Italy's tap water is quite safe to drink. Italians like their bottled water with and without gas.

You won't be served warm soft bread with olive oil for dunking or butter for slathering. It just doesn't happen anywhere in Italy that I am aware of, with the exception of olive oil tasting. Buttery garlic bread is not something I have ever seen in all my years of living in Italy. The closest I have come across garlic bread is in the Tuscan tradition of making bruschetta or crostini, where the bread is toasted and rubbed with a raw clove of garlic and either topped with diced tomatoes and drizzled with oil, or placed at the bottom of a bowl of bean soup.

Misconceptions...

Misconceptions...When ordering pizza for the first time in Italy, don’t expect Pizza Hut. Firstly, the best pizza comes from an establishment that cooks them in a wood-fired oven, not always found at lunchtime. Secondly, pizza comes in one size, usually around 10" and is considered a one-person serving. You can split it and even share it as an antipasto for a group, although it usually is so good, you'll quickly adapt to having one all to yourself.

Misconceptions...Red sauce with mozzarella is not always the standard base from which you add the toppings. White pizza - without tomato sauce - comes in many varieties. Toppings are endless, although more sparsely added, and thin crust is the rule. Crusts will vary from chewy to as crispy as a cracker, depending on the chef's specialty. Thicker crusts fall under the focaccia heading and are often sold by the rectangle, cut from large sheet pans and slightly warmed in the oven of a focacceria.

Misconceptions...it will come as a huge shock when it arrives adorned with mild red and yellow peppers, even though that is exactly what you ordered. There won't be any familiar spicy salami in sight.

You needed to order the salsiccia piccante to get what we know as a pepperoni pizza. Pepperoni is the Italian word for peppers of any type.

When ordering Americans' number one favorite pizza topping, pepperoni,

Misconceptions...You will find far less garlic in most dishes than what most of us would have thought. Often, if you use onions in a dish, you don't use garlic, and vice versa. While there are some very creamy, garlicky heavily-spiced dishes, they are more the exception than the rule.

Misconceptions...

Thinly sliced meats are the norm. Pasta and risotto will be decidedly al dente and lightly sauced or studded with ingredients, when cooked to perfection. Meatballs, or polpette as they are called, will be a separate meat dish served after the pasta. Uncomplicated fresh food calling forth the subtlety of clean, clear flavor is what most Italians adore.

Dishes tend to be less creamy or cheesy and far less adorned than what most Americans are accustomed to.

Meal times...Italian culinary habits are changing. With globalization and especially with the development of the European Union, the tradition of the 3-hour Italian lunch is coming to an end.Today in most of the northern Italian cities, workers often only have an hour to and hour and a half for lunch. Most factories do not stop production for lunch, like they did until the 1980s, and shops now have “continuous hours” - meaning they too no longer close for the midday.As a result, the traditional heavy meal of two or three courses is now eaten in the evening with the family at home.Il pranzo is now a lighter, one course, meal for people working in offices and shops.

Meal times...One thing that hasn’t changed is when people eat.

In the north lunch is usually between 1:00 - 3:00 pm.In central and southern Italy, lunch is from 1:30/2:00 pm - 4:00 pm.The evening meal in the north is usually after 8:00 pm in the summer and earlier in the winter. Whereas in the south the evening meal is later; in the summer is can be 10:30 - 11:00 pm and in the winter it is usually around between 8:00 - 9:00 pm.

In addition to the main meals, Italians are notorious snackers...“Una merenda” or “uno spuntino" - coffee and a sweet roll/small sandwich - can be taken at 10:00 - 10:30 am; or around 11:30 am; then again around 5:00 pm or 6:00 pm. Lo spuntino means “a snack” but is usually used to refer to having a small sandwich along with coffee or a drink... whenever you feel the urge.

The Italian mealThey say only 5% of Italians eat out on Sundays, while 95% are at home eating as much as humanly possible. Sunday pranzo is usually spent at some relatives’ home, or at the grandparents’ home. Lunch begins in time to have most of the meal (read: various first courses) completed before the Sunday soccer match begins at 3:00 pm. After all, what comes after la pasta can easily be eaten after the match has been played.In any household there is always a grandma or aunt or mother who thinks you are malnourished, too skinny and need to be filled as a Christmas turkey. If you are invited to eat il pranzo di domenica at an Italian’s home, you will not be able to leave the table if you do not eat every single crumble the matron of the house thinks you need. Italians do not understand the words “sono pieno” - I’m full. You cannot be full, there is still more food to be eaten!There’s a reason why the Romans had vomitoriums in their homes!

