Dine like an Italian

There are rules around la tavola that need to be observed. Get them right and you will experience the full weight of Italian hospitality. Get them wrong and, well, you’ll learn

-  ANNA McCOOE

Almost 500 years ago Giovanni della Casa (the June Dally Watkins of the Italian Renaissance) penned Galateo: Treatise on the Rules of Polite Behaviour, warning his nephew of the pitfalls of, “Not eating but gobbling.” Since then, the Italians have been refining the rules of dining all’ Italiana.

Don’t put cheese on marinara pasta, this one we know. And never order a cappuccino past 11am. Just don’t. Spaghetti should be twirled around a fork, not cut. And don’t ever question nonna’s recipe. Unless you do. Because debating food over food is also part of the national agenda. The quirks shift from region to region, and some have grown quirkier en route to Australia. So for the Italian-adjacent among us, the rules require frequent re-education (generously dished out over four courses). Ultimately, though, they all boil down to the core Italian belief, food is life and life should be enjoyed to its fullest. Let’s break it down.

Food is always a conversation starter. 

Just don’t confuse it as a safe topic. There will be debate. Chef Brigitte Hafner has Bavarian roots but came of age as a chef in Italian kitchens. She learnt a lot working under chefs Guy Grossi and Stefano de Pieri and from team members at Tedesca Osteria. That’s because food is always under discussion. “It’s the build-up to eating – ‘What are we going to cook? Who is going to the market?’ Then it’s the discussion at the table and the recap the next day,” says Hafner, who is just as obsessed. “It’s the ritual of connecting with the food and each other, that gives the Italians so much joy.”