The Complexities of Italian Pasto

Pasto=meals

Americans have a lot of perceptions about Italy. One is that Italians love food. This, we can confirm. Food is a huge deal here. For instance, at school, Hannah has a snack in the morning, a FULL three-course meal for lunch, and a snack in the afternoon. The quality of food consumed at those three times is also very important. A note came home from school asking for the snack we send in the morning to be "easily digestible and not ruin their appitiete for lunch." Italians believe that good food is essential for kids' learning, so lunch is taken very seriously. We talked with one staff mom who, in taking her child to school one morning, came across a mob of parents in an uproar. What is the angry mob protesting? The school had made the decision to serve premade pasta instead of fresh.

Well, last week Cody had to attend a conference for all the staff or interns new to Italy this year. It was a very encouraging time for him, and he gained a lot of insight into the challenges we're going to face. The Lord met him in some very good ways. He was also able to participate in his very first Italian cooking lesson! The food at the retreat center was amazing. One afternoon in their free time, the cook offered to show anyone who was interested how to cook a few genuine Tuscan dishes (the conference was in Tuscany. . . about 2 hours from here). Below are pictures of Cody helping make a traditional Tuscan lasagna. For those who want to know the difference, the Tuscan lasagna has a red sauce and a cream-like sauce. And not too much cheese.

It's easy to offend Italians in the area of food (or completely demonstrate what a foreigner you are), so as crazy as it sounds, we're really trying to understand some of the basics. For instance, I just learned that there is a definite distinction between tortellini (smaller, filled with ricotta) and tortelloni (slightly larger, filled with a meat). And there is nothing that says you don't understand the rules of caffe (coffee) more than ordering a cappucino (or ca-poo-cho as they call it here) after 11am.

Some basics: A typical antipasti (appitizer) is melon and proschiuto (a thinly sliced Italian ham). Your first course in always a pasta. You eat pasta first to allow your stomach to stretch for the main course of meat. The main course is then followed by salad, which aides in digestion. And, as I said, never drink milk in your caffe after 11, or you'll be too full for lunch. Also, you should enjoy a snack at 10 am and at 4pm. Whew! It's a good thing we walk A LOT here.