Italian snacks for the holidays. Italian cold appetizer recipes

This is an article with photos about Italian dishes that you must definitely eat in Italy. Italian cuisine is considered some of the best in the world, but you need to know what to choose from the menu.

After a couple of days in Italy, stuffed with pizza, pasta and panini, I ran into a problem. What exactly should you order in Italian restaurants so as not to be disappointed (or God forbid you lose weight :)) during your 3 weeks of vacation?

My dear readers, friends and subscribers on social media came to the rescue. networks who generously shared their advice, for which we thank them very much. Below is a jointly compiled list of Italian dishes, as well as the average price of food in Italian establishments. I tried 90% of the list and left 10% for next time.

Seafood in Italy

• Tomato mussel soup(Zuppa di cozze al pomodoro) - the best thing I had the opportunity to eat in Italy. I also ate Sicilian-style mussels and was not delighted. It all depends on the restaurant. Price 8-13€

• King prawns grilled or in sauces (Gamberoni alla griglia). The most delicious shrimp were in. Price 10-15€

• Swordfish in Sicilian style with tomatoes (Pesce spada alla siciliana). Price 12-13€

• Swordfish grilled(Pesce spada alla griglia). Price 12-13€

• Grilled Dorado(Dorado Griglio). Price 50-60€ for 1 kg. Dorado is worth on the market 15€ per kg .

• Octopus in different variations (Polpo). For example, Sicilian-style octopus with garlic and thyme. “Nothing tastier has yet been invented in Mediterranean cuisine,” is a quote from traveler and gourmet Sergei Kormilitsyn. 12-18€ for a hot dish

• Octopus with potatoes(Polpo con patate) is a specialty of the Amalfi Coast. Keep in mind that octopus is often served as a cold appetizer in Sicily and southern Italy. Price 7 —8€

• Shrimp cocktail(Сocktail di gamberi). Popular cold appetizer. Not for everybody. Served in a glass with shrimp mixed with salad and sauce. If you spread shrimp on bread, it turns out delicious. 7-10€

Other Italian dishes

• Eggplant, baked with tomatoes, mozzarella and parmesan (Melanzane alla parmigiana)

• Grilled vegetables(Verdure alla griglia) - always delicious. Price 6€

• Lamb meat on skewers(Arrosticini di pecora). This dish is prepared only in the Abruzzo region and nowhere else. To prepare this lamb kebab in the Marche region, you had to order the meat online from Abruzzo. I haven't eaten the lamb, but the guys said it was delicious.

• Spaghetti with clams and parsley (Spaghetti con le vongole). Friends prepared this dish from shellfish collected on the seashore near their house. You need to collect shellfish early in the morning (at 6-7 o'clock) in order to get ahead of other fishermen. 12-15€

• Carne cruda(Сarne cruda) - raw beef of a certain breed of bulls, a minimum of spices. Originally from Piedmont. I haven't tried it. 15-20€

• Pizza(Pizza) - real pizza is cooked in a charcoal oven. We can talk about pizza for a long time. From 2€ for a piece in a street eatery up to 12€ for pizza with seafood in a restaurant.

• Paste(Pasta) is a traditional dish of Italian cuisine. Pasta with various sauces. For our taste, pasta in Italy is undercooked. They specially cook the pasta for a very short time. The version of pasta that is served in our restaurants will be tasteless and overcooked for an Italian. 7-15€

Be sure to read mine, where I tell you how much a vacation in this delicious and warm country will cost

• Minestroni(Minestrone) - vegetable soup

• Panini(Panini) - Italian sandwich made from flat white wheat bread, price 5€

• Risotto(Risotto) - a rice dish. Prepared with seafood, meat, vegetables. 8-13€

• Lasagna(Lasagne) - a popular Italian dish made from flat sheets of pasta with filling, 9-12€

• Ravioli(Ravioli) is an Italian analogue of dumplings made from filled pasta sheets. Restaurants often serve store-bought ravioli - they are mediocre. When you twist it by hand, it turns out very tasty.

