{"id":4311,"date":"2017-07-29T08:25:13","date_gmt":"2017-07-29T06:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.wordpress.com\/?p=4311"},"modified":"2020-09-12T11:31:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T09:31:02","slug":"laperitivo-cultural-comfort-and-girls-night-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/?p=4311","title":{"rendered":"L'aperitivo… Cultural Comfort and Girls Night Out!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Girl’s night out is a celebration and a reason to celebrate! \u00a0It always includes an aperitivo<\/em> and in the summertime when it’s hot and we feel like eating light, it can be turned into an apericena.<\/em>\u00a0 Heavy appetizers, drinks and my expat girlfriends makes for a happy evening. \u00a0Living in Italy I have learned to speak Italian fairly fluently but English is my first language. \u00a0While it comes easily enough to me; I can switch back and forth while speaking and dream in both languages, I still have to think about the words I am putting together, especially when I am tired. \u00a0English flows automatically and being able to communicate in your native tongue when most of your daily communication is done in a foreign language is a luxury I truly appreciate. \u00a0After a busy week, or more likely a busy month, there is nothing better than catching up with my girls over un aperitivo<\/em>.
\nMy girlfriends come from a many places: South Africa, Canada, England and America. \"IMG_0505\"Some of us were raised bilingually, read Italian parents but not in Italy, and some of us are transplants who learned to speak Italian as adults while living here. \u00a0We have all managed to integrate ourselves into the culture here but we are still outsiders to a certain degree. I feel so lucky to have these ladies in my life! \u00a0It isn’t just about speaking the same language, culturally we have more in common, perhaps because we have all been vagabonds at one point or another. \u00a0The feeling of where home is with our feet in multiple cultures. \u00a0The ability to share in the joys and frustrations of living in Italy. \u00a0We take comfort in each other and have a laugh at what’s good and bad in life with\u00a0un aperitivo. \u00a0<\/em>
\nItalian history says that the aperitivo was invented in Torino in 1786 when Vermouth was invented by Antonio Benedetto Carpano who mixed white wine with more than 30 different herbs and spices and added alcohol. \u00a0They say that Carpano’s drink became so popular that he had to run his distillery 24\/7 to keep up with the demand.
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Time to buy a new bottle of Campari!<\/p><\/div>
\nVermouth was the original aperitivo<\/em> but its meaning has expanded and today it is a combination of drinks and snacks meant to open (aprire)\u00a0<\/em>your appetite. \u00a0It might be a Spritz made with Aperol or Campari (my favorite), \u00a0a glass of prosecco<\/em> or a cocktail and finger food. \u00a0The Italians consider it unhealthy to drink alcohol without food and the only exception to this is when you have a digestivo:\u00a0grappa<\/em>, limoncello<\/em>, ar an amaro <\/em>(bitter). These are drunk at the end of a big meal and help aid the digestive process. Order an alcoholic drink at any other time and you will always get you something to nibble on in this country. \u00a0It might just be a bowl of peanuts or potato chips but take the time to find a bar that has a proper aperitivo and you will be in for a treat!
\nAs I mentioned earlier my expat friends come from various places. \u00a0We all have different food backgrounds and we all love food! \u00a0If we ever contemplate moving back to where we came from, we often wonder what we would do about our food. \u00a0In our global marketplace we can get just about anything we want but it comes at a price and we have been spoiled by life in Italy. \u00a0Fresh, simple food that varies enormously from region to region and great wine…so what does an\u00a0aperitivo\u00a0<\/em>in Piemonte serve up?
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Vitello Tonnato, focaccia, grissini and patatine, with a glass of prosecco…what more could you ask for?<\/p><\/div>
\nLocal salami and prosciutto, tiny squares of pizza and foccacia, and mini cups of rice or barley salad. \u00a0One of my favorite things is vitello tonnato. \u00a0 Poached veal (not milk-fed) that is thinly sliced, served cold and slathered with tuna-caper mayonnaise. \u00a0There are usually a few cherry tomatoes floating around the aperitivo<\/em> plate or we will get\u00a0pinzimonio, <\/em>raw veggies that get dipped in good extra virgin olive oil seasoned with a little salt and pepper. We often get small squares of frittata and if we ask nicely some crispy grissini, (<\/em>breadsticks) that go well with everything. \u00a0Last but not least there is usually\u00a0Toma<\/em>\u00a0and\/or some other cheese,\u00a0<\/em>fresh or aged accompanied with a little jam or honey. \u00a0You can see how you could make this a meal. \u00a0\"IMG_1536\"
\nWhether you are visiting Piemonte or any other place in Italy the aperitivo is something you have to try. \u00a0It is an inexpensive way to get out, be social and taste some of the local specialties.
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Cin cin!<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Girl’s night out is a celebration and a reason to celebrate! \u00a0It always includes an aperitivo and in the summertime when it’s hot and we feel like eating light, it can be turned into an apericena.\u00a0 Heavy appetizers, drinks and my expat girlfriends makes for a happy evening. \u00a0Living in Italy I have learned to … Continue reading L'aperitivo… Cultural Comfort and Girls Night Out!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-in-italy"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5477,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4311\/revisions\/5477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}