Facts About Italian Food

Facts about italian food

Italians eat many things that are not usually eaten in the UK, for example, snails, horse, donkey, hedgehog, goat, guinea pig, rabbit and hare, wild boar, sea urchin, sea snails, octopus, squid, sparrows, peacock.......and many more!

Here are the names of some foods in Italian:- Trifle is la zuppa inglese - English soup.Swiss roll is salame farcito - stuffed sausage.Plain sponge cake is pan di Spagna - Spanish bread.Fruit salad is macedonia di frutta.Sea food is frutti di mare - fruits of the sea. The dessert called Tiramisù actually means 'Pick me up.' The Italian dish called Saltimbocca (slices of veal rolled up with ham and sage) actually means 'Jump into mouth.'

. Before eating a meal, Italians say to each other 'Buon appetito!' This means 'Good appetite!' and it is wishing everyone a good appetite so that they enjoy their meal.Italians often say that 'a good appetite develops whilst you are eating' - 'L'appetito vien mangiando.'

The original name for 'spaghetti' was 'maccheroni.' The word 'spaghetti' actually means 'strings.' Before the existence of pasta factories, people made their own spaghetti and would hang it outside to dry. Below is a photo of people in Palermo, Sicily, hanging out spaghetti to dry.

More facts

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First fact

1. Italians take their food very seriously. The main meal of the day is at lunch time. The word for 'the lunch ' is il pranzo. You start with antipasti: these are nibbles like olives, cheese and salami, followed by......... il primo (the first course which is pasta or minestrone) then il secondo (the main course which is meat or fish with salad or vegetables) then there is fruit and perhaps a dessert. Finally there is espresso coffee.

Second fact

You only drink milky coffee, like cappuccino and caffelatte, first thing in the morning for breakfast. The word for 'the breakfast' is la prima colazione. You dunk cakes and biscuits into the milky coffee. You can also make a 'soup' by mashing your biscuits into the cup of coffee and eating it with a spoon. Italians do not drink milky coffee at any other time of day.