The Italian Menu Explained

Primi, secondi, contorni, oh my!
The Italian menu can be a little confusing at first. There are some unwritten rules and unofficial "courses" that can get unsuspecting guests and diners (or at least their waistlines) into trouble if they don't know how a feast is meant to work.
Today Eva's going to answer, once and for all, some of the many questions we get about Italian meals, how they work, and how Italians like to eat!
If you enjoy this video, please give it a like and subscribe to the channel!
--------
FOLLOW US
Website/Recipe Blog - www.pastagrammar.com
Instagram - / pastagrammar
Facebook - / pastagrammar
Snapchat - / pastagrammar
Twitter - / pastagrammar
VISIT ITALY WITH US
Italian Food Tours - www.pastagrammar.com/tour
VISIT EVA'S HOMETOWN
Visit Dasà - www.visitdasa.com
SUPPORT US
Merch Store - teespring.com/stores/pasta-gr...
Shop Amazon - www.amazon.com/shop/pastagrammar
00:00 - The Italian Menu Explained
00:58 - Il Pane - The Bread
03:36 - Il Zino - The Wine
04:18 - L'Antipasto - The Appetizer(s)
08:09 - Il Primo - The First Course
12:47 - Il Secondo - The Second Course
15:46 - Il Contorno - The Side Dish
17:27 - La Frutta - The Snack
20:25 - Il Dolce - The Dessert
22:50 - Il Caffè e Ammazzacaffè - The Coffee and Digestivo
23:30 - Pasta Grammarian in Action!
#italianfood

[@PastaGrammar]

Happy Sunday! What's on the menu for your Sunday lunch (or dinner)? Big thanks to our sponsor, Seed, for supporting the channel! Click: seed.com/daily-synbiotic?promo_code=PASTAGRAMMAR25 and get 25% off off Seed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic with code: PASTAGRAMMAR25

[@ufopsi]

Polenta e brasato.

[@Shauma_llama]

I've started with Rosettastone Italain since I'm wanting to go to Italy this year. I remember that knowing even a tiny amount of German was really helpful when I was in Austria as a kid. I saw il pane and thought "oh, I know that, that's bread" 😂 I was telling my grandson how the program is obsessed with bicicletta gialla, yellow bicycle, "like that'll ever be useful". He nodded, and said "we'll rent yellow bicycles while we're there". Ooh, smart kid. A few days ago I was listening to a bird singing and I was thinking "is that bird singing che cos'è?" At Starbucks I absent-mindedly pronounce grande correctly now.

[@Shauma_llama]

"We call this scarpetta" Shoe? 🤔

[@rumbleinthekitchen_Amy]

Family Dinner tonight is butter chicken, beef Rogan Josh, homemade naan & sticky toffee pudding for dessert. I forgot we will also have macarons that were extra from yesterday. I made way too many!

[@albertpremier5800]

@@Shauma_llama Right, or more precisely "slipper". I found no scientific source to explain the origin of this expression. Saluti.

[@richardengelhardt582]

When I was in jr and sr high school in the US, studying French, I corresponded with a long-term pen pal who lived in Nice. Her father was French, and her mother was Italian. When I graduated from high school, my pen pal's family invited me to come and stay with them for the summer, where I could study French intensively and live in a French-speaking family, before I returned to the US for university. The experience was fantastic -- something out of the movie Call Me By Your Name. It changed my life forever, and I became a petmanent part of this family. But the point here is that this family had one culinarily leg in France and the other in Italy. And ne'er the teain could meet! Both father and mother were fantastic and enthusiastic cooks. At every meals, each course was "double" - a French and an Italian option. Well, my pen pal, her brother, and I were all teenagers, so we could eat endlessly, and usually on most days during this heady summer we were also busy as teenagers are with social engagements, and so we could eat (relatively) moderately by pick-and -choose before rushing out to be with our friends. The problem was on Sundays. After church relatives would come over for dinner (brunch + lunch + supper,) curious about this "exotic" American boy living with them. (This was 1968, and Americans had not yet flooded Europe, so somelike me was a novelty.) We started eating at 11 am and did not finish until well as dark, around 8 pm. Three long tables were set out in the garden. On one side was a table for French food, on the other for Italian. The table in the middle was where we sat. This table too was ladden with bread, an endless array of nibbles, fruit and of course wine (both French and Italian.) The father and mother both spent all day Saturdays cooking, as well as Sunday mornings from before dawn. They didn't go to church because they were much too busy cooking. We kids were assigned to go to church to accompany the elderly grandparents - to get us all out of the house, so we wouldn't be in the way of the all-important food prep. Visiting relatives, also brought more food. This was a real challenge for me, as everyone wanted the American boy to try everything -- and to have an opinion on which was best! I had to learn to eat only the tiniest portion of each dish, so I could get through the day. And I wasn't helped in this by my pen pal or her brother. On the contrary. My pen pal was firmly on "Team Italy" and did her best to stuff me with Italian delicacies, while her brother was the self-appointed captain and cheerleader of "Team France" and demanded my unwavering loyalty to his cause. It was a jolly time and I learned a lot about the best of both Italian and French food!😅😋❤

[@maryviolasse2846]

Wonderful experience.

