Are these 5 famous Italian food rules actually true?
As two slightly weird Italians living abroad, we’ve seen countless videos online claiming that Italians are obsessed with food rules. But how accurate are they really?
In this video, we’re sharing our VERY personal experiences and opinions on some of the most famous Italian food “rules” that social media loves to talk about:
๐ค Cheese on Seafood Pasta
๐ Using a Spoon for Spaghetti
โ๏ธ Breaking Spaghetti Before Cooking
โ Cappuccino After 11 AM
๐ Pineapple on Pizza
The truth? Italian food culture is full of traditions, but not every Italian thinks the same way! We LOVE Italian cuisine, but we’re also open-minded, curious, and sometimes willing to challenge the stereotypes.
You might agree with us…
You might completely disagree…
But hopefully you’ll have a LAUGH along the way!
Let us know in the comments:
๐ Which Italian food rule surprises you the most?
๐ Have you ever broken one?
๐ Team Pineapple Pizza or Team Traditional?
Thanks for watching and supporting our little corner of weird Italian thoughts! โค๏ธ
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๐ our daily life in the UK,
๐ food and recipes, both in Italian and in English,
๐ travel locally showing the beauty of this country.
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16 Comments
Which Italian food "rule" do you break most often? ๐
๐ Pineapple on pizza?
โ Cappuccino after 11?
โ Breaking spaghetti?
๐ง Cheese on seafood pasta?
And before anyone asks… yes, we survived the pineapple pizza. ๐๐
The seafood pizza at Il Giardino in Peckham was so good, me and my friend returned and had the exact same dish – with the same accompaniment of several bottles of wine. And on one of those occasions we had to send restaurant staff across the road to a supermarket to replenish the wine cellar. In mitigation, it took them a long time to prepare the dish, and rightly so.
I think a lot of this stuff comes from the US. You are more likely to be shouted at by somebody born in New York with an Italian Grandmother for breaking spaghetti than somebody from Milan.
There is also a bigger difference in food quality – In the UK you can buy fresh veg and decent cheese so is easier to make European style food. Trying to buy fresh ingredients is much harder in the US unless you live in a big city. Everything is full of corn syrup and chemicals. Even I complain about their food.
People get a bee in their bonnet about being seen as authentic or genuine – and instead of just being genuine they look for academic accreditation. Of course the correct way to prepare a dish is how you like it.
My thoughts about why English people would use a spoon is that most of our plates are far flatter and it is not easy to twirl against the plate. I use a spoon, but always a soup spoon, never a desert spoon.
I love fresh fruit, and pineapple more than most, over and above pizza. I'm not even overly keen on pizza but I wouldn't want to spoil the fruit experience.
I must confess to breaking my spaghetti , however , this is only down to pan size ( or lack therefore of ) I never drink coffee past midday , i change onto Yorkshire tea lol .
You guys are making me hungry – again.
I'm a fork & spoon spaghetti guy – sorry but that's the way it is.
Reminds me that we need to to re-visit our local Italian restaurant in Woburn & Ampthill Bucks (Fratelli). There's also another on in Woburn Sands (Nonna's). Both are very good & family run.
I don't believe in food rules (although I like that everyone has their traditions. It's kind of fun to have rules so you can break them). I love pineapple on pizza, especially with nduja or pepperoni. Sweet is good with spice, and fruit is great with meat.
Food regions are always interesting, and I know Italy is no different. It might be fun for you to explain all the different regional specialities (and stereotypes – do you assume someone from X is Mafia, or lazy, or hard working, or not sophisticated, or snobby/elitist etc.). We are an island of dozens or stereotypes, local peculiarities and specialities. I think everywhere is like that.
Also, maybe you can show a couple of your most common Veneto recipes. I haven't had polenta in ages, how do you make yours?
The only rule i break is pineapple on pizza which is what im having tonight pepperoni and pineapple, I don't understand the spoon for spaghetti its as simple as just turning a fork around and putting it in your mouth lol also love the video thumbnail very funny.
As an Englishman, let me tell you how much I love Italian food! I love it so much, I even had it for breakfast today. You just can't beat spaghetti hoops on toast!!!
In Sweden they put banana and curry on pizza.
As a child I was very lucky to have been surrounded by my fatherโs Italian friends, whom I loved dearly. For context, my dad was wounded in WW2 and had a lot of skin grafts on his face and elsewhere leaving no him longer fit for active service. By this time Italy had joined the allies and the many Italian POWs in Britain were in a kind of limbo. They were technically still prisoners of war but were no longer โEnemiesโ. My dad was given the job of looking after – technically โGuardingโ – them but everything was very informal and friendly. One of the boys borrowed my dadโs rifle while he was asleep and went โFishingโ. He would put the end of the barrel under the surface of the local lake and fire the rifle. The result was dozens of concussed fish rising to the surface and floating there. All the boys had fish for supper ! Many of the guys remained here after the war and quite a few went home but returned to live in the UK with their families. My dad came to love them and kept in touch with them for many years, visiting each other often. We ate Italian food most days during my childhood and it is still my โGo toโ comfort food. My dad learned to speak Italian but at my young age it sadly went over my head and I still only understand the very basic stuff.
Always spoon
i always break spagetti… i also chop it up to go into soups lol
We have been merrily borrowing from so many cuisines that what we now think of as authentic Italian really isnโt (just as a chicken tikka masala isnโt authentic Indian). We all adapt to our local ingredients and tastes.
I grew up eating spaghetti bolognaise and cutting up my cooked spaghetti with my spoon and fork because I wasnโt dexterous enough to successfully twirl my spaghetti and meat sauce. Then with the almost powdered parmesan shaken out of a cardboard dispenser. Thatโs the 1970s for you.
Now I know that in the south particularly the meat is cooked in the tomato sauce for added flavour and nutrients but served as a separate course – at least in Basilicata where Iโve spent most of my time in Italy. I also wouldnโt cut up my spaghetti or eat the dried out parmesan these days.
I wouldnโt hesitate to eat fresh fruit like melon with Parma ham, or figs and ricotta, or pears with Gorgonzola, so I donโt think itโs a hard and fast rule forbidding fruit with savoury food.
I think you are right that a lot of the so-called rules in online content are to provoke a reaction and fuel engagement.
I also agree that one of the biggest drawbacks of pineapple is how soggy it makes a pizza.