The Italian mealAntipasto:The meal starts with 'antipasto' which usually consists of local meats and cheeses but on special occasions will be an endless stream of tasty little dishes made mainly from vegetables and sometimes fish. In addition to sun dried tomatoes, olives and grilled eggplant, vegetables are stuffed and baked, zucchini flowers are stuffed and fried, frittata, bruschetta, and small tarts come in varying sizes and combinations. This is all eaten with freshly baked, crusty homemade bread.

The Italian mealil Primo: Next comes the 'primo' or pasta course which is also eaten with bread. Pasta preference reflect regional traditions: In Lombardia and Piemonte the preference is for risotto dishes. In Emilia Romagna the preference is for tagliatelle or tortellini whereas the south prefers cut pastas - rigatoni, fusilli, penne.All the carbohydrates are consumed first leaving the protein to be eaten on its own in the next course.

Some dos and don’tsPasta is never a side dish. This implies that you can’t put pasta next to your steak.Every shape of pasta is good for some sauces: olive sauce is great for penne or rigatoni, but doesn’t match spaghetti which, on the other hand, are perfect with shellfish.Ragù does not come in a jar and takes two days to prepare!Long pastas, i.e., spaghetti, should NEVER be cut. Instead, learn the basic skill of twirling.Ketchup is not a sauce, especially a pasta sauce!Meat-based dishes do not go with pasta, do not ever mix them in the same dish! Eat pasta first and then meat or fish. Meatballs with spaghetti, although quite popular in America, is as much Italian as shepherd’s pie. The most common meat-based pasta sauces is Bolognese.

Some dos and don’tsPizza is its own meal. It is not mixed with pasta or rise.Pizza can be eaten with your hands - one of the few foods which hand use is permissible - however, most Italians will use cutlery to eat their pizza.When ordering pizza, one usually does not order a “secondo” but goes straight to “dolce.”Here are some basic pizzas:

Marinara - tomato, garlic, oil and oregano.Margherita - tomato, mozzarella, oil, and basil.Quattro stagioni - four flavors, divided by a small line of dough.Calzoni - tomato, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, oil, oreganoMost pizzerias will have their own creations as well.

The Italian mealIl Secondo:Many chefs complain that the Italian kitchen places too much emphasis on ‘il primo’ leaving the second course rather uneventful.In general, 'secondo' is a piece of fresh meat or fish which will have been simply grilled and is served with lemon. This will be accompanied with either cold, grilled vegetables drizzled with olive oil or a simple salad with olive oil, lemon/aceto and salt. In some parts of Italy there may also be fried potatoes.

Some dos and don’tsNever add parmesan cheese to a fish-based dish or one with pepperincino (red pepper).Salads are eaten AFTER the second course; never as an antipasto.Olive oil, vinegar, lemon and salt are the only ingredients for dressing salads.If you are “al dieta” (on a diet) you can sometimes substitute a salad for il secondo. Tell the waiter: “Sono al dieta. Posso avere un insalata mista?” The chef will add some vegetables to the salad. Otherwise expect to have only lettuce. Never order milk with a meal. Milk is for breakfast.During a meal, only wine and water are admitted. Sodas and beer are ok if you are having pizza, but not for coursed meals.

Alcohol ConsumptionItalians are not big drinkers and they almost never drink to excess. Wine is consumed with meals as a way of complimenting the taste of the food, but it is considered the worst possible behavior to get drunk. Italians typically regard heavy drinking or getting drunk with disdain, while Americans look on it with good humor or even, in men, as a mark of virility. Because wine is consumed as "part of the meal," Italians also learn to drink responsibly at home when they are still in their teens. As a result, alcoholism in Italy is much less of a problem than in the U.S.

Some dos and don’ts

Best advice...Eat like the locals to save and savor! Buy picnic fare at outdoor markets and city salumerias (Italian delis). Opt for a take-out panini (sandwich) for lunch from a bakery. Buy pizza al taglio (by the slice) from a tiny hole-in-the-wall pizzeria. Eat cafeteria-style at a tavola calda (hot table) -- choose from a wide variety of home-style dishes and pay at the register. It is hard to eat badly in Italy, but look for a spot where the locals are eating, pass on the "menu turistico" and ask for the "menu del giorno" -- the daily specials.

Where to eat...Ristoranti, trattorie, and osterieNot too long ago, ristoranti tended to be more elegant and expensive than trattorie and osterie, which serve traditional, home-style fare in an atmosphere to match. But the distinction has blurred considerably, and an osteria in the center of town might be far fancier (and pricier) than a ristorante across the street. In any sit-down establishment, be it a ristorante, osteria, or trattoria, you are generally expected to order at least a two-course meal, such as: a primo (first course) and a secondo (main course) or a contorno (vegetable side dish); an antipasto (starter) followed by either a primo or secondo; or a secondo and a dolce (dessert).