[@barbaravyse660]

Wow what an amazing experience!

[@christinelamb1167]

I enjoyed reading your memories, thank you for sharing!

[@judithmetraux4535]

You have just described our “Sunday meal”, but we always have a green salad at the end of the meal before the dessert. My Grandmother (from Abruzzo) considered the salad an important digestive. After that we would pause, clean the table, do the dishes and then have dessert, fruit, nuts and coffee.

[@sunnyromano6862]

We always had salad after the meal as well.

[@pliny8308]

Same.@@sunnyromano6862

[@ruthmiale1239]

My first generation American child of Pugliese dad used to quote (his mom?) regarding salad: “appetizo o digestivo!” (pardon my Italian!)

[@jeffs5240]

My grandmother and great grandmother, who was originally from Naples, always served a salad (which they claimed was to help you digest) after il secondo and before the fruit and nuts course, at Sunday dinners. Also, a couple hours after the coffee and and cordials, they would typically serve either a homemade sheet pizza and/or sandwiches and/or a parmigiana di melanzane, in the off chance that guests were hungry again…which somehow we always were. It’s a wonder any of us survived it. 😅 Happy memories. ❤

[@OneAdam12Adam]

Italians know how to live!

[@foofghtr]

We always eat salad last too, if I had spaghetti it’s going right in the same bowl leftover sauce and all Then the bread gets put to work..

[@jeffs5240]

These traditions that we share, as Italian Americans, centered around food and family, brought over by our ancestors from the old country, have such a sublime effect on us, imbedded in our shared experience, and have such a profound impact on who we are and who we’ve become, even if we’re not cognizant of it. Our lives are so blessed and enriched by them .Such a gift.

[@ohdaUtube]

​@@jeffs5240this is why i hate in the US how we do readily put down the word "authentic" when it's essentially short hand for "culturally authentic" since food is culture. Celebrity chefs and restaurateurs hate the term becoming popular cause they can't charge a higher mark up on their abominations (mostly).

[@rianaconklin6954]

I'm just now realizing that I wasn't a picky eater growing up because I hated my food mixing on a plate so I put everything on separate dishes, I just had Italian sensibilities 😊 now can show my mom this video and prove that I wasn't the only person in the world who didn't like to mix food lol

[@marykoufalis7666]

In our Greek culture we do the same gesture that Ava said her dad does when he tells the waiter 'bring something'. At that point the waiter will bring at least 2 to 3 if not four dishes of appetizers.

[@yllejord]

"Bring us a few I-don't-know... the relevant ones..."

[@Subgunman]

Same on Crete, bring us some mezedes, whatever you have. Many times that will comprise the whole meal when out with friends. Now the weddings!………….as Zorba said, the full catastrophe😅😅😅😊

[@m.baroni6676]

In the north (mainly). before fruit we eat some cheese. We are used to say: "La bocca l'e' minga stracca se nun la sa de vacca", the mouth isn't tired/satisfied if it doesn't taste of cow (dairy).

[@detroitboy65]

There is a very small restaurant chain in the Detroit area called Salvatore Scallopini. Very authentic high Italian fare there. First course is always good Italian bread, but until I schooled them on providing a small plate with EVOO, a little tomato sauce and a good amount of Parmagiano Reggiano and pepper to accompany the bread they were clueless. This is the way I was raised and now this is the way my favorite Italian restaurant (Salvatore Scallopini) serves everyone that comes in to dine. Recently, they gave me a free meal for helping to increase their business! It turns out that EVERYONE digs the dish!

[@jeffs5240]

These traditions that we share, as Italian Americans, centered around food and family, brought over by our ancestors from the old country, have such a sublime effect on us, imbedded in our shared experience, and have such a profound impact on who we are and who we’ve become, even if we’re not cognizant of it. Our lives are so blessed and enriched by them .Such a gift.

