Saturday Night IN

Part 2: Summertime supper

Italians are sticklers for traditions and unspoken rules. If you order a cappuccino after 11am or, worse still, instead of an espresso after an evening meal, they’ll spot you for the foreigner that you are.

Breaking spaghetti in two before throwing it into boiling water: a culinary tragedy. Jumping into the sea less than an hour after getting up from the lunch table: an accident waiting to happen! And eating outside in the open air before the 1st of May: an act only for the truly courageous (or mad)!

Incidentally, before I continue, another sure sign of the foreigner is when you ask the restaurant owner or waiter if you could have a table . It’s a common mistake. Although the word does mean fresh, the term is more commonly used to signify being in prison. When Italians want to eat outside they use the term – outside – or – literally, in the open