Culture Shocks for An Italian Moving to Italy - Part 1

Apr 16, 2024
5 min read

In three years I've learned so much in school: how to measure blood pressure, how to take a patient history, how to perform an abdominal exam. You know, the normal things they teach you in medical school.

However, I've also learned more about the Italian culture and way of life. You might say, "Francesca, wait a minute. You were raised in an Italian household!" Ah yes, I was. BUT, I was raised in the USA, so socially speaking, I'm American (haha).

I never thought I would experience a culture shock when I first moved to Italy, yet I most definitely did. Some were more pleasant than others, but we'll start with the pleasant ones.

This post is the beginning of a series that I will continuously update with the 'culture shocks' I experience.

Cappuccino’s are unacceptable after 11:00 am.

Going down to the bar in between classes has to be the most Italian thing ever. As soon as we get a 5 minute break, someone says, 'Bar?'. It's really a rhetorical question.

We make the trek down 3 flights of stairs and hope not to find a kilometric line at the cash register. I always want to order a cappuccino, and one time, I made the social mistake of ordering one at 12:00 pm.

What they say is true, Italians will judge you if you order a cappuccino after 11:00 am. A cappuccino is strictly a breakfast food.

Now, because I only drank good cappuccinos once a year for those 2 brief summer months when we would visit family in Lariano, I disregarded this rule. For the other 10 months of the year, I never had a good cappuccino, so you bet your butt I was going to drink one at any time of day while I was in Italy.

But now, after three years of living here, I understand the reasoning. A cappuccino is filling and caloric. The fact that it’s warm and with milk makes it the perfect way to start your day. When you first wake up, it's the best way to warm up your stomach, and with a cornetto, it’ll keep you full right until lunch time, when it’s just about time for another coffee.

If you’re drinking a cappuccino after 11, you risk ruining your lunch. Then, you can’t eat that huge pasta dish with fresh ragù that your friend’s nonna has been cooking since 5 am.

There’s a right and wrong way to make coffee with a moka pot. And pasta.

I'm not saying I didn't know how to do this, but Italians can be particular when it comes to their beloved coffee and precious pasta.

Coffee, more specifically, an espresso, is a quintessential part of the Italian way of life. At home, most Italians make coffee with a moka pot. Here's how to do it:

Put water in the bottom chamber. Fill it up to the level of the valve.
Put the filter inside the bottom chamber.
Fill the filter with ground coffee. Don't flatten the coffee too much in the filter.
Screw on the top of the moka pot. Tighten it well.
Put it on the stove on a very, very low flame, and sit within ear-shot so you can hear when it's ready.

Once the coffee is done, and you've enjoyed your espresso, the moka pot can be emptied and washed WITHOUT soap. Just water. Otherwise you risk ruining your future coffee's taste. The belief is that the coffee is better the more you use the moka pot, as if the moka pot is being 'seasoned' (like seasoning a pan).

Now, on to making pasta.

Fill a pot with an abundant amount of water. Bring the water to a rolling boil, and add a spoon or half a spoon of salt, and stir. Add your pasta and make sure to stir every minute or so to prevent 'colla' (glue) formation. The first time I made pasta with my friends, everyone was stressed out when we realized we had forgotten to stir the pot.

The pasta is ready al dente. No room for argument. I'll even tell you why. Pasta strained al dente is best because if you have to toss it into a sauce in a saucepan for a few minutes, you won't risk overcooking your pasta!

If you're putting your naked pasta in a dish and then adding sauce on top, congratulations you're doing what the Italians call 'una americanata' -- an idiotic American thing. To be clear, this was never done in my household.

So, trust me. Strain your pasta early, put the sauce in a saucepan, and put the pasta in the saucepan with your sauce and cover all those rigatoni.

Un gelato a due gusti, doppia panna.

This was the discovery of the century.

A part from the fact that when ordering gelato in Italy you get to pick two flavors (I know, amazing!), you have the option to add freshly whipped cream on top -- my absolute favorite thing ever.

But, I learned that you can actually ask for doppia panna -- double whipped cream.

First, they fill up the cone with whipped cream, then they place your gelato on the cone, and finally they top it off with whipped cream.

It's a light snack. ;)

Good food isn't complicated, and food is an expression of love.

The realization that most Italian dishes consist of a max of 5 ingredients was an out-of-state student's dream because it simplified my cooking time. Daily cooked Italian dishes are truly simple and freaking delicious.

Things that are always in my kitchen: garlic, onion, basil (preferably fresh from our plant.. that hopefully hasn't died), olive oil (obviously olive oil that friend's family member has made), salt, and pepper. The best dishes are made in the smallest kitchens with the 'poorest' ingredients.

My great aunt (Zia Leda) is a testament to this. The first thing she asks when she sees me is 'Have you eaten?' followed up with 'I can make you some pasta!'. She always seems to make three course meals appear out of nowhere in her tiny kitchen. She can't grocery shop daily since her knees are 84 years young, so she makes do with what she has in her fridge. A little creativity, some fresh ingredients, and BAM you've got a feast.

Food is a love language here, which is a plus since it's one of my love languages. My close friends and their families have never hesitated to offer me a seat at their dinner table. Somehow, there is always enough food and it's so easy to add an extra chair to the table. I've taken this to be a life lesson and a philosophy I wish to live by.

Good food has always been important in my family. To be surrounded by people who placed the same importance on food as I did was comforting, and a pleasant surprise.

These 'culture shocks' and Italian insights are just the beginning of a long list of things I've learned. I'll keep you posted as I experience more of them!

Ciao for now,

Francesca