The order of eating

One day, by mistake, I ate out of order. It was quite entertaining to see the Italians’ reaction.

We were on our way to Rome, where we were going to be selling Rugby fan items at the Six Nations game of England versus Italy, because my friend is the top vendor of Rugby things in Italy…so we had left at 4 in the morning from a beyond freezing Padova, through an insanely snowy and a bit scary Bologna, but as we began to reach more south it warmed up. We were finally only about a half hour away so we stopped at an Autogrill to have a final break before starting the day that was about to be extremely busy and freezing, due to the snow that was hitting Rome for the first time in 20 years. This was where things began to get mixed up for me. Wanting to sleep on the way down I hadn’t gotten coffee at the other stops, so I figured I would need some now. So I went in to the bathroom, then got a cappuccino that I enjoyed by myself. I went outside and saw that people were eating the sandwiches they packed. Hm. I went and got my apple and started to eat it, thinking I wasn’t very hungry, but also hearing from different sources in the US to eat apples before eating…so there you go. But then I decided to eat my sandwich after. And by this point, I had a few strange looks. My friend looked at me and said…Becca, you’re eating everything backwards. When I told them that I had even had my caffeine before they all groaned.

So,

This is how the schedule at a typical Italian lunch is structured.

I know the stereotype calls for a huge at least two course meal at every eating time, but that’s not really always how it is. But, for this, lets assume that there are two courses for our fictitious typical lunch, lets say at my Italian family’s house.

Step one) The tablecloth is set out for every meal, which I really enjoy…it sort of notes the time for eating. It makes it more special, I think.

Step two) Bread is placed among the plates around the tablecloth for those who are waiting for the pasta patiently to munch on. Step three) Then the first course is normally a pasta…pasta with tuna, with peppers, with ragù, risotto, soup, cappelletti, tortelli, etc.

Step four) eat your pasta. Step five) This is where the empty pasta dish that is wiped clean with bread is taken away and would be filled with your second course, meat, ordinarily.

(This was taken at Easter lunch, not a usual amount of meat for a normal lunch)

Step six) bring on the veggies: veggies are often eaten after everything and by themselves if they are not eaten with the second course…so if you don’t have one, then veggies get their own special time in the sun.

Step seven) Cheese! Step eight) Fruit. Step nine) Sweets! This was probably the best thing I have EVER had. Marscapone with amaretti and chocolate shavings. Oh. My. God.