[@tjeanvlogs9894]

My family is from Molise and Calabria. I will do a fast americanized lasagna with store bought components relatively frequently, but I am know for my from scratch "show stoppers" including my lasagna. Except for the hard aged cheese, everything is from scratch: ricotta, mozzarella, sausage, pasta, and my ragu. It takes 3 days to pull this dish off. My husband begged snd begged for me to make it. So i serve it and he smoothers it in ranch dressing without tasting it. He did live and we are still married, but he catches all sorts of grief decades later.

[@jpp7783]

Ranch dressing on lasagna? I feel like I missed something. Surely that can’t be what you said.

[@ps5801]

I've known people who have survived plane crashes, car wrecks, and shark attacks, but this guy put ranch dressing on homemade lasagna and lived to tell the story? Amazing. I'm frankly surprised I didn't see that on Inside Edition.

[@godsowndrunk1118]

​@@jpp7783Oh it's real....I had friend who asked for ketchup for a seafood omelette with crab, scallops and black truffle at a bistro. The waiter came back with a handful of McDonald's packets from across the street.

[@OneAdam12Adam]

Great story. Thanks for sharing. You should be given Saint status for not removing him from the face of the Earth.

[@AngelaKSellsHomes]

I am so sorry. 😢 That has to be one of the saddest stories I've ever heard. Is he better now? I hope he received the help he needed.

[@Percykap]

The best food channel ANYWHERE! Mangia!!

[@carmelaburrone5029]

Being of Italian decent, I'm in total agreement! Eva's cooking is completely authentic she's definitely the "real deal".

[@reesiezanga5232]

Eva is so annoying! Last I checked, Italy is not the center of the universe...she is so rigid and ethnocentric

[@rightorwrong]

I have looked for this information for ages! The explanation that you don't have to have both the 1st course & the 2nd course is golden. The idea of having to have both, and to finish each so you didn't insult your host, was intimidating - unless you are having a meal that lasts all day (still a bit overwhelming). Maybe at a family meal you serve yourself and can then choose your portion size; that could lower the trepidation of being able to eat it all. A family meal that lasts all day with all those people sounds amazing!

[@claudioa.513]

I can totally understand that the traditional numbered names for italian main courses are confusing for outsiders. Those are referred to a FULL italian meal which requires a lot of time and a lot of food, and so it is served on special occasions only, like Sunday lunch or other celebrations (the bigger ones like weddings can also include more 1st courses 😅). For a daily meal we only have some of those courses. In my family, for example, we eat Primo and fruit for lunch and Secondo with Contorno for dinner. Considering that italian breakfast usually consists of coffee (and/or milk) with sweet pastries, we could say to eat a Full Italian meal during en entire day.

[@AmandainGeorgia]

So many of these things are also true for Georgians in the Caucasus. My Georgian husband and I were in Tuscany last October, and he felt right at home. The dishes were different, but the basic rules felt very familiar. Especially the bread. At home, if we don’t have bread, he can’t eat. He will go out and get bread or ask the neighbors for some, even if there’s plenty of other food. 😂 So he really approved of Italian bread culture. ❤

[@SandBoy408]

Yes!!! no bread no food 😂

[@reesiezanga5232]

wow, first world problems! God forbid there is no bread...im sure if your husband is actually starving he will eat without bread...SMDH

[@slopermarco]

Georgia and Tuscany must have something mysterious in common. Last week I tasted a Georgian wine as a gift from a Georgian lady who lives here in Tuscany. The wine tasted the same as Tuscan wine in all respects and even more "Tuscan" than many Tuscan wines we have in Tuscany. 😁

[@SandBoy408]

@@slopermarcoThe wine always tastes the same...if u want to discover the differences you need to attend a course

[@slopermarco]

@@SandBoy408 Wine courses for us Tuscan people are pretty useless. We are born with a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino in our hands. 🤣

[@mariaboccia3810]

Inevitably, the first time I make a traditional meal for non-italian friends, they eat WAY TOO MUCH antipasti, and then can't eat any of the piati!. One family, it took them three times before they learned how to pace themselves. When I made a feast of Fiorentine piati for my friends on returning to the States, I warned them to pace themselves. Some who had experienced it before did fairly well, but others needed "doggy bags"! home-made pici with napolitano ragu, and fiorentine beef stew . . .

[@gizmo7877]

I grew up in an Italian household with Grandma and my mother. My mother learned from grandma but we ate like ordinary Neapolitans, nothing fancy. No five courses,but oh, so much bread and meatballs for Sunday dinner, every Sunday. Holidays with their different meat themes, was always started with pasta. We broke in between. Had to. This five course info really appeals to me, taking your time too. Thanks for showing us how it’s really done. Going to make my bread now! Ciao!

