Monday, January 18, 2010

Il Cibo




The standard lunch break in Italy is two hours long. Businesses (including some restaurants) close from around 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. Most people aren't lazy, Italian food is just that good. A traditional meal has an appetizer, a primo piatto (like pasta), a secondo piatto (typically meat), and a dolce (dessert). Sometimes they throw out fruit and cheese after the dessert, and usually serve espresso or cappucino.

Though in America I'm not much of a coffee person, I have come to rely on espresso to help me function after 2 p.m. Caffeine is the only thing that keeps me standing upright when all the blood in my body rushes to my stomach to process the insalata(/pasta/pizza/random pastry that I bought on my walk to class even though I was really full because, let's face it, at that point a dolce con crema wasn't going to make a difference.)

Pictured above:
Grilled vegetables from lunch at a restaurant in Ravenna, Saturday. Italians swap meat with grilled vegetables for the vegetarian secondo piatto.
Fresh tortellini in a fresh tomato sauce, dinner from tonight
Fresh gnocchi in a fresh tomato sauce, dinner from last night

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