When Italy is mentioned, it is hard to not think about the
countries prestigious cuisine.
People travel from different countries, and continents to get a first
hand experience of the Italian cuisine.
In my opinion, no country is better known for its food than Italy
is. When you come to Italy, you
know you are going to be eating a lot.
Italians pride themselves on their famous 5 to 7 course meals. The first meal is called the antipasto,
which means “before the meal”.
Traditional antipasto mostly includes cured meats, olives, and
cheese. Cheese is a major
ingredient in almost every Italian dish.
The next course in the Italian meal structure is called “Primo” which
means first. In most cases, primo
consists of a pasta dish but it is not uncommon to order a soup for primo.
The next course is called “Secondo” ,
which means second. During the
secondo part of the meal, one can find themselves having a fish or meat dish. The “Contorno” part of the meal is
serves with the secondo dish and includes either a salad or some cooked
vegetables. Lastly, desert is
served with coffee and/or sweets such as cake or cookies.
Of
course, no dish is complete without a glass/bottle of wine. Italy is the second largest producer of
wine in the world behind France, and is the largest exporter and consumer of
wine. Grapes are grown in every
region in Italy, which has resulted in Italy having over 1 million vineyards
throughout the whole country.
In regards to Italian cuisine in Africa, there is a considerable amount of influence in African countries. Specifically, Ethiopia, Libya, and Somalia, have a large amount of Italian cuisine in their culture.
Sources:
1) Capatti, Alberto and Montanari, Massimo. Italian Cuisine: a Cultural History. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003
2) Dickie, John, Delizia! The Epic History of Italians and Their Food (New York, 2008)
3) Koplan, Steven; Smith, Brian H.; Weiss, Michael A.; Exploring Wine, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996.
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