Marks and Menu
The way we read them
Menu
An Italian menu is a list of dishes in a precise order. You may start with... Well, with a "starter", usually a cold dish of Italian salami and vegetables. Then, there's a "primo piatto", a pasta or rice dish, followed by a "secondo piatto", or main course: meat or fish with side dishes and salad.Finally comes a dessert: fruit salad, cake, or ice-cream.Food is generally accompanied by wine, water, and sometimes beer.If you like, you can have a coffee and some spirits (for example amaro, grappa, limoncino, mirto,...) to finish your meal.
Marks
The Italian marking system ranges from 1 to 10, even if the lowest and the highest marks are very rarely used. The higher your mark, the better your performance. The average level is 6, if you get a lower mark, you fail.