A Classic Meal
At a classic Italian meal, the only thing that surpasses the food and wine, is the hospitality.

If you look at the typical lunch or dinner menu for a holiday, family or wedding celebration, you might think that the average Italian still has the metabolism of their teens. But no, people don’t eat five courses every day. A classic menu for a meal of four or five courses takes hours to eat, and is for the most part, reserved for these special occasions.

Usually, during the week, people eat just one or two courses, primo and secondo, for either lunch, (pranzo) or dinner (cena). But Sundays are an exception, when meals are not only eaten for sustenance, but are a dedicated time spent together with family or friends.

The Structure of the Traditional Italian Meal

Before dinner, an aperitivo or welcome drink, often a sparkling wine or an Aperol Spritz is served, while people mingle and the final touches are being attended to in the kitchen.

The antipasti, which literally translated means, before the pasta, is the first course or appetizer. It is often placed on a platter, so that everyone can serve themselves. Here is a small sample of what it might contain: an array of cured meats and salami, vegetable and fish preparations, olives, bruschetta and crostini.

The primo (first course) is usually a substantial dish consisting of pasta or risotto, with sauces made from meat, vegetables or seafood. Whole pieces of meat, often lamb or sausage, meatballs or pork, that are cooked in the sauce are not served with the pasta, but eaten as the second course. Fish, meat or poultry when eaten as the second course “secondo” are served alone, perhaps with a side dish of vegetables “contorni” or salad on a separate plate.

Bread is usually served along with a meal, in a basket or sometimes directly on the table alongside your plate and is eaten together with both the first and second courses. After, you use a piece to mop up the remaining sauce or broth. The custom is called, “fare la scarpetta.”

After the secondo, the cheese platter is brought out, followed by fresh fruit and then the “dolce,” dessert and a small glass of liqueur or grappa, with coffee after.

It is not uncommon that three or four different wines are served with such a meal: sparkling, rose, white and red depending on the composition of the different courses.