• Polenta(Polenta) - porridge made from corn flour

• Caprese(Caprese) - Italian appetizer made from tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and olive oil

• Gnocchi(Gnocchi) - Italian dumplings

• Provola and Caciocavallo cheeses

Italian desserts

Desserts and sweets are usually sold in cafes or establishments called Pasticceria

• Tortuffa(Tortuffa) - a divinely delicious scoop of ice cream with chocolate inside. It's better not to order chocolate ice cream because the chocolate ice cream is too sweet. Costs 4-5€

• Granita(Granita) - Sicilian dessert. Crushed ice with sugar syrup of different colors and flavors. Price 3-4€

• Cannoli(Cannoli) is a Sicilian dessert. A waffle tube filled with mascarpone cheese, whipped cottage cheese or ricotta with the addition of syrups or wine. Sold everywhere

• Tiramisu(Tiramisù) is the cake of Italian students because it does not need to be baked. Made from savoiardi biscuits, mascarpone cheese, coffee, eggs and sugar. I thought that I had eaten Tiramisu many times, but it turned out that before my trip to Italy I had never tried Tiramisu.

• Ice cream(Gelate) sold at Gelateria - from 1€ for the ball. On average - 2 € for a small box and 4-5€ for a big one. On tourist streets they ask for 4-5€ for one small ball.

• Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee! Even if you don't drink coffee, it's worth a try. 1-4€, on average 2€

Where to eat in Italy?

Establishments in Italy are divided into several types:

• Ristorante— high prices and level of service.

• Trattoria- often this is a family establishment with a homely atmosphere, a regular clientele and a menu in Italian. Prices in trattorias are lower than in restaurants.

• Taverna is a tavern where you can not only drink, but also eat.

• Osteria- also a simpler establishment with food and wine.

• Pizzeria— usually there are only pizza and appetizers on the menu, and less often other dishes.

• Gelateria— they sell ice cream there

• Pasticceria— cakes, pastries and desserts are sold here

Where to buy products in Italy?

There are many chain supermarkets in Italy: Lidl, Auchan, Carrefour and others. Also, in every town, even the smallest one, there will definitely be a small Supermercado, where essential and essential products are sold at inflated prices.

If you want to cook your own food, you can also buy food in Italy in special shops. I don’t know if they exist in the north, but they are still popular in the south of Italy. We mostly rented apartments with a kitchen and sometimes cooked our own meals.

• Macelleria- butcher shop

• Pescheria or Mercato del pesce— a store or market with seafood. Markets are usually open in the morning

• Panificio- bakery

What do you need to know before going to an Italian restaurant in Italy?

• In Italy, expensive does not = tasty. More often it's the other way around. If possible, always ask locals where they eat and go to local establishments.

• If you want to have a normal tasty meal in Italy, it is better to learn the names of the main dishes and products in Italian.

• Cafes and restaurants that have menus in English or Russian are aimed at tourists. There's a good chance the food there is so-so.

• We encountered that the prices on the menu in Italian were lower than for the same dishes on the menu in English.

• Check the final invoice amount. There was a precedent when they added a couple of euros to the price indicated on the menu. When the error was pointed out to the waitress, the money was returned. It's a small thing, but still unpleasant.

• In some restaurants, the amount of the bill depends not only on what exactly you ate, but also on where exactly you sat: at the bar, at a table by the window, on the terrace. It is rather rare, but it may happen that breakfast will cost as much as a full lunch due to the fact that your table had a good view.

• If you are served palm oil sticks, popular in Italy, before eating, do not rush to eat them. This is not Mexico, where they give free tacos, or even Georgia with its pita bread at the expense of the establishment. Once, to celebrate, we ate one stick each, each cost 3€ .

• Bread is often served with meals. Sometimes they take money for it, sometimes they don’t. The Italians themselves pour olive oil on their bread (it is always present on the table) - it tastes better.

• Restaurants also charge for water 2-3€ , but they can bring it without asking.

• Drinks in restaurants cost 2-4€ for a small can of cola or beer, 2-3€ for a bottle of water.

