Italy is famous for many things but it is probably most famous for its delicious and unique cuisine. Food is central in the life of the Italians. They believe that mealtime is an occasion to get together with friends and family, reflect on the day, meditate and enjoy delicious food.
The main characteristic of Italian cooking is freshness. They believe that everything should be made with the utmost care. It is not unusual for the woman of the house to spend several hours cooking a meal and for her family to spend one or two hours eating it.
Italian breakfast- Italians tend to eat a very light breakfast. They will usually drink coffee (latte) and some kind of pastry. Breakfast to Americans, pancakes and eggs, is a concept that is almost nonexistent to the Italians. They eat very light breakfasts’, but it does tend to be very sweet. When I was in Italy, I had chocolate spread on crackers almost every morning with fruit juice.
Italian lunch- Lunch is typically a very big, if not the biggest, meal of the day for the Italians. Their lunch is served in several courses to allow time for digestion and to separate different kinds of food. They will start out with a light first course which will usually be pasta with sauce or a salad. Their second course is the biggest course of the meal. Depending on what region of Italy you are in the foods will differ a little, but typically they will have some kind of a meat and then a vegetable. The eat lots of fish, chicken and lamb for their meat. Eating just a plain hamburger is almost unheard of. They will finish off the meal with their third course which can also be referred to as desert. Their desert usually consists of a pastry, a cake or fresh fruit.
Italian dinner- Italian dinner is much like lunch and is either the largest or the second largest meal of the day. Like lunch, they will have three or more courses of food consisting of pasta, salad, meat and desert. Something to keep in mind is the Italians tend to eat their dinner very late in the evening. It is fairly common for dinner to be served at nine p.m.
When one goes to Italy, make sure and try as many different kinds of food as possible. Each region of Italy is famous for different kinds of food. From pizza, to spaghetti, to Sicilian cannoli, there is something for everyone!