11 Italian Foods You’ve Been Eating Wrong All Along

There’s something special about Italian food, to both our hearts and stomachs. It’s comfort food, celebration food, and even guilty pleasure food. Italian cuisine has always felt like a warm plate of food hugging you. However, what if I told you that not all of the ways we eat these foods are going to earn the approval of an Italian grandma? That’s right, we’re breaking some unspoken culinary rules while we do it.

This isn’t about gatekeeping the cuisine, but appreciating it for what it is. After all, food bears culture, history, and a little tradition. You might be unknowingly rewriting the rules of Italian dining whether you’re dunking breadsticks into your spaghetti or slathering Alfredo sauce over fettuccine. Let’s take a look at it with some insight, some humor, and maybe a little guilt.

Gelato Isn’t Just Ice Cream

Yes, gelato looks like ice cream but it’s a whole other thing. It also has less air whipped into it and so it is denser and creamier. And, it’s served a bit warmer, which makes it taste a little better. Don’t drown it in sprinkles or syrups, treat it like the masterpiece it is.

Carbonara Doesn’t Have Cream

If you’re adding cream to your carbonara, you’re not following the recipe. To make an authentic carbonara sauce, it’s just egg yolks, Pecorino Romano cheese, guanciale (cured pork), and black pepper. It’s not cream that’s in the equation — the yolks are what makes the dish velvety.

Cappuccino After Dinner Is a No-Go

Cappuccinos are a morning affair in Italy. The milk is too creamy and too heavy to enjoy after a meal. You might get a few puzzled looks if you order one after dinner. The Italians like to end a meal with an espresso, which they think helps with digestion. It’s not just a tradition, that’s a way to keep the dining experience a little light and leave room for the dessert.

Parmesan Cheese Is Not for Every Dish

Sprinkling Parmesan on your seafood pasta? That’s an Italian food faux pas. The Italians do not like to serve cheese with seafood so the slight fish flavors can come out. It’s a traditional guideline and violation will never land you in a culinary tribunal but following the rule could improve your meal.

Main Course Comes Before Salad

In Italy, you get the salad after your main dish, while it is served in the U.S. as an appetizer. The concept is that a salad is refreshing and crisp and helps aid digestion. It’s a thoughtful way to wind down the meal and prepare for the grand finale: dessert.

Don’t Dip Bread in Olive Oil

Now, you might love dunking crusty bread into a pool of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, but that’s not standard practice in Italy. In Italy, high-quality olive oil is a staple in the kitchen, but it’s for cooking and drizzling, not for dipping. If you’re dining with Italians, leave the oil and bread pairing to the chefs.

Pasta and Sauce Aren’t Mixed Together Ahead of Time

It’s convenient to pre-mix pasta and sauce, but that’s not how Italians roll. Instead of mixing the pasta with the sauce in a pasta pot, the sauce is stirred through only when you are ready to serve, which means you end up with an even coating on every strand. This method emphasizes the newness of the ingredients and also gets pasta and sauce to work in harmony.

Don’t Drown Your Risotto

Creamy, dreamy rice dish risotto doesn’t need extra sauce or toppings. Rice may have its own flavor and texture due to how carefully it’s cooked — the rice itself soaks up broth and seasoning. It’s a delicate taste that could get destroyed by adding extras.

Pizza Isn’t a Catch-All Topping Canvas

While pizza is universally loved, in Italy, it’s not used as a blank canvas for every topping under the sun. Traditional Italian pizza is a pizza of simplicity, a thin, airy crust brushed with olive oil, a well-seasoned but simple tomato sauce, and some well-chosen toppings. Those delicate flavors can be buried under pineapple or drowned in ranch dressing. Italians think pizza should be about celebrating the core elements and each bite should highlight the taste and texture. The ultimate way to savor the experience sometimes is to keep it simple.

Don’t Cut Your Spaghetti

Have you ever cut your spaghetti with a fork and knife to make it ‘easier’ to eat? That’s a big no-no in Italy. Using the fork to twirl the strands around is part of the experience, but it’ll take some practice. One of Italy’s retired culinary legends, Chef Massimo Bottura, even used to joke that cutting spaghetti is exactly like taking the shortcut on a picturesque route; it takes away the fun of the journey. On top of that, there’s something oddly satisfying about learning how to twirl.

Bread Isn’t for Butter

In many parts of the world, butter and bread might be a match made in heaven, but in Italy, bread has another role. The point of a bread plate is to sop up your sauce left on your plate, they’re not to be used to serve as an appetizer smeared with butter. According to Italians, bread isn’t eaten as a separate snack, it’s eaten as a complement to the meal. Avoid filling up before the main course, if you’re at an Italian table, use that bread to sop up every last drop of marinara.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.

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