[@danielespina2126]

In Italy we actually don't eat five courses meal everyday. A ordinary meal Is made by primo, secondo and some fruit. Dolce on some sundays.

[@divxxx]

There are differences between southern and northern Italy. In the north "antipasti" are more elaborate, they are usually meat based and they tend to be at least 3: one meat-based, one vegetable-based and a hot one. Then we do have primo and secondo and controrno BUT before fruit we cannot miss cheese. After secondo we put a big cutting board with different kinds of cheese and we eat them with bread and (if you feel fancy) jam and honey. After that we have fruit (maybe a fruit salad) and then we definitely have a dessert. Caffè e ammazzacaffè.

[@sum124get2]

When we visited Italy we were "warned" in advance that even with the menu the Italians are very particular. So we sat down at a restaurant to order an antipasto, and either one of the courses, primo or secundo. I liked one of the secundi while my wife wanted a primo. We actually did ask the waiter to bring the two courses at the same time. While he nodded yes, it seemed that they didn't agree with our idea. So they sort of met us half way, they brought the primo to my wife first and at the moment she finished they put my secundo on the table. We never ate at the same time when we ordered one of the primi and one of the secundi

[@claudioa.513]

I guess it depends on the kitchen's organization and the different cooking time of those courses, and not an intentional delay. 😅 It is not normal for sure, but it can happen that even italians ask for a different course served with the others and the restaurant usually accommodates if possible.

[@SandBoy408]

When we travel outside Italy we hate "mixed" dishes and we want them separately...but is not possible. For us those dishes are like a "buffet" not a meal.

[@annai6393]

We took my dad to a Chinese restaurant (he came for a visit to Canada), and he asked them for bread. When they said they didn't have it, he told me to tell them to go buy it!

[@Lilylanauze]

❤ yummy 😊😊

[@manimanibooboo]

omg, i would have been mortified. Also, no offense, but it is pretty remarkable that someone in 2024 in the US hasn'tat least been to say, a generic takeout Chinese place. But, hey, I guess I am wrong.

[@annai6393]

@@manimanibooboo ??? My dad came from Europe, and it was in the early 2000s. I don't get what you are saying, and you have no sense of humor. It was clearly written as a humorous anecdote.

[@ohdaUtube]

​@@manimanibooboomy guess is they took dad to an authentic Chinese place (some of the world's best Chinese restaurants are in Canada as many fled HK when the British handed HK over to China in the 90s). Take out Chinese is American food. It isn't Chinese food. It does not exist in China much like how many of the Italian American dishes are American cause they don't exist in Italy

[@reesiezanga5232]

Your dad sounds like an insensitive a-hole

[@feliciabarosa2553]

Bread is very important in our life

[@reesiezanga5232]

Ehh nothing but boring carbs...can do better!

[@TurdBoi-tf5lf]

​@@reesiezanga5232 Is that a Jojo reference?

[@GiuseppeAvella]

Bravi come sempre. La "scarpetta" è esattamente come descritta da Eva, ricordiamo però agli amici non italiani, che fare "la scarpetta" è ammessa nelle cene informali, mentre per i ricevimenti è un grande No No, come descritto nel Galalteo. :)

[@alicetwain]

I like to explain the foreigners (most foreigners, the French, the Greeks, the Spanish actually don't need to be explained) the meaning of the word "companatico": what you eat with bread. Companatico is basically all of the food except bread. Everything is supposed to be had with bread. Also, even with ossibuchi, you traditionally add a scoop of the sauce to the rice, and serve the ossibuchi as a secondo. Serving everything in the same plate is a newish thing.

[@mauriziograssi4804]

Bread is also used to fill you up quicker. Companatico is expensive and therefore eating bread with it means you eat less of it. The idea of just a plate of prosciutto with melon was luxury food normally only served at weddings. Italians who grew up in the austerity of the wars rarely ate anything without bread or some other carb, in my Tuscan heritage, it would have been polenta and chestnut polenta.

[@annai6393]

It was the same in former Yugoslavia. Always bread.

[@angiealexis3093]

🙂👍👍Thanks for info!

[@kylesalmon31]

You have to do a ton of dishes huh?!

[@alicetwain]

@@kylesalmon31 a full meal, as Eva explained, isn't an everyday thing. Antipasto and dessert are mostly a festive thing, on an everyday meal you would usually have either a primo or a secondo, vegetables, and a piece of fruit.

