Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Bite of Italian Flavour
When you think of Italy you inevitably also think of its cuisine. Everybody in the world
knows what a PIZZA is or that it is difficult to eat SPAGHETTI. For Italian people, food
is not just something to fill your stomach, but it is something related to culture, family and
traditions.
Italian cuisine, following the principles of the Mediterranean diet, is very healthy. It makes
an almost exclusive use of
extra virgin olive oil
(OLIO EXTRA VERGINE D'OLIVA ['olio
ekstra'verdʒine do'liva]), which is the healthiest fat.
“La colazione”
They generally eat from 3 to 5 times per day, starting from the COLAZIONE [kola'tsione],
thatisgenerallyaveryquickandlightmeal,especiallyinworkingdays.Differentlyfromthe
other meals, their breakfast is very different from other countries' breakfasts: Italian people
generally eat sweet things, such as milk with biscuits, or some coffee or tea, or a cappuccino
with a brioche, or bread and jam with some juice; no meat, no vegetables, no eggs!
Some people prefer to sleep longer and to have breakfast at the bar with a cappuccino or a
coffee, and a pastry.
“La merenda”
The MERENDA, a small snack at school, is around 10:30 a. m., and children eat a piece of
pizza or of focaccia bread, or a sweet snack and they drink some juice. Even adults some-
times have this break, and they call it “PAUSA CAFFÈ” ['pausa ka'f:æ]: it is the occasion to
relax a bit, to chat with their colleagues and to calm down their stomach.
“Il pranzo”
Around 1 or 2 p. m. they have the main meal: IL PRANZO ['prandzo]. This is generally a
very big meal, even if it is more and more common to eat less and faster, because of business
reasons. In this case people may have a “piatto di pasta” ['piat:o di 'pasta] (plate of pasta),
or an “insalatona” [insala'tona] (mix salad), or just a “panino” [pa'nino] (sandwich). On hol-
