Italy
By: Chaeli Behrens
Agricultural Products
Native Customs/Beliefs
Most Italians are Roman-Catholic, but they eat most biblical food like bread, wine, olives, and fish.
Table manners play a huge role in Italian homes/food restaurants. They believe the fork goes in the left hand, knife in right hand, hands are placed above the table, utensils are placed on your plat parallel when finished with meal, and you may not leave the table until everyone is finished. Most Italian families eat around 7-8 pm, sometimes 8:30-9:30 pm. The cooking and cleaning after a meal can last up to 1-4 hours.
Holiday Celebrations
The most important food related holidays in Italy include:
New Years Eve- Celebrated by going to a restaurant
Christmas Eve- A small gathering/small family dinner
Christmas Day- Includes a large meal with a popular sweet bread, Panettone, and the markets set up Italian Pizzas on this day.
Easter- Usually families eat chocolate for breakfast and have a large dinner including lamb or artichokes. For dessert, they serve cake with the sweet bread(Panettone)