Ask the experts: Anne Hanley, our Italy expert, advises on how to order food in a traditional Italian trattoria.
Jim Rosen, Washington, writes
I am taking my family (wife and two adult children) to Florence and Venice this month.
There’s one question, however, for which I haven’t been able to find an answer: when we eat in a trattoria or osteria, is it acceptable to order multiple primi and secondi that can be shared among us? We prefer to do this so that we can sample more dishes, but we fear it might not be appropriate.
Anne Hanley, Italy expert, replies
Once upon a time, Italians eating out would order a starter (antipasto), a pasta dish (primo), a main meat or fish dish (secondo) with vegetable side dish (contorno), then dessert (dolce). But it’s a wealthy, probably rather portly Italian, who does that these days. Most restaurants are now prepared for any combination of the above, in any order. I don’t eat meat, so generally replace a secondo with something fishy from the antipasto list, or with a couple of contorni.
See on telegraph.co.uk
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