[@josiptito9412]

you know, the description of the long italian sunday lunch reminds me of how my southern family and i do dinner on our weekly family dinner. my grandma will make a dinner for everyone with all kinds of sides, with the attitude of "show up if you want", and we will sit there and laugh and swap stories and talk about our week for a good solid hour, at least. it usually ends with us adults rolling out of our dining room chairs xD then we have the leftovers for the next few days

[@claudioa.513]

AHAHAH, the "gran finale" is rolling out of the chair and falling asleep on the sofa 🤣 That's what we call "abbiocco".

[@isobelmatheson8036]

It's much the same here in Spain. It would be unthinkable to have even a snack without bread! Family or celebratory meals go on for hours. Then, after the food has been eaten, the 'sobremesa' (around the table) starts - time to talk and argue and really connect. That goes on until everyone is hungry again...

[@ilarya8463]

Italian (especially from south) and Spanish are like siblings 😂

[@gregmuon]

At my house growing up, for holidays there would have been an apertivo course also. It's usually in a different room before going to the dinner table.

[@user-zq6po8bv3x]

Coming from a Southern Italian family this is very familiar to me. Small portions is the key to this. Only eat some of the courses unless it’s a huge celebration.

[@ClaireRousseau]

I went out to a wonderful Italian restaurant a couple days ago for a friend's birthday and we did exactly this! The staff recommended that we order a couple plates of each course to share between four of us, and we had the most delicious, 3-hour long dinner, it was amazing.

[@jelsner5077]

When I was growing up, we always had a big "Sunday Dinner" which usually started at 1pm. Relatives often joined us. We did serve everything on one plate, though! (But the meal was usually roast beef or pork, mashed potatoes and gravy and some sort of vegetable. Bread was also served with butter. If there was a salad, a small separate plate would be used. Dessert was usually pie or a cake. Good times.

[@ernstfast6449]

That sounds more like meat with side dishes. As they said mashed potatos are not a first course.

[@sheltonterry6589]

Eva's hair is magnifico

[@anthonyhairston4050]

ain't that the truth !

[@francescofilippi2824]

Primo piatto includes soups. In winter they are very common!

[@pliny8308]

Yes, I was very surprised it wasn't mentioned. For regular week-day or Saturday meals it was a primo (soup, pasta, risotto, or polenta, and soup was probably the most frequent, that or risotto), then a secondo (meat or fish) with a vegetable and salad contorno. Fruit ended the meal, occasionally with cheese. Only for Sunday lunch was there an antipasto (usually cured meats, cheese, olives, savory vegetable pie). Fruit and cheese came after the secondo. Then lastly came the dessert. Celebratory meals, i.e. birthdays, holidays, etc. could indeed go on all day. It was the same sequence as the Sunday meal, but lots of different choices for each "course".

[@Laurelin70]

@@pliny8308 Yes, but soups are very rarely on the restaurants' menu. And, apart from consommé or meat broth with some kind of tortellini or cappelletti, or "stracciatella" (scrambled eggs in meat/chicken broth), they are usually a simple and "rustic" dish, often eaten as a "piatto unico" (a one-dish-meal), since they have bread or pasta, vegetables and legumes or legumes+cured meat (pancetta, salsiccia, cotiche...).

[@Gdwmartin]

This was FACINATING! Love learning about other cultures. Doing so through their food, the REAL food of a region, not the stuff they save for tourists. This is something I really enjoy as it maybe the only way I get to experience that culture.

[@heartsong111]

Thank you for specifying that you don’t have to eat them all! 😂 On our first couple trips to Italy, we ate like some travel professionals suggested all Italians do - all the courses. We were so full. This trip, we just ate what we wanted and had room for, nothing more. Both ways are delicious, but one is less painful. 😊

[@danielgasparek8196]

Eva & Harper we are now bathing in Mutti bottles of sauce thanks to you guys!!!

[@mariaboccia3810]

when my family did this type of meal, we always had fruit and nuts after the secondo and before the pastries. I never understood that was an Italian tradition until you explained it. Thank you! This is why my teachers in Firenze finally stopped calling me an American and said (somewhat exasperatedly) si! Sei davvero italiana!!! 😂

[@johnd.9]

Having watched your channel for 5 to 6 months now, I feel very prepared for my Mediterranean cruise in June. We are leaving from and returning to Rome, And primarily visiting ports in italy and sicily comma with three stops in Greece. Mange!