• Tips in Italy are included in the bill in most restaurants and cafes and amount to 10% of the amount

• If you want to eat in a small town, be prepared for the fact that most establishments are open from 12.00 to 14.00, after which they close for a siesta from 14.30 to 18.00, then open until 21-22 hours. It is not easy to find an establishment that is open in the middle of the night. Italians have lunch strictly from 13.00 to 14.30, and have dinner only in the evening, so if the city is unpopular among tourists, restaurants and cafes will be closed for several hours during the day in 90% of cases.

• Italians drink coffee around the clock, but cappuccino only in the morning. If you plan to pretend to be a local, don’t drink cappuccino during the day and evening - sleep yourself off :)

Menu in Italian restaurants

The menu in Italian restaurants usually consists of several sections.

Antipasti (“antipasti” or “antipasto”, if in the singular) are Italian appetizers, without which no Italian meal, no matter how long, is unthinkable. Literally translated, “antipasti” means “before a meal,” that is, a dish consumed as a prelude to the main hearty dishes of lunch or dinner. Below we list in detail the main types of Italian snacks. There will be dishes with smoked meats, and vegetables marinated in oil, and dishes with olives, and caprese, and dishes with cheeses and seafood, and, and, and dishes with pieces of fresh fruit and herbs.

The selection of Italian snacks is truly huge. In general, it should be said that if some catering establishment associated with Italian cuisine cannot offer it to you, then this will only indicate the unprofessionalism of the chefs there. As a rule, the higher the class of an Italian restaurant, the higher the chance that you will find a display case with snacks, where you can choose those that your heart desires.

Types of antipasti

All Italian antipasti can be divided into three main types: meat antipasti, fish antipasti and vegetarian antipasti.

If you suddenly have to order them in Italy, then my advice to you is to try to order fish antipasti where they definitely know how to cook them, that is, in the coastal cities: Catania, Rimini, Livorno, Genoa, Venice and Milan. The latter is not located on the sea, but there is always the freshest fish and virtuoso chefs when it comes to fish antipasti.

In the central part of the country, where the sea is relatively far away (not by our standards), I would recommend trying meat antipasti: in Verona, Brescia, Mantua.

Don’t forget that white wine goes well with fish dishes (and this also applies to appetizers), and it’s better to order red wine with meat antipasti. You can even go with fish with beer, for that matter, but under no circumstances take local vodka (grappa). This, let's say, is not for everyone.

Antipasti di pesce – fish snacks

Antipasto di pesce

Antipasto di pesce– cold assorted fish appetizer. It is characteristic that there should not be a lot of fish in its composition. What should be: shrimp, lobsters, crustaceans, shells and small pieces of fish are allowed.

Capesante

Capesante- This is a scallop antipasti. Translated from Italian it means “Holy Head”. It so happened historically that in medieval Italy, scallops were ubiquitous and were eaten by the poorest segments of the population, mainly by poor monks. They could catch scallops during their long wanderings anywhere on the coast and cook them right there on the spot. And they practically had no other food.

Carpaccio di pesce spada (salmone, tonno)

Carpaccio di pesce spada (salmone, tonno)– antipasti in the form of sliced ​​swordfish (salmon, tuna). It comes in the form of cutting all three types, then it is called tris di pesce. The fish must be smoked.

Cocktail di gamberetti con salsa rosa

Cocktail di gamberetti con salsa rosa– carefully peeled pink shrimp with a thick sauce. Very tasty snack!

Cozze e Vongole

Cozze e Vongole- these are mussels and small gray boiled shells, which we call “venery”. A wonderful and very healthy dish that goes well with white wine.

Cozze alla Marinara

Cozze alla Marinara- in general, this is the same dish as Zuppa di Cozze, that is, fisherman's mussels. Mussels are boiled in their own juice (just in a deep bowl without water). During the cooking process they open on their own. To the dish Cozze alla Marinara An empty vessel is also supplied for discarding inedible shells. But if the shell did not open during cooking, then you just need to throw it out entirely - it was spoiled even before you tried to cook it. It is not always possible to determine this in advance. This dish can be generously peppered and tomatoes added, then we get another dish - Pepato.

Crudo di mare

It's just another name for the dish Antipasto di pesce.

Frittura di calamari

Frittura di calamari- This is a very heavy fatty fried dish for the stomach. Translated as “deep-fried squid.” As an addition, other inhabitants of the deep sea may be found in deep-fried food.

