BREAKFAST, SNACKS AND DESSERTS
Most Italians start their day at a bar. Their breakfast consists of coffee with hot milk (cappuccino), and ubiquitous corneto (soft French roll stuffed with jam, cream or chocolate; unfiltered rolls are rare).
Breakfast is eaten standing up, at the counter. Breakfast in hotels [prima colazione). it is usually bad and is best avoided. At other times of the day, big sandwiches are good (Panini), consisting of a baguette or a roll filled with sausage, cheese and many other additives. In larger cities there are "sandwich bars"” (paninoteche), while in smaller towns you can ask the grocery store to make a sandwich as desired (alimentari: it costs 1500-3000 L). In the bars you can also order tramezzini. These are ready-made white bread sandwiches with various fillings, which are not as tasty as panini, but a bit cheaper (Ok. 1000 L). Hot sandwiches (toast) are also popular In paninoteca there is a larger selection of them, while in ordinary bars only a sandwich with cheese or with ham and tomato is offered hot.
For lovers of warm takeaways, there are several options. Almost everywhere you can buy slices of pizza (rustica pizza), which are sold after 100 g. (etto). In ta'vola calda. type of fast food bar, you can get all kinds of sandwiches, Pizza, pasta, french fries, and even the whole dinner. It is best to go there before noon, when everything is fresh. Some of these bars are self-service and have tables, which often happens especially in larger cities and at major railway stations. Yet another alternative is rosticeria, who specializes in rotisserie chicken, but you can also get pizza, french fries, burgers and other quick dishes.
Other places, where you can eat something quickly are fairs. On some of them you can buy takeaway. m.in. focacce (covered with cheese or tomato casserole with spinach, fried hearts, livers or meat), arancinilub (baked balls of rice filled with meat stuffing, rosso, or butter-cheese, Bianco). For a quick meal, you can also stop at a department store, because their main networks, Upim and Stand, often have fast food bars.
Italian ice cream (Gelato) enjoy well-deserved fame. Un cono, ice cream in wafer, are a necessary attribute of the evening passeggiata. You can buy them in most bars, but the real choice has only gelaterie, which are a testimony to the imagination and fantasy of Italians. It is usually better to choose ice cream guided by their appearance, than to try to identify exotic names, most of which do not mean much even to Italians. The best are the basic flavors, i.e.. chocolate, strawberry or vanilla. The best gelaterie in the city is not difficult to find, because they attract crowds (in the guide we have given the addresses of the best premises).
PIZZA
Pizza is popular all over the world today. but the best is still in Italy. It tastes completely different here than elsewhere in Europe, where the mass market was flooded with shackled creatures served in fast food bars, aspiring to be called pizza. Pizza is everywhere in Italy thin and flat. it is also not customary to fry it in a large amount of fat. The choice of additives is quite limited and so, for example,. pizza is not served so popular in England and the United States pineapples and sweet corn. Besides. especially in the south, it is easier to eat pizza prepared in a traditional way, i.e.. in wood-fired stoves (torno and legą), and not in artificially clean electric kitchens. Such pizzas are a little burnt and sizzling on top, with a characteristic charcoal flavor.
Pizzerias can be of different types: from bars, where you can buy slices of pizza (rustica pizza. See. above). for large restaurants. A common feature of all pizzerias is this. that there is usually nothing else in them but pizza, drinks and beer. Some regular restaurants also have pizza on their menus.. The simplest pizza with cheese and tomatoes (Margherita) costs ok. 2000-3000 L (in the south, sometimes less, and in the cities of the north often more), and for pizza with more toppings (See. culinary glossary) pays 4000-5000 L. It is customary to cut pizza into pieces and eat without using cutlery. In the food glossary you will find the names of different types of pizza.