[@Javaman92]

I've been enjoying your channel for a very long time. I'm writing today to suggest that you up your game as far as your recipes on your website. Most cooking channels that I follow have a nice printable recipe available on their site. I think it would be great if you had that too.

[@xavierchavee]

Same type of composition of a meal exists in France - bread, some cold cuts and/or olives, appetizer, main dish, salad and/or cheese, desert and coffee with sweets and possibly a digestive…. But time pressures from ‘modern life’ make it more rare except in very traditional circles and/or weekends. 🧘‍♂️

[@bakerzermatt]

The difference with France is that the entrées tend to be fairly light, like a salad or soup. In Italy, the primo piatto is sometimes heavier than the 'main' dish. What Italians have as primo and secondo would be served as a single 'plat principal' in France (meat, veg and carbs in one plate).

[@annai6393]

Same in the territories of former Yugoslavia. But the appetizer is called mezze. Soup instead of pasta as a first course, but after the appetizer.

[@SandBoy408]

But in France you eat "cruditee" and cheese. Pasta is a garnish for the meat...and many others different things. Don´t think are similar

[@daisy9910]

Cheese comes after the main and salad courses in France@@SandBoy408

[@nopigeon]

thanks for the memories. As a child I lived in France and meals were similar. Every Sunday meal was a celebratory gathering. But at the end of the 5 hr meal the Pepere at the table would often give the children a sugar cube with a drop of......Schnapps soaked in it......to calm them down ? (the kids)

[@bumblebee898]

11:30 the pain and disgust on her face...I get you girl ❤😂 once I saw a french putting french fries into his spaghetti plate. It still hurts me

[@rcaccavello]

I grew up with my maternal grandparents both from the Piemonte and my paternal grandparents who were from the Campania This reminds me of a Sunday dinner usually eaten around 2pm. The two things I remember best were the large platters with some sort of stewed meats with polenta poured around the edges, and the last course a salad and how everyone would dip their bread in the oil and vinegar if they were still hungry All the courses were cooked and served by my grandmother and my mother this dinner was usually served outside under a large walnut tree I do miss these times

[@darklordmenet]

a smart move i told my friend who was going over to Italy. Watch how much the hosts eat of course. That will give you a general rule of thumb of what to expect. Now my friend is a big eater, and has been over to my families house several times. We haven't changed how we used to eat from back in Italy. So, we still have all the courses, still confused my friend.

[@ScrappyNicko]

Yes to ALL of the courses but I also remember we always ate our salad at the END of the meal too. Love you’s guys!!! Harper take it easy on Eva🤣 -Nick Giardiello

[@matteframe]

this is really, really helpful... I kind of knew some of it but not fully...

[@ps5801]

Ditto.

[@jenniferkirkland1002]

This brings back so many good memories of Sunday lunches at my grandmother-in- law’s. We lived nearby for a few years and became so close- it was great to know her as adult friends. She taught me to cook Italian, and I loved hearing the stories of parties of the past 😍

[@madmh6421]

Your BEST video yet!!! Took me back to 1969 and my summer of love. Summer school in Rome, five course lunches, and a pennica, or just a rest in the park before classes resumed! Stores were closed, was the heat of the day, so why not? Guess things have changed there by now. Also, the several hour long dinners were the way food was ment to be enjoyed. Thank-you for the memories.

[@marie-suzankalogeropoulos9249]

Great video tour on meal étiquette, and food anthropology ! That big table of antipasti rings the bell of the Greek - and middle-eastern- MEZZÉ ! Probably half way between your apperitivo and antipasto, because of ouzo and raki being served as well ! But, in the same way, one can end up having eaten a whole dinner - or lunch - before the proper "meal" gets served 😅! Needless to say, what with Easter coming up, the recepy for that gorgeous Pastiera Napoletana is expected post-haste, what with orange - flower flavor, you're killing us !!! 🤤 Thanks to you both for all your great work ❤!

[@lisadawnsupan3119]

This was an amazingly helpful video. I live in Abruzzo and have been to lunch at the home of an italian family and did not know that i must pace myself. This was great. thanks

[@dianapohe]

🍊🍇🍒🍏 Speaking of fruit, I'd like to add that we have an idiom: "essere alla frutta", "to be at the fruit (point)". Since, as Eva said, fruit is served almost at the end of the meal, if it's fruit time you're aware that you're almost done with the whole thing. So if you are "at the fruit", you basically hit the bottom and are using up your very last resorts. It's actually often said in the plural form: "WE are at the fruit" (siamo alla frutta 😂), meaning that the situation couldn't go any lower/worse than this.

