Italy is the longest-lived country in Europe, with an average life expectancy of 84 years, one of the reasons for this is due to the eating habits of Italians. Many people don't know much about the Italian diet. In addition to the well-known pasta, ham and ice cream, many friends are deeply powerless to eat Italian cuisine. Xiaobian is by no means an expert, but the study of Italian food is still some time, coupled with the hot love for the Apennine Peninsula, so here is a popular science post, if there is any mistake, please also ask you to point out more. Let's take a look at the Italian family's three meals a day, what they love to eat, and why the average life expectancy can reach 84 years old.
1. Breakfast
Breakfast for Italian families is very simple, usually bread coated with butter or jam, mostly served with coffee and milk. Some people also go to the bar before work to drink some bubble coffee and eat some bread. Before lunch, they are mostly empty-stomached. As a result, some children buy some pizza on their way to school and eat it during breaks, while adults usually have morning tea time.
In Italian food culture, the largest portion of coffee is like a coffee cup, and it is necessary to sit down and drink in the restaurant before leaving. So the Italian bar is always very busy in the morning, people around the bar or order coffee and bread, or talk while enjoying.
In Italy, it's basically hard to see someone walking down the road with a coffee, let alone a Starbucks Venti-sized coffee. This reminds me of Starbucks, which used to be called "making espresso." Xiaobian was also once a die-hard fan of Starbucks, and when he first went to the United States, he felt that it was good to walk with coffee, and once thought that coffee should be drunk when walking. After that, I had the privilege of going to the Alps to play, and when I passed the small town coffee shop, I asked the shopkeeper for a cup of coffee to take away, and I was stunned that the store was extremely inexplicable.
2. Lunch
Italians are accustomed to their own traditional cuisine, that is, Italian Western food, based on local traditional dishes and large meals in all regions of Italy. As far as Western cuisine is concerned, Italy should be the ancestor, comparable to the cuisine of France and other Western European countries. Therefore, Italians are also proud of it when they invite guests to eat an Italian meal.
Lunch remains the most important meal of the day for Italians. Many shops close between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. in order to go home and have dinner with their families. Although the custom of family lunch gathering together is fading with the acceleration of the pace of life, the family still gets together to enjoy the joy of a big family on special occasions or major holidays.
Italians love pasta and tend to put it first. There are many ways to eat, there are unique ways to make noodles, there are at least hundreds of noodles of various shapes, colors and tastes, such as alphabet-shaped, shell-shaped, solid noodles, macaroni noodles, vegetable sauce noodles, etc., as well as Wontons, Dumplings and so on. Eating Italian Western food mainly uses knives and forks, therefore, the Italian habit on the table is to eat as much as possible to shut up, eat and drink as much as possible without making a sound, eat noodles to be rolled with a fork to send to the mouth, not inhalable to make a sound.
Italians are always accustomed to following such a process when eating, they pay attention to the order of eating, they will first drink soup, such as mushroom soup, chaos soup, red cabbage soup, etc., through these foods to improve the energy can produce a sense of fullness, so as not to appear full of food; after drinking soup, the main dish will be meat products and seafood-based, of course, this will definitely be accompanied by a variety of green foods, such as broccoli, greens, etc., and then with a glass of wine, because the main dish is seafood food.
3. Dinner
Italians pay more attention to lunch and dinner, and use the meal as a way to communicate and connect feelings. Italians often drink and chat when eating, and restaurants also deliberately delay the time to serve, so a meal takes more than two hours or more. Dinner usually starts at 8:30 p.m., and if you eat it all, it's often already midnight. Of course, Italians also have more rules for drinking, and they generally drink aperitifs before meals.
Italy is suitable for growing grapes from the south to the north, and all regions are rich in wine, so there are many varieties and brands of wine in Italy. Italians love to drink wine, which is a must-have drink at the family table, and guests are treated with wine when they come. However, the way Italians drink alcohol is more exquisite, generally drinking aperitif before meals, also known as pre-dinner wine, so that people can stimulate appetite and increase appetite.
Italian dinner dishes are original, fish and chicken are mostly made without any condiments, only fried or grilled in a pan, then poured with lemon juice, or sprinkled with pepper and salt to serve. Shrimp is only cooked in white water; secondly, Italians generally have only three dishes per meal, and there is bread on the table, which can be taken by themselves: the first course is usually noodles or other pasta, such as pizza, macaroni and so on. Eat noodles with a fork rolled up in the mouth to send, do not use the mouth to suck out the sound;
The second main course is usually meat, such as steak, grilled chicken, fried fish, etc., with some vegetables next to it. The meat in Western food is usually a large piece, you need to use a knife and fork to cut it into small pieces, eat while cutting, eat chicken or lobster with your hands, fish generally have gone to bone spurs, it is very convenient to eat, for a small number of small thorns, you should pinch out by hand on the plate, can not be directly spit into the plate; the third course is lettuce salad; there are fruits and desserts after the meal.
When it comes to dessert, we have to say sicilian cannons. It serves as the most wonderful highlight of the Italian desserts. The crispy appearance and soft heart always blend perfectly, the rich filling, bringing endless changes in the taste, the cheese with rich texture layers, the sweet and smooth cream, the silky romantic chocolate, plus the nutritious and healthy blueberry filling, the taste is so endless.
Why do Italians live longer?
1. Eating habits
Italians living in the Mediterranean are able to live long thanks to some special foods. Italian longevity food: wine, olive oil. Italians are particularly fond of wine and must drink it at meals. The vitamins in wine can help digestion, promote endocrine, and enhance the vitality of the body. Liquid golden olive oil; olive oil is rich in unsaturated cooking foods such as oleic acid, which can enhance the digestive capacity of the gastrointestinal tract. Olive oil also controls fat levels in the blood, lowers cholesterol and makes arteries smoother.
2. Medical welfare
Italy's free healthcare system is world-famous. Many foreigners choose to immigrate to Italy, one of the reasons is that they want to enjoy free medical care. But what many people don't know is that Italy's taxes are very high and varied. For example, there is a tax on throwing garbage, and there is a tax on watching TV. It is also these taxes that guarantee the expenditure of various social welfare benefits, including free medical care.
3. Social welfare
Italian schools are free, pension and unemployment are supported by the government, the minimum monthly benefits for the unemployed can be 890 euros, about 10,000 euros a year, unemployment benefits are paid in the form of decreasing annually according to the original fees, the first year is 80%.
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