Blog #8 Meal Time

Dinner time and table manners are a lot more stressed in Italy, and Europe in general. There is an importance stressed on the appreciation of food. You don't take food on the go, even if you do take it to go it is implied that you are going to eat it at home. People give strange looks to those who eat their food while walking down the street. One thing that really instilled this belief for me was when I ate an apple as I walked down the street. I got a lot of weird stares from various people and once I had finished my apple, I walked a few streets before I found a garbage. In fact, the garbage wasn't even on the street, I had to duck into a cafe to throw away my core. In Chicago, there is almost always a garbage on each street corner, and the food is almost always eaten on the go, especially drinks. Meals are set in Italy too.

Breakfast is small and usually taken two times. Something small when one first gets up and then another coffee when one reaches a bar. Breakfasts, in general, are lighter and tend to be on the sweet sides. Croissants have a sweet sugar glaze on the top or a filling either cream or chocolate. Another thing I've noticed is that chocolate is equated to Nutella here. It was surprising the first time I got a chocolate croissant and found Nutella in it. This is completely different to le pain au chocolat that I've had that has a more bitter chocolate folded into the croissant.

Lunch is a period that is set aside. Kids can go home and eat lunch in Italy! I wish we had been given that option in high school, or maybe better food in the cafeteria. It has been hilarious to see kids pop up on the streets all at once. I've been traveling around Italy and I tend to wander aimlessly in whatever city I'm in, but in Florence, Milan, and Venice there is a certain time when all the kids appear on the streets either going home or meeting at McDonald's. Side note, the best place to people watch Italians. If you want to people watch Italians I wouldn't go to big touristy spots, but McDonald's is where the average mom brings there kid to get a happy meal toy or the average teenage friends gather to talk and gossip.  Back to the ceremony of meal time, lunch is a meal that is also sat down and eaten together. There's also the before lunch which is like a slice of pizza. I didn't really believe it even when we learned about it in class, but during orientation, we had a weekend trip where we went up to Umbria. We stopped in Narni first and while we were walking around I saw a few kids walking around and eating a pizza slice. Yes, this is opposite than what I mentioned earlier with the walking and eating culture, but I think it is less stressed/enforced by the younger generations. Then there is lunch which follows the order of eating i.e. antipasti, primo, secondo, etc. Sometimes though it is just a primo.

Dinner time here is later in the day. Back home I always ate dinner at 5:30 sharp with my parents, sitting at the table, no electronics. Here dinner is closer to 8-10pm. The odd part about that though is that mensa, our cafeteria is open 5:45-7. Eating later works better for me because I tend to forget to eat at the earlier times. In Greece, we ate even later 9pm-12am. Dinner is a long affair and focused more on the food and the company than the latest Facebook post. Dinner is where the full course meal shows up. You can really see the set courses in the way the set menus are. A drink, usually wine, primo, secondo with a contorno, and maybe dessert but often with alcohol and coffee.

Although there are all these rules about it, I still haven't set into the meal schedule of Italy. I tend to skip breakfast (I'd rather sleep), eat lunch at mensa (I have class in like 30 minutes) and eat either mensa or really late (either way not on time).

Since being here I've also learned some table manners. Here is a diagram of what all the forks and cups mean. Usually the idea is that you use forks from the outside in. So the far left fork is antipasta and the inner fork is for the main course. The bigger glass is usually for water unless you really want alcohol.

Though it is not always at each restaurant, there is definitely a lot more utensils offered on average. There is always the water glass and the wine glass and usually there is two forks offered. They also make it a little more convenient by taking your appetizer utensils away after the anitpasto and bringing you new ones for the main, primo or secondo. I've also learned that silverware should never touch the plate and you position your knife at 7 and 5 (imagine a clock) when you are between bites. When you are done with the dish you place both the fork and the knife at 3 (again clock face) to signal that you are done.  I believe these rules will help me in official settings, and most of them are from Ioanna, our guide, translator, professor, and friend from Greece.

Another thing I've really learned is to appreciate the meal and the company. Being on your phone while you are eating with someone is rude and conversation is stifled. So no phones, no TV, no distractions. This is very different from some of the traditions at my friends' houses. At my house this is akin to a normal meal. But at my best friend's house, dinner is always eaten gathered around the television.

In a way Italy has reaffirmed my own habits and taught me new ones that make the experience of food and meal times more enjoyable and social. You should try it!