Coffee, Bread, Pasta

Haven't blogged much about the quotidian, the simple elements that make up our routine life in Rome. Italy is, of course, a land of great food and drink. Let's start where some of us (and most Italians) usually begin their day: at the local "Bar."

There's nothing quite like the neighborhood Roman "bar" in the United States, at least not that we've experienced. (Some coffee houses are an approximation. Note, by the way, that there are no Starbucks in the city of Rome.) Enter the bar, go to the cashier (cassa) and ask for your favorite coffee. In the mornings that usually means a cappucino. After 11AM a "caffe" (a shot of espresso), or a "macchiato" (a shot of espresso with a small dollop of steamed milk), or perhaps a "lungo" (espresso with a little bit of hot water). There are a number of other possible orders:

• corretto--espresso with a dash of liqueur (e.g., grappa, amaretto)
• ristretto--super strong, very short shot of espresso
• americano--shot of espresso topped with hot water

There's a decided culture to each of the neighborhood bars too. Show up enough and the bar owner/barista will begin to chat with you. You might even begin to feel like one of the locals. Nothing much else for breakfast besides the coffee and some sweet roll or "cornetti" (a croissant filled with either marmalade, nutella, or some other goo).

The following "instructional video" is pretty accurate in our experience!



More on "Bread and Pasta" in the next post!