La Prima Colazione- what do you eat?

[ella]

I was musing about breakfast earlier today (over a bowl of steelcut oatmeal with raisins, walnuts and maple syrup) and also musing about my oncoming trip to Italy. And I realized... I have absolutely no idea what "breakfast" constitutes a Italia. What do people eat? (I'm sure the American romance with pancakes and waffles does not translate...) Is there ever an occasion of a huge morning meal a la the American "brunch," or are the big meals usually saved for lunch (and/or supper)?

[hathor]

So much depends on where you will be and where you will be staying.

Most hotels/albergos will have some sort of buffet type breakfast which usually includes some breads, cheeses, fruits, salami, etc. I've never seen steel cut oats...

My advice for fun is to seek out a local bar and have your coffee there. Head to the piazza. That's where you get to 'take the temperature' of the town, so to speak. Who is friendly with who, whose big dog is that anyway...etc. etc. Very communal way to start the day. Some of the older gentlemen like a little sweet wine in the morning. There is nothing so comforting as being absorbed into the sights and smells and sounds as town comes awake.

Brunch ruins your appetite for lunch. No cappucino after 11:00 a.m. the milk ruins your taste buds. Lunch is a not something to be missed.

Have fun!!

[divina]

actually BRUNCH is the new hot thing in Italy..lots of the 5 star hotels and lounges offering it on a Sunday..

where are you traveling to?

Your hotel will offer a buffet.. but very limited.. you may get cornflakes!At home most people may have a coffee with hot milk, some toast with jam.. and then have a pastry at a bar with a cappucino.

then around 10:30 or 11, move on to savory.. a small sandwich and a glass of wine or juice or an Italian non alcoholic something..

Omelets are often offered as a min course at some of the old style trattoria's... but are thin and usually with parmesan..no real fillings.

Fried eggs you can find on a pizza!!! alla bismark..

You may want to bring ziplock oats..and have them in the morning at the hotel... then get ready for Italian style meals!

Lunch is late.. 1pm-- dinner for the locals never before 8:30pm meals can take up to 3 hours... if you don't want to spend your trip at the table, break up long meals with light meals at winebars, or now bars are serving pasta only lunches or buffets..

But go for the Gusto... and enjoy the Long slow meals...and the lifestyle here!

[Gretch]

Maybe it depends on what kinds of hotels you stay in--I can't remember ever being served a big, buffet-style breakfast in Italy. The closest I got was orange juice and granola at a 3-star in Lucca. I usually stay at 1- and 2-star places, and breakfast is invariably rolls, jam, and cappuccino. Sometimes the rolls are cornettos; sometimes Nutella might be offered; and occasionally you can get tea. If you're really unlucky, you might just be handed a packaged cornetto with the jam already inside.

Italians usually eat very little for breakfast. (Marcella Hazan, for instance, says she breakfasts on coffee.) Hotels that often cater to German tourists seem to serve the largest breakfasts--logically. And some small hotels don't bother with breakfast at all.

[ella]

I'll actually be staying mostly in monastery/convent guesthouses (having heard from a friend they were both relatively inexpensive and peaceful, as I'm traveling by myself)... I'm not sure if they'd provide a morning meal; though I suppose I could find that out from them...

I love the idea of starting the day in a local bar... And saving my appetite for a big midday meal! And speaking of lunch... do you see Italians dining alone at these marathon eating sessions? Or is the "company" the whole reason they are as extensive as they are?

[albiston]

Italians usually eat very little for breakfast.  (Marcella Hazan, for instance, says she breakfasts on coffee.)  Hotels that often cater to German tourists seem to serve the largest breakfasts--logically.  And some small hotels don't bother with breakfast at all.

←

It's not us eating little breakfast, it's the Germans eating waaaaay too much !

OK, we eat little breakfast, usually one or two esperessi, especially when at home, and maybe some bread with jam, a few cookies or a pastry. Quite a few Italians have a quick breakfast on their way to work, stopping at a bar and having an espresso or cappuccino with a cornetto, a brioche (not your standard French one) or one of the typical local pastries.

I usually do like Marcella and limit myself to coffee, except when on vacation or during weekends.

