Italy

Get to know Italy, its geography, symbol, and unique traditions!

Article: Get to Know Italy

Writer: Alexandra Jencova + pictures

GEOGRAPHY

Italy is a country in Europe. Italy is a boot-shaped peninsula that juts out of southern Europe into the Adriatic Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Italy is about 2.1 times bigger than Wisconsin.

TRADITIONS

Ferragosto

Ferragosto is celebrated on the 15th of August. The main purpose is to celebrate the end of summer. People want to celebrate Ferragosto with their beloved. Usually, people go to the beach at night. They do fire camps, eat, play lots of music and at midnight it is tradition to swim in the sea.

New Year’s Eve

If you find yourself in Italy around this time, you might wonder why they are selling excessive amounts of red underwear. The tradition on New Year’s Eve is to wear red underwear. People believe that this will bring them good luck for the upcoming year. People eat 12 grapes to get even more good luck. For every second of the last 12 seconds of the past year people eat one grape.

Venice Carnevale

The Carnevalel of Venice is an annual festival that takes place in Venice. The Venice Carnival began in 1162 in celebration of the Venice Republic’s victory over its enemy: the Patriarch of Aquileia. Venetians dress up, this includes wearing a mask. Then they go out and join parades and take pictures. Streets are full of life, you would find there a candle-lit parade of boats, concerts, and street performances. The Carnevale lasts for multiple days in February.

PLACES TO SEE

Amalfi Coast

Amalfi Coast is composed of 16 beautiful municipalities in the province of Salerno. Everybody can find something there for them. Amalfi Coast is popular for stunning landscapes with dramatic cliffs, colorful villages perched on hillsides, and the azure waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Amalfi Coast has a rich history featuring historic buildings, churches, and monuments. Visitors can enjoy delicious local dishes made from fresh, seasonal ingredients, including seafood, lemons, olive oil, and pasta.

Positano

Positano is a charming coastal village located on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy. Positano is famous for its colorful buildings perched on steep cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy, for a good reason. Rome is 2776 years old. Rome has many historic monuments such as the Colosseum. Rome has multiple museums featuring masterpieces by renowned artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bernini. Rome is a great place for food lovers. With many options to choose from like pasta, pizza, gelato, tiramisu… this list could go on forever.

CUISINE

What do Americans do wrong when it comes to Italian food?

First of all pasta with meatballs is not Italian. In Italy they always ate meatballs separately but traditional spaghetti and meatballs dinner is a creation of the American household and has no actual roots in Italian culture.

Overcooking pasta is a big problem for Americans. The right pasta should be al dente. Al dente means that the pasta should still be a little bit hard, so that you can finish cooking it in the pot with the sauce. It is overcooked when the pasta is sticking together once it is taken out of water. When it comes to cooking pasta, don’t be afraid to use salt in the water generously. The best salt to use is rock salt, not table salt.

There are so many things wrong with the pizza. The pizza base is soft and a little bit thicker with a bigger crust. Pineapple and chicken are a no go for pizza in Italy.

Typical Italian breakfast consists of pastry and a good coffee. Now what is considered a good coffee? Strong espresso,it is not as watery as in the US. Drinking coffee is not just about the fun of it, for Italians it is a “holy moment” they love to cherish.

Carbonara pasta

Carbonara is one of the most famous Italian pastas. The original recipe is very simple, it consists of the next few steps. First, pasta is cooked in a salty boiling water. The pasta type that is best for this recipe is spaghetti. Meanwhile they cook diced bacon, until it is crispy. Then they make the sauce. For cream they mix raw egg yolks with grated parmigiano with black pepper. They separate bacon from the released fat oil and they add some of it into the cream. Once pasta is al dente we transfer the pasta into a pot and we add the cream, letting it cook for another minute. And the last step is to mix the bacon in.

Fried zucchini flowers

This light dish has a long history in Italy. Zucchini flowers are freshly picked in the morning and dipped into a batter. The batter is made out of the local sparkling water, salt, pepper, and flour. Then dipped flowers are fried for 5 minutes.

Testaroli
Testaroli is a type of pancake-like pasta prepared using water, wheat, flour and salt that is sliced into triangular shapes. Usually it is topped with pesto.

Mandilli al pesto

Mandilli are handkerchief-size sheets of pasta, typically topped with pesto.

Page updated

Report abuse