I have loved and been in love with Italy for eighteen years. To break the ‘why’ down into tangible reasons is not easy because it’s a feeling. Touching down at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport is a feeling of returning home. Italy nourishes the soul, tugs at the heartstrings, inspires romance and changes your life. It did mine.

For one who unwittingly feels the need to fit as much as possible into every day, Italians have taught me to rest without feeling guilty, celebrate small moments, eat without rushing, live in the moment and have long conversations. Italians talk a lot.

It’s the little things that Italians do that set them apart. Once you understand these nuances, you are well on your way to understanding the culture.

Coffee - an Italian Institution

In Italy, coffee is an event. An Italian walks into a bar, orders an espresso, drinks it standing at the bar, exchanges a few words with the barista, leaves. For three minutes, it is all about the coffee, a moment simply to be enjoyed. It’s short, but it’s complete. Forget coffee to go - that’s just weird.

Food is everything in Italy

Italians centre their life on food. Barely a conversation exists without discussing food. In fact, they start planning their next meal whilst eating the current one.

Italy’s food is seasonal and regional, differing from town to town and region to region. It speaks of heritage, excellence and nostalgia. Tourists are often surprised when they don’t find dishes that they think are Italian. Garlic bread and spaghetti bolognese are not Italian. Instead, you’ll find Bologna’s native ragu bolognese served with fettuccine or lasagne. Penne or farfalle are rarely on Italian menus, although they are eaten at home. Every region, town and village have their own pasta combination. Like scialatielli with seafood on the Amalfi Coast, orecchiette con cime di rapa in Bari, tortellini in brodo around Bologna and Modena, pasta alla norma in Catania in Sicily, trofie al pesto in Liguria and tonnarelli cacio e pepe in Rome.

And this is the key - being aware of what the local produce is and what is in season because seasonality and quality are the secrets to why Italian food is so good. Take a walk through any market (every town has one) and you will be mesmerised by the colours and produce reflecting the time of the year. This is one of the best things to do in Italy, being enveloped in the sights, sounds and smells of il mercato as the vendors with booming voices promote their produce and banter with each other. To talk with the artisans is to learn the story and history behind the food and understand their fierce pride and strong respect for tradition.

This love of tradition means that mamma and nonna’s cooking is still held in high regard, and not just in rustic, family-run or traditional restaurants.

The Milanese defend their risotto, the Sicilians their arancini and cannoli, the Neapolitans their pizza and the Romans their carbonara. Italians don’t just think their food is the best; they have a series of globally recognised trademarks and verifications to prove it. Particular Italian foods and wine are proudly labelled with acronyms like DOC, DOP and DOCG. They guarantee quality and adherence to strict production protocols, which include anything from length of ageing to permitted towns of production. Consider it a badge of honour.

To eat like an Italian is to consider food one of the most joyful pleasures of life. Do not rush a meal, eat in the company of people you love, eat seasonally, choose dishes that are local to the area and don’t overcomplicate dishes with an excessive number of ingredients. Simple really.

Aperitivo - a quintessential part of daily culture

At the end of the day all over Italy, in villages, towns and cities, in sidewalk cafes and piazzas, (even on top of a mountain in the Dolomites) people are indulging in aperitivo. It’s about taking a moment out of your day to breathe and chat with family, friends and colleagues. It’s about being present in the moment and pausing. Very simply, it’s a beautiful part of Italian life.

Derived from the word aprire (to open), pairing a snack and drink is designed to open and prepare the stomach for digestion. As the Italians say, “L’appetito viene mangiando”, appetite comes when you eat. Surely justification for delicious pre-dinner salty snacks.

A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine - Italian proverb

Italy consistently holds the title as the world’s largest wine producer by volume, accounting for roughly 16% to 20% of the entire world’s wine supply in recent years. The big three global powers (Italy, France and Spain) are so dominant that they collectively produce about half of all the wine on the planet.

Uniquely, every region in Italy produces wine. This means that Italians grow up with wine at the table, making for widespread appreciation from a young age. For Italians, the purpose of wine is to complement the food and to heighten the culinary experience.

You rarely see people stumbling down the street or getting drunk in Italy because of the cultural concept of bella figura, which roughly translates to “making a good impression” and maintaining personal dignity.

Italians love love

In Italy, love and beauty go hand in hand. How could it not? A country of inexplicable beauty, Italy begs you to fall in love, whether it’s with people, places or ideas. Romance exists in every sense, from intimate and platonic love to the way Italians approach life and how they passionately defend the things they believe in. It is their passion and zest for life that first resonated with me.

The Italian language is seductive and has always been considered a language of love. In the 1500s, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V allegedly said, “I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse.”

Italians have been passionately expressing love and romance for centuries. They celebrate physical contact. You see them kissing, embracing, hugging or walking arm in arm on the streets. Every age. Italians have a profound love for family, friendship and human connection. While all relationships are important, family truly is life in Italy. For Italians, celebrations are about family. Sunday lunch is about family.

Italy is one of the most loved countries in the world. It beckons you to return the moment you leave. It touches you deeply, often without you realising until you start dreaming again of how it made you feel. I may not live there yet, but how grateful I am to be able to spend six months there every year.

Ci vediamo la prossima settimana.

Deb