Insalata ai frutti di mare

Insalata ai frutti di mare– funny translation “from sea reptiles”. Boiled squid, octopus, mussels and all sorts of other things that were caught in the nets overnight and brought aboard the fishing boats in the morning. Drizzle liberally with lemon juice and olive oil.

Moscardini in umido

Moscardini in umido- This is an antipasti of small boiled octopus, which is covered in tomato sauce and served with polenta. Tasty enough even for those who are skeptic about seafood.

Pepata

Pepata– fish antipasti, which is a more savory version of the dish Cozze alla Marinara. The name translates as “pepper”. As we wrote above, the main difference from Cozze alla Marinara consists of adding tomato and pepper.

Tartara di tonno (di salmone)

Tartara di tonno (di salmone)– tuna (salmon) tartare. Tuna (salmon) is chopped very finely and formed into a kind of cutlet. Initially, the ingredient should be lightly salted.

Zuppa di cozze (di pesce)

Zuppa di cozze Cozze alla Marinara.

Zuppa di pesce– (from sea reptiles) will differ in that, in addition to mussels, a couple of tiger shrimps or a couple of crayfish will be added to it. We can say that this dish is a relative of Russian fish soup, although not the closest.

Antipasti di carne – meat snacks

Affettato misto

Affettato misto– assorted meat antipasti. May include: p rosciutto crudo(raw smoked jamon ham), salame(smoked sausage) and s oppressa(this is in the Veneto region, thick dry-cured salami).

Bresaola

Bresaola– bresaola. This is beef that was salted for about 2 weeks and then aged for about 2-3 months. Bresaola is consumed raw, is perfectly digestible and contains almost no fat, but contains a lot of iron and protein. Alternatively: Bresaola Equina or "Bresaola horse".

Carpaccio con rucola e grana

Carpaccio con rucola e grana– antipasti made from lightly marinated beef, which is cut into thin slices. In the classic version, this dish is supplemented with dandelion and some hard cheese, for example cheese Grana. Also called "carpaccio" and seasoned with lemon juice (fresh) and olive oil.

Mortadella

Mortadella is an antipasti from the city of Bologna. Thinly sliced ​​boiled sausage of substantial diameter. Pistachios and olives can be added to the dish.

Prosciutto crudo

Prosciutto crudo- a common Italian antipasti. Dry-cured ham, thinly sliced. Simple and tasteful. And, perhaps, the most famous of Italian dry-cured hams is Parma ham ( Prosciutto di Parma).

Prosciutto e Melone

Prosciutto e Melone– ham with melon and, in fact, a complicated version of the previous antipasti. Melon slices are added to the dry-cured ham. It's hard to imagine that this can be successfully combined, but nevertheless.

Tagliere di Salumi

Tagliere di Salumi- this is just another name for the dish Affettato misto. The name translates as “Plate with Smoked Meat”.

Italian vegetarian snacks

Bruschetta

Bruschetta– translated as “roast”. Bruschetta is white bread soaked in olive oil and garlic, fried and topped with tomato slices. Tasty and satisfying, and most importantly, it cooks very quickly.

Caprese

Caprese– in the closest translation from Italian “a dish from the island of Capri”, where Maxim Gorky loved to visit a century ago. It is not that far from the city of Naples. Caprese is tomatoes with cheese (“ Mozzarella"). Well, the ultimate dream of every caprese is to be made from buffalo milk - “ Mozzarella di buffalo.”

Insalata mista

Insalata mista– is both a side dish and an appetizer – you can order it either way. Contains: red bitter salad, green salad, arugula and carrots. As a dressing, you can use olive oil, balsamic vinegar (you can also use regular vinegar), salt and pepper.

Polenta

Polenta is a dish typical of the northern regions of Italy that came to us from antiquity. is a corn porridge that can be toasted and thick. Corn replaced millet in the Middle Ages, when sailors brought it from the New World. Depending on the overall richness of the meal, it can be considered either an antipasti or a main course.

