Parmigiano Reggiano, Neapolitan pizza, mozzarella, mortadella, risotto, and tiramisù: when thinking of Italian cuisine, the list is endless.

Yet, despite its popularity globally, the ideas many people have of Italian food abroad don’t always match up to the way it’s eaten in Italy.

READ ALSO: Four myths about ‘traditional’ Italian food you can stop believing

In fact, there are many faux pas holidaymakers and new foreign residents make when eating and drinking in Italy – and while Italians themselves don’t always follow the most stereotypical food ‘rules’, there are some which are easy to fall foul of.

We asked our readers and fellow residents in The Local’s Facebook group Living in Italy what they learned when they first arrived. 

There is a time (and a temperature) for drinks

For Robbie Sossi, discovering what a caffe corretto was came with some embarassment.

“I haven’t seen this in the centre of Italy, but in the northeast if you order a coffee, the barman usually asks if you want it corretto which means alcohol of some kind added to it,” he writes. 

“I had been asked many times if I wanted corretto and have always said no, but eventually to find out what they meant, I said yes. 

READ MORE: Why sometimes Italian don’t even follow the food rules.

The barman asked Robbie if he’d like grappa (the usual for a caffe corretto), cognac, or schnapps added to his caffeine, all of which he said no to. He did however say yes to milk.

The barman then turned to his colleague and told him what Robbie wanted.

“The whole bar erupted in laughter and I never returned,” Robbie says.

Lisa Chiodo writes she made the error of ordering a cappuccino after dinner, while MaryEllen McClaren Garofalo recalls the time she ordered an Aperol spritz with her meal, writing she now considers it a “no-no.”

Kav Kavanagh, a Lazio resident, had a few issues with the temperature of his coffee, which in Italian bars is usually served at a temperature deemed safe for immediate drinking.

He writes: “I soon learnt that ‘hot’ means ‘lukewarm’ in Italy, and does not mean the same as hot in the UK.”

Florence resident Robin Plapp Killoran had a nicer surprise with the difference in hot chocolate.

“Hot chocolate is almost like drinking chocolate pudding,” she writes “ But with cream or some hot milk it’s magnificent!”

Pasta rules

Karen Short writes: “The condiment dictates the type of pasta….you can’t have rigatoni aglio olio. It’s just not right. And I would have to be really hungry to eat smooth pasta!”

Carol Hope Simpson was in for a rude awakening when she discovered another combination should not be served.

“I was shocked to discover that adding cheese to a fish pasta dish was a major faux pas,” she writes.

READ MORE: Do Italians really hate all spicy food? 

Like its smells, reactions to the idea of combining fish and cheese can be pretty strong. 

Doreen Pisco Costabile writes: “In Puglia, my husband had ordered fish along with a side of grilled vegetables. He asked the waiter for grated cheese. 

“The waiter told him he could not serve cheese with fish. My husband had to assure him that he would only use it on the grilled vegetables. We could tell he did not want to bring the cheese.”

Keeping it sweet

Sweet polenta was also frowned upon by Abruzzo-based reader Sandra Thompson’s Italian friend.

“I make a great Lemon Polenta cake and  I told my Italian friend about it,” she writes. “She tut-tutted at me and told me polenta is not for dolce. I made it and took some to her house, but never got an opinion on the taste.”

READ ALSO: Seven surprising Italian food rules foreigners fall foul of

On the topic of desserts, Carole Murray from Glasgow said she was surprised when she found out the Italian dessert zuppa inglese was supposed to be a British trifle.

Briton Ed Foley was also shocked to learn when his first Italian teacher in Abruzzo told him garlic bread, a side dish associated with Italy outside of Italy, was her favourite English food. 

“She had never heard of it in Italy,” he writes.

American Laura A. Williams Holmes remembers when she ordered chicken parmesan 14 years ago in Italy and was met with a startled response.

“When I tried to order it and did not understand why there was only eggplant Parmesan, the waiter in Milan (after his look of utter shock) explained with a tone of condescension that this does not exist in Italy,” she writes.

“Looking back, it was incredibly embarrassing as my American cultural ignorance was on full display that night.” 

READ ALSO:

• Antipasto to amaro: What to expect from every step of an Italian dinner
• Doggy bags and sharing plates: Why Italy’s last food-related taboos are dying out
• Dressing up and slowing down: The unwritten rules of an Italian Sunday lunch

Judith A. Greenwood and Carl Lobitz both agree that table manners are different here and are more formal, with Carl writing he had had Italian dining etiquette lessons from his wife.

Judith notes, in Italy, keeping your arms above the table surface is seen as well-mannered.

“It supposedly dates from times when you might be concealing poison, or a weapon. So the very elbows that got smacked as a kid are smiled upon here,” she explains.

The amount of food

For some residents, the abundance of food was the most surprising thing. 

Mary Hanson, who lives in Puglia, tells us how during her first meal with her husband and Italian landlord: “There was item after item after item arriving at the table.”

“Being brought up good Catholics, we soldiered our way through and ate everything. After the last dish of antipasto, the landlord asked what we wanted for the primi (first course).”

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

Angela DeSabatino, has a similar tale: “My biggest surprise was probably that the Sunday lunch was a huge meal and the 9pm meal was a duplicate, eaten slower, with perhaps more seafood.

“Your waking, napping and bedtimes are all centred around these two meals.”

And lastly, resident Conor Hogan noted: “The capacity, and will, to talk about food for hours and hours.”