Hotels and pensioni should always mention if they offer breakfast or not, though they don't always. The simpler places often might not even have a breakfast room so they either offer none or pay for a cornetto and cappuccino at a nearby bar.

[katiaANDronald]

Have to agree with Albiston - most Italians I know just do with a coffee.

In Sicily, Katia's father always, always has a bowl of latte di mandorla in which he dips bread (for winter) and in summer has just cold water in which he dips bread.

My favourite breakfast in Sicily is undeniably granita (typically coffe or mandorla tostata) and brioche (the sicilian granita that is). Of course you only get that is summer.

[albiston]

Have to agree with Albiston - most Italians I know just do with a coffee.

In Sicily, Katia's father always, always has a bowl of latte di mandorla in which he dips bread (for winter) and in summer has just cold water in which he dips bread.

My favourite breakfast in  Sicily is undeniably granita (typically coffe or mandorla tostata) and brioche (the sicilian granita that is). Of course you only get that is summer.

←

Granita e brioche is one of the many reason why I would seriously consider moving to Sicily. It's pure bliss in summer!

I never thought of latte di mandorla for breakfast but I'll sure give it a try. Should still have some pasta di mandorle from Modica at home.

[calimero]

At home: fette biscottate e miele (rusks with honey), caffè latte (milk and coffe).

At 8.30am, just the bar below the office: cappuccino and cornetto or cappuccino and maritozzo con panna montata (a roman brioche stuffed with fresh cream).

At 11 - 11.30am coffe break: coffe

At 1 -1.30 pm aperitive, usually a glass of prosecco with peanuts or a crodino with chips.

In summertime i usually have latte e menta con la mosca (milk with mint syrup and a pair of coffe grains.

[Kevin72]

I'd echo the comments in this thread to just go to the nearest piazza and have a capuccino or espresso and a pastry of some kind. It enhances the experience of being there, gets you more into the local lifestyle, etc. All the places I stayed at that advertised having "breakfast" laid out a spread of breads and jams and coffee.

Plus, a light initial breakfast gives you an excuse to pop into ANOTHER bar for a midmorning snack!

Alberto, one of the most memorable breakfasts I ever had was in Innsbruck (sp?) Germany. It was my first Europe trip and this was the one hotel we stayed at that served breakfast. It was in the pastry/coffee vein, but it was of amazing quality. And homemade jam . . . and tea so dark and thick that I thought it was coffee for a while . . . .

[Pan]

I am not a coffee drinker, but when I preferred something other than tea, juice, or acqua minerale with breakfast, I really enjoyed the hot chocolate on offer. When in Italy, and particularly when travelling (as opposed to staying somewhere for a while as a student), I would often go to a bar and have a cornetto con marmelata di albicocca (croissant with apricot jam filling) if available or a cornetto semplice (plain crossant) with a drink as described above. If I were feeling self-indulgent, I might have a cornetto con crema (croissant with cream filling). And oftentimes, I'd have two cornetti or a cornetto and one other confection (torta di mele [apple tart], torta di mandorle [almond tart], torta di pera [pear tart], et al.). But the most memorable breakfast I had in Italy was one day during my first stint as a student in a summer program at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. I was staying at a dormitory on a pieno pensione (full pension = three meals provided every day), and I slept late and missed breakfast. So at around 10 A.M. or so, I went to a nearby bar just off the Piazza del Campo and had them make me a panino of mortadella, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. Man, was that the apotheosis of a sandwich to me! Such fresh, high-quality ingredients, including the bread itself. And in a humble bar, for a good price. I love Italy!

[Boris_A]

Maybe we can sum up to the following definition: an Italian breakfast is enjoyed while standing upright and with a capuccino_et_alteri in one hand and a brioche_panino_et_alteri in the other, whereas the "prima colazione" is an invention for visitors.

[albiston]

Alberto, one of the most memorable breakfasts I ever had was in Innsbruck (sp?) Germany.  It was my first Europe trip and this was the one hotel we stayed at that served breakfast.  It was in the pastry/coffee vein, but it was of amazing quality.  And homemade jam . . . and tea so dark and thick that I thought it was coffee for a while . . . .

