2. Daytime meal structure
Colazione: “Breakfast”
The breakfast in Italy is simply caffè e latte
(hot coffee with milk) or coffee with bread or
rolls, butter, and jam —known as prima
colazione.
Pranzo: “Lunch”
Lunch is traditionally regarded as being the
most important meal. Most shops close
down in the pausa pranzo between 13:00
and 16:00. Italians at lunch-time
usually, even in normal days, have a layout:
a first course (pasta, rice or similar), a
second course (meat, fish or vegetables) and
fruits.
3. Daytime meal structure
Merenda: “Mid-afternoon snack”
In Italy, many children and adults alike
have a merenda. Such a meal is generally
consumed after school or in the middle of
the afternoon, and there is a large variety
of foods eaten.
Cena: “Dinner”
Dinner is usually a light meal in Italy.
For cena, people tend to have lighter
food, such as soup, broth, salad, cold
meats, or the leftovers of lunchtime.
4. Formal Meal Structure
A structure of a traditional Italian meal
in its full form, usually performed during
festivities.
Aperitivo:
Apéritif usually enjoyed as an appetizer
before a large meal, may be: Campari,
Cinzano, Prosecco, Aperol, Spritz,
Vermouth.
Antipasto:
Literally "before (the) meal", hot or cold
appetizers.
5. Formal Meal Structure
Primo: "first course“
Usually consists of a hot dish like
pasta, risotto, gnocchi, or soup.
Secondo: "second course“
The main dish, usually fish or
meat. Traditionally veal, pork and
chicken are most commonly used.
6. Formal Meal Structure
Contorno: "side dish"
May be a salad or cooked
vegetables. A traditional menu
features salad along with the main
course.
Formaggio e frutta:"cheese and
fruits"
The first dessert. Local cheeses may
be part of the Antipasto or
Contorno as well.
7. Formal Meal Structure
Dolce: "sweet",
Such as cakes (like Tiramisu) and cookies
Caffè:
coffee
Digestivo: "digestives“
Liquors/liqueurs (grappa, amaro,
limoncello, sambuca, nocino, sometimes
referred to as ammazzacaffè, "coffee
killer")
8. Lasagne al forno / Lasagne
Origins
• In ancient Rome, there was a cooked dish similar to
lasagna, called "lasagna" or "lasanum" meaning
container, described in the book "L'Arte Culinaria" of
Apicius, and perhaps Cicero's favorite dish because, to be
soft, could eat without difficulty despite its avazanda age.
• The Romans cut the pasta into very wide and combined
with vegetables and cheese.
• A stranger in 1300, I first layers of pasta, which is stuffed
with cheese.
• The editor Francesco Zambrini in 1863 in Bologna
brought the cookbook recipe XIV century.
• Paolo Monelli in 1935, cites the lasagna in his book "Il
Ghiottone Errante"
9. Lasagne al forno / Lasagne
Etymology
• The main theory is that lasagne comes from Greek laganon, a
flat sheet of pasta dough cut into strips. The word lagana is
still used in Greek to mean a flat thin type of unleavened
bread.
• Another theory is that the word lasagne comes from the Greek
lasana or lasanon meaning "trivet or stand for a pot". The
Romans borrowed the word as lasanum, meaning "cooking
pot" in Latin. The Italians used the word to refer to the dish in
which lasagne is made. Later the name of the food took on the
name of the serving dish.
• A third theory proposed that the dish is a development of the
14th century English recipe Loseyn as described in The Forme
of Cury, a cook book in use during the reign of Richard II.
10. Lasagne al forno / Lasagne
The lasagna is a Greek / Italian dish which has
interleafs pasta with meat (ragu or bolognaise
sauce) and you can also make with vegetables
(spinach, eggplant, etc.) or fish. It is a main dish
that is often eaten warm in winter or cool periods
of spring.
