From discovering the most talked-about cultural events of the month to understanding how Italy’s strong food culture is slowly changing, you’ll find everything you need to eat, talk, drink and live like an Italian in our weekly newsletter La Bella Vita.
La Bella Vita is our regular look at the real culture of Italy – from language to cuisine, manners to art. This newsletter is published weekly, and you can receive it directly to your inbox: go to newsletter preferences in ‘My Account’ or follow the instructions in the newsletter box below.
Don’t miss La Bella Vita: All you need to know about Italy’s culture, language and life
Our round-up of the best things to do in Italy in October is here, but considering that it’s harvest season (and the best month for sagre food festivals), it’s more so a list of what you should eat this month.
At the Boccaccesca festival, near Florence, you can enjoy Tuscan wines and hearty regional fare, such as wild boar. Next weekend, you can even pair exercise with your eating at the Gravel Gourmet in Parma, which combines cycling through the valleys and sampling local food products.
In addition to gastronomic events, October is also a popular month for new arts and culture events and exhibits. Multi-day programmes – like Romaeuropa and the Rome Film Festival in the capital, and the first Torino Art Week – become city-wide festivities this time of year.
What’s on in Italy: 16 events not to miss this October
Italian food is heralded for its simple, high-quality and generally healthy recipes. The country’s cuisine is officially the world’s most highly regarded, as recognised by UNESCO for its traditions and history.
But there is also a lowbrow side to the culture that isn’t quite so advertised – Italian junk food. These aren’t your nonna’s recipes.
One of the most common is the ‘pizza wurstel e patatine’, which is a margherita pizza topped with hot dog slices and french fries. They say it’s “for the kids”, as if a plain cheese pizza isn’t appealing enough to a five year old… To make matters worse, the hot dogs aren’t even roasted; they come out of a tin can! Yet pineapple is the problem?
If that sounds appetising to you, consider saving some room at family dinner for a rendezvous with one of Italian food culture’s dirty little secrets, whether a tinned-hot-dog pizza, a late-night cornetto, or a Camogli sandwich.
Six very Italian junk foods that you have to try
But it’s hard to believe that the Italian idea of junk food – which doesn’t even come near the stuff I grew up with in the States (hello, deep-fried Oreos) – could be the driver behind what’s quickly becoming a concerning obesity issue in southern Italy.
In parts of Campania, more than 40 percent of eight and nine-year-olds are overweight, and the Naples suburb of Ponticelli has gained the unfortunate title of one of the world’s child obesity capitals. These stats stand in stark comparison to Italy’s overall obesity rate of only 7 percent – by far the lowest in Europe (the country with the second-lowest rate being Greece, at 12.8 percent).
You have to wonder if it could come down to the increasing spread of foreign fast food chains sweeping through the South – the much more calorie-dense, grease-dripping and additive-ridden variety that hails from my home country.
American fast food chains like McDonald’s and KFC have been spreading across Italy over the past decade or so. But while they’ve been well-established in the centre-north for a decent while, they have struggled to find a foothold in southern regions, where Italian food traditions held strong.
That’s been changing recently – and looks set to accelerate.
IN MAPS: How fast food chains are spreading across Italy
Remember, if you’d like to have this weekly newsletter sent straight to your inbox, you can sign up for it via Newsletter preferences in “My Account”.
Is there an aspect of the Italian way of life you’d like to read more about? Please email us at news@thelocal.it.