Tagliere di Formaggi

Tagliere di Formaggi- translated into Russian as “Plate with Cheeses”. As a rule, Tagliere di Formaggi This is a cheese slicer. For example, you can serve Gorgonzola or Brie (soft blue cheeses) and Grana or Parmesan (hard cheeses). You can also add special jam to the dish - Mostarda.

Sandwich recipes

On the pages of this section you will also find sandwich recipes Italian cuisine. Sandwiches and snacks are an integral part of any developed cuisine, including Italian. A distinctive feature of Italian sandwiches, as well as all Italian cuisine in general, is the mandatory use of fresh herbs, vegetables and sauces in the vast majority of recipes.

All of the above fully applies to traditional appetizers of Italian cuisine. So, read and prepare - sandwich recipes and Italian appetizers.

Italy is sun and sea, it is smiles and family meals, it is wine, cheese and olives. Such Italy, joyful and relaxed, settled in our apartment for one evening.

I share my design work and open an Italian playlist. I show you what the appetizer table had and give you a full tour of the menu.

Italian party decoration

The main character of the evening is the table with food. Before filling it with delicious food, let's give it a light touch of Italy.

Small flags for decorating snacks. Making these flags will take a little time and patience. Print out a template for flags on a color printer, cut out the required number of blanks, fold in half and secure with a toothpick using double-sided tape.

It’s good to think in advance about how guests will sit at the festive table. Help here name cards. You can, like me, play with the names of the guests and write them in Italian style.

So, my guest Yulia Lipina turned into Giulietta LIPPI for one evening, and the birthday boy - Sergei Maslov - was called Sergio Masleroni.

Cards with original names will immediately arouse the interest of guests, help them relax, and find common topics for jokes and conversations.

Italian music

Especially for the party, I compiled a list of songs by Italian performers, as well as tracks that are somehow associated with Italy.

The music program included such performers as Adriano Celentano, the band Ricchi E Poveri, as well as music from the popular films “Roman Holiday”, “The Godfather”, “Letters to Juliet”, “The Taming of the Shrew”, “La Dolce Vita” ).

My playlist is available on the Yandex.Music service at this link
Yandex. Music. allows you to create a playlist from the desired songs and then play them either one by one or in random order. Important: Internet access is required to listen.

It’s good to turn on the music before the guests arrive so that you can feel the atmosphere yourself.

Menu for an Italian party

All the dishes presented below either have Italian roots or are in one way or another associated with Italian cuisine. Follow the links to find detailed recipes with step-by-step photos. Please note that the recipes are adapted to Russian reality. Choose the ones you like and combine the menu for your Italian party.

Snacks

• Bruschetta with cream cheese and baked sweet peppers
• Bruschetta with curd cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and basil
• Bruschetta with eggplant and champignons
• Bruschtettes with red fish and avocado

Serve with honey, apricot jam, nuts, pear and figs. Important! The cheese should be at room temperature, so remove it from the refrigerator 1 hour before guests arrive.
Fish plate. Italy is all about fish and seafood. Therefore, it is logical to serve a “pickled” fish plate. It is good to dilute the traditional cut of red fish with other tasty fish. I recommend butterfish, hot smoked terpus, smoked mackerel with spices.

Olives and black olives. No comments.

Meat plate. It's good to move away from traditional smoked sausages and carbonates. If Italian Prosciutto isn't your thing, look for turkey carpaccio and sliced ​​salami.

Salads

Caprese salad. A great light salad that can also be prepared in 5 minutes. During the winter months, use cherry tomatoes (they are sweet and tasty all year round). I also highly recommend making your own homemade pesto - it's amazing.

Panzanella Salad. Classic Tuscan salad with aromatic tomatoes, sweet roasted peppers and dressing with anchovies and capers.

Second courses. Hot

Each ingredient was decorated with a nameplate.

Download sign template
Depending on the number of guests, divide them into teams and give them a task - to prepare a pizza that the birthday person will like. The winner is announced accordingly by the hero of the occasion, and the Pizza Master is awarded a prize.

A typical dish of the Emilia-Romagna region (more precisely Bologna). A boiled sausage of large diameter (but served thinly sliced), to which ingredients such as olives, pistachios, etc. can be added. After our doctoral thesis for 2 rubles. 20k. - so-so.

