Chronicle of Italian Quirks
I've decided to chronicle the strange things about Italian culture that I've noticed. I've already mentioned the the eggs and the cars. But as there are endless examples, I'm going to start making a more regular record of them. This is the first installment.
ITALIAN QUIRK #1 - The Produce Glove
You must have heard by now that Italy has a reputation for being a very dirty country. The level of dirt varies from city to city. Naples sports trash in the streets. In Florence, the city streets are clean, but just like in every other Italian city, a visit to the restroom may as well be a trip to an open, festering sewer.
In general, there is a lower level of hygeine and lack of awareness regarding sanitation. This is also true of the restaurant industry in Italy. We have seen things in Italian kitchens that would send health inspectors from the U.S. to an early grave. Most of this is behind the scenes, but there is one thing Italian restaurants are never ashamed of...touching your food with their bare hands. Now, I'm not just talking chefs, or people working in the kitchen cooking the food. Cashiers will wipe tables, take out the trash, punch prices into the cash register then grab a sandwich with their bare hands and give it to you. They do it without caring, without blinking, and I've never seen an Italian customer show even a little bit of displeasure at it. And it doesn't matter how swanky the place is, the lack of awareness is universal.
This is all well and good. It is, after all, a different culture with different standards. But there is something that just doesn't add up. In the grocery store, you're not allowed to shop for produce without a plastic glove on your hand. They provide these plastic gloves, which are right next to the plastic produce baggies, for people to put on when they get their fruits and vegetables. Sure, a plastic produce glove makes sense. We all touch about fifteen apples before we pick the perfect one in the U.S. And no doubt, customers' hands are probably not so clean. But why are Italians so concerned about not touching produce with their bare hands, something they are probably going to wash or maybe even cook later, but they don't care when a dude with a hangnail on his pinky and a band-aid on his thumb hands them a pastry they are going to eat on the spot?
It's strange because in the States we have an awareness about not touching food in restaurants, but we don't really care that twenty-three people have touched the carrot we just put in the cart. Like I said, our way makes more sense because most people rinse or peel produce before they eat it. But the Italians are just a little inconsistent on this produce glove situation.
ITALIAN QUIRK #1 - The Produce Glove
You must have heard by now that Italy has a reputation for being a very dirty country. The level of dirt varies from city to city. Naples sports trash in the streets. In Florence, the city streets are clean, but just like in every other Italian city, a visit to the restroom may as well be a trip to an open, festering sewer.
In general, there is a lower level of hygeine and lack of awareness regarding sanitation. This is also true of the restaurant industry in Italy. We have seen things in Italian kitchens that would send health inspectors from the U.S. to an early grave. Most of this is behind the scenes, but there is one thing Italian restaurants are never ashamed of...touching your food with their bare hands. Now, I'm not just talking chefs, or people working in the kitchen cooking the food. Cashiers will wipe tables, take out the trash, punch prices into the cash register then grab a sandwich with their bare hands and give it to you. They do it without caring, without blinking, and I've never seen an Italian customer show even a little bit of displeasure at it. And it doesn't matter how swanky the place is, the lack of awareness is universal.
This is all well and good. It is, after all, a different culture with different standards. But there is something that just doesn't add up. In the grocery store, you're not allowed to shop for produce without a plastic glove on your hand. They provide these plastic gloves, which are right next to the plastic produce baggies, for people to put on when they get their fruits and vegetables. Sure, a plastic produce glove makes sense. We all touch about fifteen apples before we pick the perfect one in the U.S. And no doubt, customers' hands are probably not so clean. But why are Italians so concerned about not touching produce with their bare hands, something they are probably going to wash or maybe even cook later, but they don't care when a dude with a hangnail on his pinky and a band-aid on his thumb hands them a pastry they are going to eat on the spot?
It's strange because in the States we have an awareness about not touching food in restaurants, but we don't really care that twenty-three people have touched the carrot we just put in the cart. Like I said, our way makes more sense because most people rinse or peel produce before they eat it. But the Italians are just a little inconsistent on this produce glove situation.
posted by Amy at 11:19 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Amy,
I enjoy this very much. I read all your wonderful experiences, sad, funny, happy, etc. You are quite a world traveler. Thanks for the pictures. And I am so sorry about your camera that was lost. Sadder for the pictures you took with it were gone. God bless and thanks again. Surely hope to see you sometime soon.
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