Top 13 Italian Pet Peeves || What NOT To Do Around Italians
Italian Pet Peeves || 13 Things Italians Find Irritating
Hello everyone!
Today we are going to find out something new about Italian culture by looking at some behaviors that seem to annoy most Italians: here are our top 13 Italian pet peeves.
Maybe you’ve already heard about some of them, but I’m sure others will surprise you.
Italian Pet Peeves || Putting pasta in the water before it boils, or overcooking it
Italian Pet Peeves || Breaking spaghetti or cutting it
Italian Pet Peeves || Pineapple (or strawberries, or ketchup…) on pizza
Italian Pet Peeves || Cappuccino at lunch
Italian Pet Peeves || Carbonara with pancetta
Italian Pet Peeves || Pasta with chicken
Italian Pet Peeves || Parmesan cheese on fish dishes
Italian Pet Peeves || Starbucks, or long coffee in general
Italian Pet Peeves || “Ice cream for tourists”
Italian Pet Peeves || Reheated pasta
Italian Pet Peeves || Sandals with socks
Italian Pet Peeves || Men wearing white socks
Italian Pet Peeves || Mispronouncing “bruschetta” and “pistacchio”
Italian Pet Peeves || FAQs
Putting pasta in the water before it boils, or overcooking it
You cannot put pasta in the water before it has begun to boil, nor before you have put salt in it.
It is also absolutely forbidden to overcook it.
Follow the minutes indicated on the pasta box – if you can find them: for some reason, it’s always hard to find the number of minutes… some pasta brands have even joked about this:
Breaking spaghetti or cutting it
Sacrilege! It is absolutely forbidden to break spaghetti.
If they don’t fit in the pot, all it takes is a moment of patience and they will bend and fit. The reason many Italians advise against breaking pasta is that this leads to uneven cooking. Breaking the pasta creates pieces of different sizes and shapes, which will cook at different times.
Once cooked, cutting spaghetti is also considered rude: it can only be done for young children who have not yet learned how to properly eat spaghetti with a fork.
Do you know the names of all the Italian pasta types? Learn them all in our latest guide!
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Pineapple (or strawberries, or ketchup…) on pizza
By now you have figured out that 90% of Italian pet peeves have to do with food and how not to prepare it. What can I say, Italians are very conservative when it comes to their recipes.
Anyway, you absolutely cannot put strange things on pizza like pineapple, strawberries, or ketchup.
Speaking of ketchup, it is only okay to use it in burgers or with fries or chicken nuggets. Not on pasta.
To quote our article on Italian idioms, “ci sta come i cavoli a merenda”.
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Cappuccino at lunch
A cappuccino or any other beverage containing milk is drunk only at breakfast, certainly not together with a plate of pasta.
At lunch and dinner, order water, wine, beer, or a soda.
Many tourists don’t realise when they come to Italy and order a cappuccino at 4pm.
Tourists probably don’t realise we are deeply sighing internally!
Only order one before 11am in Italy!
Carbonara with pancetta
According to Italians, carbonara sauce is made exclusively with guanciale.
However, this mistake is not as bad as the others. As a matter of fact, even some Italians make it with pancetta.
Pasta with chicken
I don’t really know why, but in Italy pasta and chicken cannot be combined.
In countries like the United States and England, pasta with chicken can be found in any grocery store, but not in Italy.
Find out more about the intricate world of Italian pasta by reading our article.
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Parmesan cheese on fish dishes
Parmesan is delicious on almost any pasta dish, but not on fish or seafood dishes, so don’t do it.
If the waiter does not bring you parmesan, there is probably a reason.
Starbucks, or long coffee in general
We are talking about really conservative Italians here, because I personally really love long coffee and even iced coffee.
However, many Italians were not happy when the first Starbucks opened in Milan: people accused Starbucks of “Italian-washing” their products and its coffee was considered an insult to real Italian espresso.
“Ice cream for tourists”
Not all ice cream is the same: beware because ice cream for tourists isn’t found only abroad, but also in Italy.
Garish colors (conferred by artificial additives) are a clue: an ice cream made with high-quality pistachios should not be bright green, but brown, while a real banana ice cream should be grayish-white, not bright yellow.
Another bad sign is when in the display case you see mountains of ice cream standing upright on its own: a well-made ice cream will melt if it overflows from the edges of the metal container.
Reheated pasta
Leftover pasta cannot be reheated in the microwave the next day, because by then it would look and taste, as my mum says, like “colla per manifesti” (poster glue).
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Sandals with socks
Now let’s turn to another sensitive topic for Italian people
Fashion choices.
You absolutely cannot wear sandals with socks.
We Italians immediately associate them with “Germans on vacation.”
Sorry to any German friends!
Men wearing white socks
We are not sure why, but white socks on a man are considered an outrage to the fashion sense.
White socks should never be worn, the only exception in which white socks are allowed is during sports activity, but they must be short and strictly terry cloth.
Italian Pet Peeves || Mispronouncing “bruschetta” and “pistacchio”
Beware of these two words! “Che” and “Chi” are pronounced with a hard sound, like “casa.”
Well, that’s it! I hope this article has entertained you and discovered more about Italians and their habits. Try not to make these mistakes if you are in Italy and don’t want to upset anyone 😉
Italian Pet Peeves || FAQs
Why did Starbucks face criticism in Italy, especially among conservative Italians?
Starbucks was seen as “Italian-washing” its products, and its coffee was considered an insult to traditional Italian espresso.
Why is Parmesan cheese frowned upon on fish dishes in Italy?
Parmesan complements pasta but clashes with the delicate flavors of fish and seafood, making it a culinary no-no.
Why is carbonara with pancetta tolerated, but guanciale preferred?
While guanciale is the traditional choice, some Italians use pancetta; it’s a milder offense compared to other culinary faux pas. Pancetta is not the best choice as it releases more fat when cooked.
When is it considered acceptable to drink a cappuccino?
Beverages with milk, like cappuccino, are reserved for breakfast, not to be paired with pasta during lunch or dinner.
Why can’t I find pasta with chicken on any Italian menu?
In Italy, pasta and chicken are generally not combined, unlike in some other countries.
What’s wrong with putting pineapple on pizza?
Everything. JK, the reason is that adding unconventional toppings like pineapple is a deviation from authentic pizza flavors. In general, we rarely use fruit combined with salty food.
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