Prosciutto crudo

Typical Italian appetizer. Thinly sliced ​​dry-cured pork ham. The most famous dry-cured ham is Prosciutto di Parma, in Russian Parma Ham. Aged for an average of 22 weeks, the salt content in the finished product should not exceed 5%.

Prosciutto e Melone (Ham with Melon)

An expanded version of the previous snack. Thinly sliced ​​raw smoked ham with melon slices. The Italian translator did not think that these two ingredients go together, but nevertheless they do. Definitely try it, but I recommend ordering in May-June-July, when melon season is in progress.

Speck

Basically the same as Prosciutto Crudo, but this raw smoked ham is made in the Alps, in the province of South Tyrol, where the Germans live. Therefore, the German word is literally translated as “spig”, although it is made from lean pork.

Tagliere di Salumi

Translated from Italian “Plate with Smoked Meats”. Same thing as .

ITALIAN CUISINE

Italian cuisine may well compete with museums and monuments for the title of the country's most attractive attraction. Moreover, it is protected no less than any museum value: there is even an Academy of Italian Cuisine, designed to preserve the country’s culinary heritage. Academicians, of course, do not prepare flamingo tongues, which were served in the houses of nobles of Ancient Rome, but they carefully restore recipes for preparing dishes, for example, from game, which are valued throughout the peninsula. All its strength and charm lies in the simplicity of Italian cuisine: the products are only fresh and the best, and the cooking process is uncomplicated, and you can always determine exactly what is on your plate.

SNACKS IN ITALY

Snacks in Italy are called antipasti(antipasti) - and this is not at all because they have something against pasta, it translates as “before eating”. Most often these are large plates with slices of ham laid out on them prosciutto(prosciutto) or culatello(With ulatello) - in elegant variations of the dish, melon balls are placed on top; sausage mortadella(mortadella); smoked salmon, artichokes, grilled vegetables, pickled peppers ( peperoncini), anchovies, baked eggplants ( melanzane), mushrooms ( funghi) and a variety of cheeses - for example, mozzarella(mozzarella) And burrata(burrata). Sandwiches that are familiar to us can also serve as an antipasti: bruschetta(bruschetta) (a good slice of toasted bread, grated with garlic, with tomato paste, cheese and olive oil, plus whatever else your heart desires on top) or crostini(crostini) (smaller slice from a different type of bread - but the tasty essence is the same).

Italian cheeses

ITALIAN DESSERTS

It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to end an Italian lunch with something light (except perhaps ordering a plate of fruit): what tiramisu(tiramisu), which, it seems, has long become a favorite dessert not only of Italians, but almost of the whole world, that Zabayon(zabaglione) (egg cream with liqueur), which crostata(crostata) (country pie with anything: from wild berries to lemon cream), what nougat Torrone(torrone) - These are very high-calorie sweets, but that’s probably why they’re so tasty.

There are regional sweets that are popular in a particular area. For example, you will be served traditional cannoli, which you are unlikely to find in other regions.

Italian ice cream, thick and sweet, is widely considered to be the best in the world! Ice cream gelato(gelato), which once appeared at Medici banquets, is cooked to perfection: from real cream in a variety of different flavors and colors. The variety with chocolate pieces is called stracciatella(stracciatella), a type of semi-frozen ice cream (no matter how strange it may sound) - semifreddo(semifreddo). Italian ice cream is much richer in taste and sweeter than the usual Russian ice cream. A ball usually costs 2 euros, give or take. The best ice cream comes from small artisan shops (the one near the central cathedral is simply divine, the best pistachio ice cream I've ever seen!)

ITALIAN PASTA

The main and most exported culinary pride of Italy is pasta. There are about two hundred species and forms here: and spaghetti(spaghetti), and similar to springs fusilli(fuzilli), and in the form of tubes, like cannelloni(сannelloni), and butterflies farfalle(farfalle). Italians also consider pasta tortellini(tortellini) And ravioli(ravioli) - similar to Russian dumplings, and gnocchi(gnocchi) - something like dumplings; All these types of pasta are prepared with different fillings: spinach, pumpkin, mushrooms, cheese and everything that the hostess’s imagination can accommodate.

