Italy is one of the most prominent country that has been able to set apart its national culture over years alongside its Italian Culinarian excellency that has amazed the world and have impressed people to an extent of looking up to the Italians.
Introduction:
Italy is a land with home to almost 62million people with around 96% Italian habitants. The Italian culture is usually depicted by art, music and food (Zimmermann, 2017).
Italian Cuisine:
Italian cuisine plays a very influential part in almost all the corners of the world. The most important component of their meals are wine, pasta and cheese.
The taste and food in Italy is actually the “gastronomy of the regions in Italy”.
Italian dishes are those rooted back from their traditions and are widely imitated around the world. The most famous, widely accepted all across the globe dishes of Italy are; pizza, spaghetti, cornetto, espresso, lasagna, parmesan cheese etc.
The Italian culinary has been able to make a reputation 2000years ago in the reign of Roman Empire. However there is now a vast difference and few similarities between the pre-romans meals compared to meals of today (Steendahl, 2013).
Pizza, pasta, croissant etc. all come from different parts of the Italy. The food became prominent throughout the world after the fall of Roman Empire, after which each city or state was able to hold and Maintain its different identity.
How did the Italian food conquer the world?
The world is having a love affair with the Italian cuisine. The Italian Kitchen has travelled globally to almost all the countries in the world. Countries have adapted the traditional pasta from the Italians and have given some local touch to it, to attract their natives. For example, in Japan they serve Wafu-Pasta, wafu is a famous Japanese sauce. Nonetheless, the food is made with local sauces, it’s still classified an Italian cuisine.
HISTORY- THE BIRTH OF ITALIAN TASTE:-
The Italians have agreed to the facts when they state that the variety of taste available in Italian dishes has originated from the history of immigrants coming and settling in Italy during the era of colonization. Italians state, that the flavored ice, rice and pasta came from the Arabs during the time when they governed Sicily. Moreover, there have also been Greeks, Romans, Franks, Goths, Spanish and many more who have left the mark of their culinary skills in the land of Italy (Manfredi, 2018)
Main Ingredients of Italian Cuisine:
This is not going to be the only list of ingredients that an Italian dish includes, but these are those crucial ingredients that are part of almost every Italian dish (Migala, 2018)
They are;
- Olive oil
- Canned tomatoes
- Capers
- Parmesan cheese
- Dried oregano
- Mushrooms
- Garlic
- Pasta
Food Culture and Festivals:
Italians have always been high on celebrating the love for their food by hosting many food festivals at their home town. The very rich cultural attribute is that on very special occasions they have linked certain food with the specialty of that particular event.
Few of them are
- New year Eve- this is attached with Pasta and Lentils and this ensures good luck ahead for the New Year.
- February’s carnival and Lasagna– they have attached lasagna as a dish to be specifically made and eaten in February.
- Christmas Eve with Fish– the Italians have named the Christmas Eve as the “The feast of the Seven Fish”.
- Easter with Pastiera- This is sweet dish made with cream and ricotta cheese filled in wheat. This is linked with the Easter festive celebrations.
Culture and food eating habits of Italy: –
Italians are passive eaters and have strong food culture that promotes a healthy lifestyle of in-taking a balances yet delicious diet. It is just not about fulfilling or satisfying the rumbling of the stomach. For Italians it is food that satisfies appetite rather than just killing it.
The average Italian follow this eating culture in a day:-
- The beginnings (Breakfast): Italians start their day quite simply, in contrast with Americans and British who are about all fried up eggs and toasts etc., the Italians are all about a croissant with wither cappuccino or espresso.
- Leisure lunch-Pranzo is the term that is called “Lunch”. This is the main meal of the afternoon, which is usually a three level course of : antipasto(appetizers), primo piatto( first plate) this is mostly a soup or pasta, meat or fish, and ending with a fresh plate of fruits.Italians also love to have cakes in the supper with a cup of coffee.
- Dinner – The Italians have the same three level dinner starting from appetizers, and ending with a fresh fruit salad.
CULTURE OF ITALY
The Italian culture has been known for years to be the Cultural superpower for many countries. Italy is located in the Southern Europe and is famous for the Western civilization of the most celebrated Roman Empire, Roman Catholic Church, and Renaissance etc.
Italy’s cultural diversity has been a cause of around 2000years of welcoming emigrants, thus the unified Italian culture today, could individually be rooted back to its origin.
Language of Italy:
Italian language is also in many contexts considered to be a “Romance Language” that is extracted from Latin.
The national and official language in Italy is Italian, about 93% of the populations speaks Italian, and however there are other languages that the natives could speak of which some are; Greek, French, Croatian, Slovenian and Walser
Religion in Italy:
Almost around 40% of the Italians are practicing Catholics whereas the rest of the populations are baptized, with the combination of Muslims, Jehovah’s, Jews and Buddhists community.
There is an absolute freedom of worship and to practice individual’s religion within the country. This is because freedom of worship is mentioned in the Constitution of Italian law
Italian Family values:
Family formulates a core social structure in the Italian society. In the South of Italy, usually the immediate or nuclear family is seen to be residing together in one house, but as far as the Northern region is considered, and extended combined family culture is prominent.(ref4)
The Italians value the family gathering and have transferred exuberant family values in their children as they are taught to respect their family elders and all the other members.
People of Italy (Basic meeting etiquettes):
The people in Italy are usually very friendly and well equipped with the basic etiquettes towards either strangers or acquaintance (Commisceo Global, 2018). Italians prefer a firm handshake when meeting for the first time with a proper eye contact while having conversation. The culture is very enthusiastic of greeting whenever the meet or come across people.
Dressing properly is an important factor as it says a lot about the personality and Italians believe in the impression that they get from the physical appearance. Elegant accessories has to be a part of the attire for both men and women. The people in Italy like to stand very close to each other when they talk and also prefer personal touches that should not be perceived wrong by the opposite gender. Moreover, when comes to privacy, Italians value and respect each other’s personal space (Roe, 2005)
Arts and Architecture in Italy:
Italians style and art has been crafted with the Renaissance emergence in the 14th Century.
The Italian art history reached its crux point after the very noble, Michael Angelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael.
Art is a very obvious feature in Italy that is not only to be seen in the infrastructure but also in museums, churches and public buildings. Music is another most celebrated form of expressing love and happiness among Italians. Opera has its origin from Italy. There are many famous Opera houses in the country and Italy is home to many world’s famous opera house artists like Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli
Fashion of Italy:
Fashion industry of Italy is world’s most famous and elite in the globe. Milan is known to be the fashion city of the world. The sense of Italian fashion gives a sense of high-end luxurious lifestyle. Many famous brands from the Italy that represents the fashion style that is followed in Italy are brands like, “Dolce & Gabbana”, “Versace”, “Gucci”, “Prada”,”Fendi”,”Bulgari”, “Valentino” and many more