[@italimarco]

Great Harper! The midnight spaghetti are a very important tradition for us Italians!

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

You guys make the best videos. I have to watch every time.

[@n3Cr0ManCeD]

I was confused as well when I first learned about Italian courses. I learned by reading a wonderful cookbook from Marcella Hazan. Not only did she describe and explain the courses, she added pairings for each recipe in each course. This Antipasto goes with this first course and what second course to have with each first course and so on...... If you get the chance to buy or read her books they are exceptional. Keep the videos coming. You two are my favorite YT cooking channel.

[@joannemazza1657]

Grazie a tutti Harper and Eva brings a lot memories of my mother's, nonna, cooking. Buon appetito e arrivederci.🥰🙏💖

[@bigonprivacy2708]

My man. You hit the lotto with Eva! She's amazing and I'm so glad to see you are also such a foodie. Well done!!

[@alexandraalexandra5906]

Oooh the fennel recipe sounds great! Could you maybe dedicate an episode to fennel recipes?? ❤

[@thec4ke]

Excellent video, hard to find this thoroughly explained for English speakers. You guys should do one on what typical weekday meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) might look like, rather than a formal full course.

[@toushabonzai]

Props to Harper for uncorking while looking away 😂

[@donnapecoraro3126]

I don’t know how we ate that much but we did stay at the table for at least 4 hours. Ours was antipasto only on big holidays. But usually vermouth with lemon peel, and some nuts or cheese. On holidays it was asti Spumante. Then pasta. On a holiday it was manicotti or lasagna, or stuffed shells. Next was sauce meat and bread. Red wine. Then salad. Then roast chicken and potatoes or roast beef. Then fruit and nuts. Then pastries and demitasse, sweet cordials on holidays. It was wonderful.

[@SandBoy408]

People outside Italy know just 4-5 traditional dishes and think that we eat this for the rest of our live 😂 For example, i´m from north and i ate "pasta alla gricia" one time in my life. And when they come to Italy they don´t know that we have the second dish....antipasto, amuse bouche, tris di primi, tris di secondi, piccola pasticceria o pre-dessert, dessert caffé e amaro!!

[@sabrinarinaldi6339]

Hi Eva and Harper, thank you for explining the basics of an Italian meal so clearly! Your videos are always fun to watch. I would just add that first courses can also be all kinds of soups, thick like minestrone and pasta e fagioli or light like minestra or even minestrina and that in formal meals sometimes a selection of cheeses is served before the dessert ❤❤❤

[@user-yb7od7es4y]

Non solo paste e risotti sono primi piatti ma le minestre di tutti i tipi e i brodi di carne , brodi vegetali, creme di verdure, con pasta, riso o senza carboidrati .

[@AlmightyAphrodite]

The amount of work the host must have for an Italian feast! Good thing we know from your video's, a lot of people are helping out! ❤

[@AussieAngeS]

We always had a big lunch on a Sunday in my family. Bread, salad and giardaniera was always on the table. We didn’t usually have desserts but occasionally mum would make tiramisu or just a simple ricotta cake.

[@kayebee4794]

Thank you for this content. After watching this, I felt the freedom from finishing the whole bread before antipasto. 🥖

[@faithsrvtrip8768]

😂

[@godsowndrunk1118]

One of my favorite uses for bread at dinner is dipping it in the oil and vinegar after finishing the salad....my dad and grandfather taught me that.

[@lisebetta]

Growing up when I had friends over for Sunday dinner or a holiday dinner I would gently warn them about the coming meal. I would coach them to only take a little of the antipasto...and to take a small plate of the pasta that there was more coming. I would tell them if they wanted more of anything they could always have it later, but that the meal was long with a lot...a lot of food. They were always surprised at the amount of food and plates!

[@bexyr]

In my experience, polenta is a side dish/single? dish (like pizza. You don't eat pasta and after that pizza or meat followed by pizza. You just eat pizza). About side dishes I think it's not that common that they are served in a separate plate (except for salads), maybe in restaurants. It's really normal to put mashed potatoes in the same plate let's say of your stew. Same for roasted potatoes, gratinated vegetables and generally speaking hot side dishes. That's my experience, but I'm from North of Italy, maybe in the South is different. BTW eggs are a secondo here in Italy

[@BICIeCOMPUTERconGabriele]

Exactly. Because polenta will generally be served with meat, fish or cheese. Please note also that in Italy we never eat eggs for breakfast.

[@Tarrasque73]

Potatoes, polenta, or something that goes well with the secondo, can be served in the same plate. Other stuff that does not mesh well, particularly salads, which are seasoned with oil.and vinegar, usually don't.

