Francesca Tosolini | Italy from the Inside

They don’t sell pasta in the Italian pasticceria

December 4, 2018

Italian pastries

Pasticceria is a store specializing in sweets (dolci). It sells mainly pastry products, cookies, chocolate, and candies. Italian pastries aren’t usually as rich or big as the American ones; many of them can be eaten in one or two bites. Many pasticcerie have a coffee bar. So, what’s the name of the store that sells pasta? That’s the pastificio which is a fresh pasta shop and which sells many different kinds of pasta along with tortellini, ravioli, gnocchi, and other products to take away and cook (cucinare) at home.

Tortellini, ravioli and pasta sold in a pastificio

{This is an excerpt from chapter 5 “Stores” of the eBook “Italy from the Inside. A native Italian reveals the secrets of traveling in Italy”. Buy our eBook on Amazon and leave us a review! If it’s good, you’ll make us happy, if it’s bad, you’ll make us improve. Thank you either way!}

The (confusing) hours of the Italian post office

November 27, 2018

Italian post office sign

Fortunately, times have changed and the Italian postal service has greatly improved. Many years ago my uncle sent a postcard to his sister during one of his trips abroad. When my aunt received it she was very pleased, but also very much surprised. Why? Well, it took almost 40 years for the postcard to arrive. This is no joke, it happened to my family. But fear no more. Today it is a more efficient system that provides refunds and allows you to track your mail online. They even have a website written in English.
Depending on the city, the post office is open Monday through Friday from around 8:00am to around 1:30pm. It closes at noon on Saturdays and on the last day of the month. It is always closed on Sunday. However, in every big city, there is a Main Post Office (Posta Centrale) which has extended hours and closes later, usually at 7pm as well as other smaller post offices which are usually centrally located. So, to summarize, some close at 1:30pm and some at 7pm (don’t ask me why because I honestly don’t know), but you can find out in advance the hours of a post office by searching its location on the official website.
And remember, post offices are easily recognizable by a yellow and blue sign that says Posteitaliane and it is displayed outside the office.

{This is an excerpt from chapter 9 “The Post Office” of the eBook “Italy from the Inside. A native Italian reveals the secrets of traveling in Italy”. Buy our eBook on Amazon and leave us a review! If it’s good, you’ll make us happy, if it’s bad, you’ll make us improve. Thank you either way!}

The Italian assaggini: what they are and why they are the best solution for food lovers

November 20, 2018

Assaggini

The typical Italian menu will list the dishes following a specific order (antipasto, primo, secondo, contorno, dolce, etc), which may be confusing since in many countries people are used to eating only one dish (piatto) with everything else included. In fact, Italian portions are smaller than American ones, so it is not going to be too overwhelming to order an antipasto, a primo and a secondo. If you are not very hungry, you can certainly order only one or two dishes. If the menu offers too many inviting options, then ask for assaggini (also called trio di primi), which is a dish that combines usually three (sometimes two or four) different small portions. For example: let’s suppose you are uncertain if you want to try that delicious pasta al pesto or tortellini alla panna, or even those inviting gnocchi al ragu’ that the person next to you is happily eating. In these circumstances ask the waiter to bring you a plate of assaggini with those specific dishes, and your wish will soon come true…

{This is an excerpt from chapter 3 “Italian cuisine and food establishments” of the eBook “Italy from the Inside. A native Italian reveals the secrets of traveling in Italy”. Buy our eBook on Amazon and leave us a review! If it’s good, you’ll make us happy, if it’s bad, you’ll make us improve. Thank you either way!}