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LA BELLA VITA

La Bella Vita: Pasta, coffee, and the signs you’re becoming Italian

From how your eating habits become more Italian (without you even realising it) to the best ways to prepare and drink coffee, our new weekly newsletter La Bella Vita offers you an essential starting point for eating, talking, drinking and living like an Italian.

La Bella Vita: Pasta, coffee, and the signs you're becoming Italian
Moving to Italy often means a different lifestyle - and changing habits. Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash

La Bella Vita is our regular look at the real culture of Italy – from language to cuisine, manners to art. This new newsletter will be published weekly and you can receive it directly to your inbox, by going to newsletter preferences in ‘My Account’ or follow the instructions in the newsletter box below.

The longer you spend in Italy, the more you might find yourself adapting to Italian culture in ways you didn’t expect. For Brits like me, that might mean swapping your tea with milk for black espresso. For Americans it could be that your tastebuds have slowly become less accustomed to spicy foods (good tacos are, sadly, hard to find in Italy). And you’ve heard all about the tomatoes, but are you eating more lentils yet?

Once you find yourself eating pasta on an almost daily basis and reacting to the idea of fast food with a heartfelt ‘che schifo!’ you’ll know there’s really no going back. These are just some of the eating and drinking habits you might see change over time:

17 ways your eating and drinking habits change when you live in Italy

With all that pasta in mind, if you want to make sure your favourite recipe is executed in truly flawless Italian style we’ve got some expert advice on nailing the technique for saucing all of your pasta dishes correctly every time – and there’s more to it than you might expect.

Ask an Italian: How do you sauce pasta properly?

And then there’s the coffee. Whether you prefer yours from an espresso machine or the iconic stovetop moka coffee pot – personally I find it hard to pick a favourite – everyone who’s spent even a short time in Italy knows there’s an art to preparing and drinking coffee all’italiana

This rich tradition comes with a set of rules and norms that can be hard to navigate if you weren’t born in the country, so here’s our complete guide to where, when and how to drink coffee like a true Italian.

Where, when and how to drink coffee like an Italian

A shot of dark, velvety coffee is more than just a quick caffeine hit: Italy’s espresso is a prized social and cultural ritual the country considers a part of its national heritage. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

The weather has taken a turn for the worse this week and many parts of northern Italy are experiencing freezing temperatures and snow. It sounds obvious now, but before I moved to Italy I didn’t realise just how bitterly cold it gets, and my first winter in Tuscany was a bit of a shock. Luckily, Italians from around the peninsula share a love of talking – or complaining – about cold and wet weather so there were plenty of people ready to commiserate.

Here are ten Italian phrases you can throw into your weather-related conversations during these chilly days:

Ten phrases to talk about cold and wet weather in Italian

And have you noticed how some Italian translations of English-language film titles bear very little resemblance to the original? I first realised this when an Italian friend told me how they always watched something called ‘Mamma ho perso l’aereo’ at Christmas, and described the plot, which sounded identical to that of Home Alone…

From the very literal to the improbable, here’s a non-exhaustive list of our favourite Italian movie title translations.

Puns and plot spoilers: How English movie titles are translated into Italian

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 see us write more about on The Local? Please email me at [email protected].

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ITALY EXPLAINED

Why you don’t need to leave large tips at Italian restaurants

Many visitors from the US leave a generous tip as standard when dining out in Italy, while others say no tip is necessary. So what are the rules and how much should you really leave?

Why you don’t need to leave large tips at Italian restaurants

American tourists, coming from the land of mandatory tip culture, are prone to reflexively tipping 20 percent or more wherever they travel in the world. And many would be aghast at the idea of not leaving a tip at all.

But in Italy, as regular visitors know, tipping really is not required or expected

Visitors are sometimes confused about this because staff at some restaurants encourage American visitors to tip generously by suggesting that it is, in fact, the norm.

If Italians tip, they do so occasionally for good service, and making a habit of tipping modestly when dining out in the country will help you blend in better with the locals.

Why don’t Italians tip in restaurants?

If you come from a country where tipping is expected it can feel uncomfortable not to do so.

But there are a couple of reasons why Italians don’t usually tip – or if they do, they leave a moderate amount.

Reader question: How do I know if I should tip at Italian restaurants?

Italian restaurant bills often already include small service charges, normally of a couple of euros per head, which will be listed as servizio on the bill.

(You might also see a ‘coperto’ or cover charge, which is not specifically a service charge. This goes to the restaurant rather than the server.)

And Italy doesn’t have much of a tipping culture simply because Italian wait staff aren’t reliant on tips to get by like they are in many parts of the US. 

As is the case elsewhere in Europe, they are paid a standard wage and any tips are viewed as an added extra.

So, while tipping is always appreciated, rest assured that it’s entirely your choice (beyond servizio charges.)

What if I want to tip anyway?

Italians might tip in recognition of standout service and when there’s no servizio charge listed.

But tipping here is modest: it would be very unusual to leave 20 percent or even more.

You can leave an Italian-style tip in the form of a couple of extra euros per person, or by rounding the bill up to the nearest five or ten.

READ ALSO: What are the rules on tipping in Italy?

If you’re paying by card, bear in mind that very few places will be able to add a tip to the card payment – so you might want to carry some change or small notes with you.

What if the waiter asks for a tip?

It’s not unheard of for wait staff at some restaurants in tourist hotspots to suggest that tipping is a requirement in Italy, or even to tell customers that “service is not included”.

Restaurant staff in popular destinations are of course well aware of the generous amounts commonly left by some overseas visitors – and some do try to encourage this.

While this tactic leaves some customers unimpressed and less likely to tip, others say they feel pressured and end up tipping just in case.

If there’s no servizio charge on the bill, it may be technically true that service is not included.

But tipping is always at the customer’s discretion in Italy, and staff at reputable restaurants don’t tend to ask.

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