[@claudioa.513]

Yes, at home it's convenient to use one dish for both, but usually we still keep them separated on the dish and don't mix them. That's what Eva meant.

[@Nosceteipsum166]

You guys are really precious. I live in the south of Brazil and there's a good amount of Brazilians in this region who were born from Italian and German immigrants (they came during the war), so there's a bit of Italian culture around here. I grew up eating pasta, lasagna, risotto, but you always wonder "how traditional" the cooking is. I'm happy to have you guys here because I can learn a lot more. Thank you!

[@lync8472]

Love the information in this video. THANKS ❤

[@angiealexis3093]

Thank you both again for a wonderful video! Thank you Eva!

[@premadimauro2691]

As always a GREAT Sunday video. Thanks so much

[@shawnmount2685]

Thank you for this. Answered a lot of questions I had.

[@genanadeau5476]

Great video guys!

[@terrymoser2028]

Perfect perspective ❤❤❤

[@davemoss6792]

Love the show!

[@theresahonsaker8546]

Thank you so much for this! ❤

[@MsJavaWolf]

This was something I wondered about for a while, thanks for making this video.

[@markw4263]

This was perfect! I was wondering about this just yesterday!

[@JZeverybody]

Perfect explanation ❤

[@Roomfullofstrangers]

Happy Sunday you two. It's great to see you on the same day I'm seeing this. I'm excited. 🎉

[@christophergreeff9879]

Would love to hear what Eva thinks of her favorite food and food-traditions from other parts of the world (ie. Indian food, Moroccan, etc, etc.) Perhaps what she appreciates from of them and so on. It's always fascinating to hear her describe Italian tradition, would be nice to hear some positive thoughts on other places.

[@gloriajeanshaby1871]

This was wonderful! It brought me back to my childhood with family! Thank you ❤

[@mariocinque8588]

Complimenti per il bel video.

[@barbaramiller349]

Fun video. I learned a lot. Thank you ❤

[@beth4463]

I loved this! Thank you! Watching your videos is one of my favorite parts of Sundays.

[@louismonette704]

Your vidéos ate always so interesting. A pleasure to watch them.

[@turuanu]

Very well made!

[@tomlivesay8407]

Thank you for this informative video. I hope to someday be able to join you on the Pasta Grammar tour!

[@robmarais]

I found this vid to be very informative and insightful. Once again Eva, grazie mille!

[@fernandoleitao4469]

Excellent video! One the best if not the best of this channel

[@camillavanwijk2725]

Love your videos guys! Would love for eva to teach us some more about the different italian wines!

[@Lalairu]

We also have pastries for dessert, coffee and "digestive" in Spain when we have a nice Sunday or "festive" meal, and as Eva said fruit is up to you. The meal order here is almost identical: appetizers, first and second dishes and dessert (we have fruit, pastries, coffee and digestives there as I said before). We might have salad as appetizer or side dish... but it depends if it's just tomato and lettuce salad or some mild salad with fish or meats. It might be used also to clean the palette if you have some heavy meat dish like lamb, roast chicken or steak. I love how Italians love food, because we feel the same here xD I am from Basque Country, northern Spain, and its almost religious to us. And of course, the "sobremesa" is mandatory, and you just keep eating and talking all day, until night comes and then you have another meals to serve xD

[@sooz9433]

Wow... very complicated 😳 Thank you Eva and Harper. ✨️♥️

[@OlDrippie]

Great info! Thank you for this. I’m visiting Rome this year so this will come in handy

[@mariafavela8151]

Love you guys! Some of the best Italian recipes I have had. You guys should do a what you guys eat in a day video. I would love to see something like that from you guys.

[@farrex0]

At first, I loved the idea of having so many courses... but then I realized something that gave nightmares... imagine the number of dishes to clean.

[@asa3409]

Very interesting. 👍🏻

[@meercatt]

Oh my goodness.. I wish I had seen this before the trip😂 Great video!😊 Eva your hair looks 🔥 ❤

[@erinbrantley3206]

Like your doing this love you guys 😊

[@ilfarmboy]

went to an Italian family for a meal and found out what a 7 course meal is like WOW

[@liv22509]

guys, you are so cool:) very nice. i know Italian cousin but i learn every-time from you. greetings from Holland!

[@pollysshore2539]

Bread is still common in many restaurants in the American south but people in several areas have it out for carbs. I experienced culture shock when I went to California to visit friends. Only one restaurant served bread and it was an Italian restaurant.