The choice of pasta shape depends on the sauce with which it will be served. The most popular pasta sauces are:

• pesto(pesto) (basil, olive oil and pine nuts),
• Bolognese(ragu alla bolognese) (beef, tomato paste, some vegetables, red wine),
• carbonara(pasta alla carbonara) (egg, cheese and pancetta - pork cheeks),
• arabiatta(arrabbiata) (tomatoes, peppers and lard)
• and a French native bechamel(besciamella) (butter, milk, flour and spices).

Spaghetti is usually served with bolognese sauce. They are also prepared with pesto sauce and seafood ( Vongole pasta). With porcini mushrooms and cream sauce they will be more likely tagliatelle (tagliatelle) - exquisite pasta in the form of thin strips about 1 cm wide. Tagliatelle can also be found with shrimp and salmon (creamy sauce is the best addition to it). Farfalle is served with salmon.

They eat spaghetti with a fork and spoon: wrap a ball of pasta around the fork, resting the teeth on the surface of the spoon so that the pasta does not fly off. By the way, since Italian pasta is made from durum wheat, it is both filling and not as terribly harmful to the figure as one might think.

Dinner in Italian

Italians love to eat nourishingly, a lot and tasty. Typically, an Italian lunch consists of a first course, a second course, dessert and a glass of wine. Are you expecting a light salad for your first course? No, that's not Italian! First course ( primi ) Italians usually consider... lasagna, pasta and risotto. Yes, such a full portion, after which you already want to fall off the table and sleep sweetly. But for a true Italian this is just the beginning. Then comes a full second course ( secondi ), with a generous piece of meat or fish. And a sweet dessert ( dolci ) - polish off a hearty lunch. And finally - iced lemon liqueur ( Limoncello ). So you can forget about diet in Italy.

The most dietary options involve salad caprese (caprese), or just tomato-mozzarella for starters. Especially tasty mozzarella buffalo (mozarella buffala) from buffalo milk. It is more expensive, but incredibly tender and more dietary. All this with pesto or thick balsamic, with a sprig of basil - very summery and relatively easy. How to take the main dish grilled fish, especially if you are in some coastal area, like: it will be simply magical, with a green salad and a jug of ice-cold white refreshing wine - the most perfect dinner in the summer heat.

Save...or not so much

In Italian restaurants, it is important to remember that there is a service fee (for sitting at a table, and not standing, for example, at a bar at the counter), and EXTRAS are often included tips(immediately 10%, otherwise you suddenly change your mind about paying). So it’s not at all necessary to leave something on top, only if you really liked it.

The service fee varies depending on the location and can be up to 2 euros per person. You can save money here, for example, by drinking a cup of coffee not at a table, but at the bar. We are not used to it, but Italians love this and actively practice it.

In a restaurant, you can save on wine by buying homemade wine: it is brought in jugs for bottling. Depending on the location and the high cost of the restaurant, a liter of wine can be found for literally 7.5 euros (the most inexpensive thing you could find on the menu of Italian restaurants). Practice shows that red homemade wines are often tasteless (at least in simple restaurants you didn’t find tasty homemade wine, but in some of them there was quite a lot), but this depends on the region. But the white wines were wonderful - soft, dry, sometimes with light bubbles, and so pleasantly refreshing and icy...

In some cases, the price of homemade wine may be less than beer and cola, and comparable to mineral water.

Cheap food in Italy:

The cheapest options for a snack is to take a piece of pizza to go (there are simpler ones, with thick dough, square shape, and there are just pieces of normal regular pizza with a large diameter) - this is 2.5 - 3.5 euros. For about 3 - 3.5 euros you can buy Italian sandwiches - with local bread, ham and salad ( panini).

If money is short, it is better to fill up at lunch (usually from 12 to 15 o’clock) with a set menu (first and second courses, dessert and water or coffee - from 9 euros, usually around 11-12 and above). After 15:00, many restaurants close until dinner, leaving the occasional pizzeria or kebab-type eatery (4 - 4.5 euros per kebab). Dinner starts at 18:00 - 18:30.