Where to eat...Some recommendations:a Napoli - Trattoria Nennella, vicolo lungo teatro nuovo, Quartieri Spagnoli. Traditional Neapolitan food.A Firenze - Trattoria SABATINO a Firenze Via Pisana, Tel. Fisso: 055 225955. Cheap home-style traditional cooking (next to Porta San Frediano) A Firenze - Fratelli Briganti in Piazza Giorgini at Via V. Emmanuele.Rick Steves’ guide book or Lonely Planet - they have never steered me wrong from Beruit to Cario; from Krakow to Paris.Avoid the recommendations in Fordor’s or other US guidebooks. Flush with funds, check out the Michelin Red Guide book. Best restaurants in the country, usually requiring a year’s tuition to dine.

Etiquette...

La tavola italiana...

Etiquette...Italians take their food as it is listed on the menu, seldom if ever making special requests such as "dressing on the side" or "hold the olive oil." If you have special dietary needs, however, make them known; they can usually be accommodated. Although mineral water makes its way to almost every table, you can order a carafe of tap water (acqua di rubinetto or acqua semplice) instead, but keep in mind that such water can be highly chlorinated.Table manners in Italy are formal; rarely do Italians share food from their plates - they ask for a second plate and divide the dish. In a restaurant, be formal and polite with your waiter—no calling across the room for attention.Italians do not have a culture of sipping cocktails or chugging pitchers of beer. Wine, beer, and other alcoholic drinks are almost always consumed as part of a meal. Public drunkenness is abhorred.Smoking has been banned in all public establishments, much like in the United States.Wiping your bowl clean with a (small) piece of bread is usually considered a sign of appreciation, not bad manners. Spaghetti should be eaten with a fork only, although a little help from a spoon won't horrify locals the way cutting spaghetti into little pieces might. Order your espresso (Italians don't usually drink cappuccino after breakfast time) after dessert, not with it.Don't ask for a doggy bag. In self-service bars and cafés it's good manners to clean your table before you leave.

Etiquette...Smoking has been banned in all public establishments, much like in the United States.Wiping your bowl clean with a (small) piece of bread (la scarpetta) is usually considered a sign of appreciation, not bad manners. Order your espresso (Italians don't usually drink cappuccino after breakfast time) after dessert, not with it.The use of a “take-home” bag is becoming more common for leftovers.In self-service bars and cafés it's good manners to clean your table before you leave.The ONLY FOOD you can eat with your hands is: pizza, grapes, cherries and olives - and even then I’ve seen Italian eat them with a knife and fork. Sandwiches are wrapped in paper and are never eaten barehanded. Always hold sandwiches and pizza with a napkin when eating them.

The check...Most restaurants have a cover charge per person, usually listed at the top of the check as “coperto” or “pane e coperto.” It should be a modest charge (€1 – €2.50 per person) except at the most expensive restaurants. Whenever in doubt, ask before you order to avoid unpleasant discussions later. Do not ask for separate checks. Divide the total evenly with all parties at the table. The price of fish dishes is often given by weight (before cooking), so the price you see on the menu is for 100 grams of fish, not for the whole dish. (An average fish portion is about 350 grams.) In Tuscany, bistecca alla fiorentina (Florentine steak) is also often priced by weight (± €4 for 100 grams or €40 for 1 kilogram [2.2 lbs]). Major credit cards are widely accepted in Italy, though cash is usually preferred. More restaurants take Visa and MasterCard than American Express.

The check...If servizio (usually 10%-15%) is included at the bottom of the check, no tip is necessary. If service is not included, leave a tip of up to 10% in cash. ALWAYS leave your tip in cash. Usually there will not be a line item on your credit-card slip for a tip—but even if there is, tip in cash. Tip checkroom attendants €1 per person and restroom attendants €0.50 (more in expensive hotels and restaurants). In major cities tip €0.50 or more for table service in cafés. At a hotel bar tip €1 and up for a round or two of drinks.

The check...When you leave a dining establishment, take your meal bill or receipt with you.Although not a common experience, the Italian finance (tax) police can approach you within 100 yards of the establishment at which you've eaten and ask for a receipt. If you don't have one, they can fine you and will fine the business owner for not providing the receipt. The measure is intended to prevent tax evasion; it's not necessary to show receipts when leaving Italy.