Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
»
Piatto del giorno
Dish of the day.
»
Antipasto
A hot or cold appetiser. For a tasting plate of different appetisers, request an
antipasto misto
(mixed anti-
pasto).
»
Primo
First course, usually a substantial pasta, rice or
zuppa
(soup) dish.
»
Secondo
Second course, often
carne
(meat) or
pesce
(fish).
»
Contorno
Side dish, usually
verdura
(vegetable).
»
Dolce
Dessert; including
torta
(cake).
»
Frutta
Fruit; usually the epilogue to a meal.
»
Nostra produzione
Made in-house.
»
Surgelato
Frozen; usually used to denote fish or seafood that's not freshly caught.
TABLE MANNERS
»
Cardinal sins: skipping or being late for lunch.
»
Buon appetito
is what you say before eating.
Salute!
(cheers!) is the toast used for alcoholic drinks - always
make eye contact when toasting.
»
Eat spaghetti with a fork, not a spoon.
»
Don't eat bread with your pasta; using it to wipe any remaining sauce from your plate (called
fare la scarpetta
)
is fine.
»
Unless you have hollow legs, don't accept a second helping of that delicious
primo
- you might not have room
for the
secondo
,
dolce
,
sopratavola
and
frutta
.
»
Whoever invites usually pays. Splitting
il conto
(the bill) is common enough, itemising it is not.
»
If invited to someone's house, bring flowers, wine or a tray of
dolcetti
from a local
pasticceria
(pastry shop).
