Traveling To Italy? Here's What To Expect For Breakfast

If you are traveling to Europe and appreciate a great breakfast, there are some countries where you'll love getting up in the morning to break your overnight fast. For example, the breakfast buffets in Scandinavia are noteworthy as are the full English breakfasts you can get in Britain. However, such feasts aren't available in every country. The rule of thumb with European breakfasts is: The further south you go, the smaller the first meal of the day gets. By the time you get to Italy, you can expect little more than a coffee and a pastry. 

Italians aren't into belly-filling, savory, meat-centric breakfasts at all. The staple is coffee. It may come in the form of an espresso, macchiato, or cappuccino (a drink you definitely shouldn't order at lunch). The pastry in question is often a cornetto which is similar to a croissant. It is often filled with something sweet like Nutella, whipped cream, or fruit jam. 

The standard breakfast depends on where you are in Italy. In Liguria, the region where the freshest basil is grown, residents often enjoy the best Italian breakfast you don't know about: a cappuccino and focaccia. In Sicily, residents enjoy granita. This is like a sweetened shaved ice that's served with brioche rolls. It's also worth noting that a huge number of Italians enjoy their breakfast at a local bar rather than at home. Breakfast at an Italian bar is usually very simple and inexpensive. Breakfast eaten in an Italian home, however, looks slightly different. Most families make their own espresso and there is often a supply of fresh fruit, yogurt, muesli, and bread with butter or jam. It's rare to find these extras in a bar. 

Don't expect Italians to take their time eating breakfast; it's a quick affair, with people drinking their coffee, eating their pastry, and getting on with their day. They often don't even sit down. In fact, in an Italian bar, the same food often costs more if you eat it at a table instead of at the counter. For a country so centered around food, it may come as a surprise that Italians put so little emphasis on breakfast, but there is a good reason for this: Rather than fill their bellies with breakfast, they save room for lunch and dinner. These meals are much more significant in Italian culture. 

Lunch is often the main meal of the day, with Italians enjoying long, leisurely meals followed by a siesta, or nap. Italian lunches are split into antipasti (appetizers), primi piatti (first course), secondi (second course), contorni (vegetable course), and dolci (dessert). These are then followed by coffee or a digestivo, otherwise known as an after-meal drink. Italian dinner can follow the same pattern, but locals typically don't order every course unless they are celebrating a special occasion. A much more common meal in Italy would be an appetizer and a plate of pasta, or a meat dish, with coffee to finish. It's also worth remembering that Italians eat dinner late when compared to Americans. People in some regions start eating their dinner as late as 10 p.m. This would also explain why some Italians aren't terribly hungry in the morning; they're probably still digesting their dinner from the night before.