When one thinks about Italy, the first ideas that come up to his/her mind is “Food”, “Fashion”, and “Friendliness of people”. I would call it the Italian “FFF”. I must say that after spending two months in Milan, this biased opinion turned out to be completely true.
For now, let’s start with “Food”. This will probably sound cliché but Italian people do eat a lot of pizza and pasta, do have ice creams as desert and do drink coffee all day long!
When I first got here, I was surprised to see how often people would eat pizza and pasta. In France, people enjoy eating various dishes during the week, from meat to vegetables, without the usual salad. So, the first days here in Italy, I would just go for a salad and everyone would look at me as though I was a weirdo coming from the strangest planet! The more I spent time here, the more I got used to the Italian diet and I eventually turned out to be one of the many Italian “pastaholics” and “pizzaholics”. I actually tried to figure out why people were so much into those dishes and, after some on-the-spot research, I reached the following conclusion: those dishes are GOOD! Indeed, the products used to make them are fresh and taste really really good. Therefore, not only are they delicious but they are also pretty healthy! When one first gets to Italy, if he/she is not fluent in Italian and especially in Italian cuisine vocabulary, going to a restaurant can be a funny experience. Indeed, there are so many kinds of pasta and pizza that one can get completely lost. First time I went to a restaurant here, I just didn’t know what to pick up, there were penne, spaghetti, tagliatelle, ravioli, gnocchi, etc. and then they were prepared all kind of sauce preparations: alla Bolognese, alla Genovese, al pesto, all’arrabiata, alla napolitana, etc. The same goes for pizzas with the Margherita, the Napolitana, the Quattro Stagione, the Regina… I did get confused, so I ended up simply taking the Margherita pizza. That way I was sure that I would get something I already knew! One of the things that I am really proud of now that I have spent two months here is that, when I bring a friend to a restaurant now, I can show off, unveiling my skills to understand everything (or almost everything…) that is written on the menu!
After a pizza or a pasta, what would an Italian person go for? An ice cream of course! Ice creams are definitely a religion in Italy. It is crazy to see how many “gelaterie” (Ice cream shops) there are in Italy. As one walks in Milan, he/she can find a gelateria every five minutes or so! I must say that Milan ice cream shops have impressed me. Here, I have had the best ice creams ever! First, all ice creams are hand-made ice creams so it has absolutely nothing to do with those “industrial” ice creams, the ones you can find in the supermarkets! Then, the shops are really nice: it is funny how each flavour is presented in its own box and on top of it, they usually put the original product that it is made of (real slices of bananas, strawberries, lemon, …). How can you resist such a nice presentation??!! Maybe that’s why Italian people are so much into ice creams… After trying many ice creams shops, I must give you a tip: my favourite gelateria! You can find the best ice creams at Riva Reno (Via Col di Lana, 8). The flavours are amazing: Bacio (this is the typical Italian ice cream flavour made of an Italian chocolate called “Bacio”, which means “Kiss” and which people offer as a gift, meaning they offer you kisses), Alice (with Mascarpone), San Luca (with white chocolate), Nocciola (with hazelnut)… again, be careful, you can get pretty quickly addicted to those ice creams!!
Last main feature of the Italian diet: the coffee!! It’s funny how much Italian like coffee. They can have it at breakfast, during the morning break, after lunch, in the afternoon and even for dinner (even though they are planning to sleep right afterwards!). They are so much used to it that it is as though coffee has no more effect on their body, which is probably why they can afford to have so many coffees during the day and still manage to get to sleep! Coffee in Italy is way different than Starbucks’ American coffees. It is the original and pure “espresso”, “macchiato” or, last but not least, “cappuccino”. That’s probably why Starbucks has no store in Italy! People seem to stick to their original coffee and don’t want to have any Starbucks around! However, rumour has it that Starbucks might open a store soon in Milan. Will it end up in a “coffee war” or will people be open-minded and tolerate a new-of-a-kind coffee??
For now, let’s start with “Food”. This will probably sound cliché but Italian people do eat a lot of pizza and pasta, do have ice creams as desert and do drink coffee all day long!
When I first got here, I was surprised to see how often people would eat pizza and pasta. In France, people enjoy eating various dishes during the week, from meat to vegetables, without the usual salad. So, the first days here in Italy, I would just go for a salad and everyone would look at me as though I was a weirdo coming from the strangest planet! The more I spent time here, the more I got used to the Italian diet and I eventually turned out to be one of the many Italian “pastaholics” and “pizzaholics”. I actually tried to figure out why people were so much into those dishes and, after some on-the-spot research, I reached the following conclusion: those dishes are GOOD! Indeed, the products used to make them are fresh and taste really really good. Therefore, not only are they delicious but they are also pretty healthy! When one first gets to Italy, if he/she is not fluent in Italian and especially in Italian cuisine vocabulary, going to a restaurant can be a funny experience. Indeed, there are so many kinds of pasta and pizza that one can get completely lost. First time I went to a restaurant here, I just didn’t know what to pick up, there were penne, spaghetti, tagliatelle, ravioli, gnocchi, etc. and then they were prepared all kind of sauce preparations: alla Bolognese, alla Genovese, al pesto, all’arrabiata, alla napolitana, etc. The same goes for pizzas with the Margherita, the Napolitana, the Quattro Stagione, the Regina… I did get confused, so I ended up simply taking the Margherita pizza. That way I was sure that I would get something I already knew! One of the things that I am really proud of now that I have spent two months here is that, when I bring a friend to a restaurant now, I can show off, unveiling my skills to understand everything (or almost everything…) that is written on the menu!
After a pizza or a pasta, what would an Italian person go for? An ice cream of course! Ice creams are definitely a religion in Italy. It is crazy to see how many “gelaterie” (Ice cream shops) there are in Italy. As one walks in Milan, he/she can find a gelateria every five minutes or so! I must say that Milan ice cream shops have impressed me. Here, I have had the best ice creams ever! First, all ice creams are hand-made ice creams so it has absolutely nothing to do with those “industrial” ice creams, the ones you can find in the supermarkets! Then, the shops are really nice: it is funny how each flavour is presented in its own box and on top of it, they usually put the original product that it is made of (real slices of bananas, strawberries, lemon, …). How can you resist such a nice presentation??!! Maybe that’s why Italian people are so much into ice creams… After trying many ice creams shops, I must give you a tip: my favourite gelateria! You can find the best ice creams at Riva Reno (Via Col di Lana, 8). The flavours are amazing: Bacio (this is the typical Italian ice cream flavour made of an Italian chocolate called “Bacio”, which means “Kiss” and which people offer as a gift, meaning they offer you kisses), Alice (with Mascarpone), San Luca (with white chocolate), Nocciola (with hazelnut)… again, be careful, you can get pretty quickly addicted to those ice creams!!
Last main feature of the Italian diet: the coffee!! It’s funny how much Italian like coffee. They can have it at breakfast, during the morning break, after lunch, in the afternoon and even for dinner (even though they are planning to sleep right afterwards!). They are so much used to it that it is as though coffee has no more effect on their body, which is probably why they can afford to have so many coffees during the day and still manage to get to sleep! Coffee in Italy is way different than Starbucks’ American coffees. It is the original and pure “espresso”, “macchiato” or, last but not least, “cappuccino”. That’s probably why Starbucks has no store in Italy! People seem to stick to their original coffee and don’t want to have any Starbucks around! However, rumour has it that Starbucks might open a store soon in Milan. Will it end up in a “coffee war” or will people be open-minded and tolerate a new-of-a-kind coffee??