←

Kevin,

I love German breakfast, but I usually do not have the time or the appetite to eat so much in the morning. When I feel like it, and exclusively on weekends, I really enjoy sitting at the table of my favorite cafe for an hour, getting re-fills of coffee or tea, starting with some cold meats and cheese and then moving on to sweeter items, but if I ate as much as some of my collegues do almost every day my brain would work even less than it usually does in the morning .

[divina]

If you are on a budget.. let me warn you about sitting down!!!

the higher end bars charge more for sitting down, even if you go and get your cappucino and sit down..

they pay an extra tax to have tables..

SO.. the ask before you sit!!! or pay... like many Italians do..

first you order what you want, pay, they give you your pastry, the receipt and then you ask the bartender for your liquid..

ALSO if you order a LATTE.. you will get MILK..

there is caffe expresso, the short shot

Caffe MAchiato a expresso shot, spotted with hot milk

Caffe lungo, with some water added.

Caffe americano, in a larger cup with more water

Caffe LAtte, hald milk and half coffee in a glass

Cappuccino, mostly coffee with a hood of milk in a large cup

I like the juice ACE pronounced A-Chay.. vitamin A-C -E

orange juice, lemon and carrot!

If you want to treat yourself to a nice break, do sit down at one of the nicer bars, bring your journal, use the bathroom and people watch!

Will you be in FLorence?

[Kevin72]

Good point on that, Divina. We got burned in Venice on our first morning there when the elderly proprietor of a bakery we went to insisted we sit down for breakfast, only to get walloped with a 12 Euro "seating" fee. And here we thought she was just fussing over us . . .

[tanabutler]

One of the many things I loved about Italy was being presented with unsalted butter with our breakfast items. When I was there, I started cooking with unsalted butter and usually do so, still.

Everyone else here has covered the basics, so I will just leave it at that. Suffice it to say that the "typical American breakfast," (bacon and eggs, e.g.) is not usual.

[tsquare]

Most of the countryside places I stayed recently served coffee and bread with butter and jam. Some added a couple of slices of cheese or meat. Others sent us across the street to the bar for coffee and pastry. Hotels (3* or better) and you'll see the buffets.

My favorite was going to the Central Market in Florence and getting my cafe and pastry at a counter with the tradespeople. Not a bad way to go in Venice as well. Anywhere with a central market.

[tsquare]

And speaking of lunch... do you see Italians dining alone at these marathon eating sessions? Or is the "company" the whole reason they are as extensive as they are?

←

I travelled some of the time on my own. Lunch for me was usually not the big meal, but a few times I did sit down. It was fine. As I was off the tourist path, I got some attention from older Italian women - but nothing more.

The nicer dinners I ate at by myself, I sometimes ended up sharing my table - either with locals curious as to how I found their special place (thanks eGullet) or with fellow tourists - the quiet type - we didn't start chatting until halfway into the evening.

Have a great time - and remember, if you see something you want, get it - don't count on seeing it in every place you go!

[ella]

Thanks for the advice, everyone... All this talk of cornetti has me hungry already (especially the cornetto con marmelata di albicocca... apricot filling. oh...)! And Divina, yes, I will be Florence, for Easter weekend.

[Kevin72]

I have a question that I meant to put in the observations on my Top 5 thread . . . what's the deal with the milk used in cafe latte? When we went the first time I thought it was just a fluke, that that particular hotel had let the milk go bad, but this time we had cafe latte almost every morning and it always tasted slightly curdled. We even saw a package "latte per cafe" at one place and it, too, had that "off" flavor. Any insights?

[Boris_A]

I never checked it in detail, but I'm under the impression that the latte for prima colazione in hotels is a highly sterilized, defatted milk derivative. I guess it's just another diabolic method to punish all those who insist in prima colazione in Italy.

[hathor]

Where have you 2 been staying? No, seriously in all our years of hotel staying, except for a very cheap albergho in Bologna, we've never run into that... Maybe its something recent...or just part of the Parmalatt scandal.....

[Kevin72]

All over. First noticed it in Venice, then our hotel in Rome did it regularly. When we saw the carton it sealed the deal.