We remember very well where we were when we had our first Italian aperitivo – it was in Catania, in Sicily; we had time to kill before dinner and thought we’d stop somewhere for a drink. So we ordered drinks. One of them was an Averna, which started our love-affair with that bitter (see here for other place-based drinks we love). With the drinks, they brought us some potato chips. And some olives. And some little crackers. What magic is this, we thought – we buy a drink and they give us food? Where we come from, it is, literally, peanuts, if you are lucky. And another place in Sicily was so lavish with the extras that we looked at each other in a panic, wondering how we were going to explain that we hadn’t actually ordered sandwiches and pizza, just drinks. Then it dawned on us – this was just an elaborate version of spuntini, or snacks. This delightful tradition, in its extreme form, is called apericena – which is a cross between aperitif and the Italian word for dinner. And we often eat so much at lunch that we are hard-pressed to eat a full meal at dinnertime. So we make do with an aperitivo and some salty treats instead. Here’s what we’ve nosed out.
The Aperitivo
You can drink whatever you want: Italians are not going to show you their disapproval, even if you order a cappucino in the afternoon. And cocktails have become a big thing, at least in Rome, over the past decade, as have craft beers. So you probably can order whatever you want if you go to the right sort of bar. But there are a couple of traditional aperitivo choices: wine is never inappropriate – we often go for a rosé, or sometimes prosecco (Italian sparkling wine). And the drink of choice, at least these days, is an Aperol spritz, the Venetian bitter Aperol combined with prosecco and seltzer/soda (the ratio, of you are daring enough to try this at home, is 3:2:1), served with an orange and a straw in a wine glass. It looks very jolly.
We are also very partial to a limoncello spritz: same proportions, with a lemon-flavoured liqueur that we like a lot. An awful lot, as the picture below suggests (note: that is a regular-sized bottle of prosecco…). And some places do very fancy cocktails; we’re suckers for a pretty glass and a bit of foam.
The Spuntini
Let’s get this part over with: this is not going to be a healthy mini-dinner. The majority of the items are salty, and are carb-heavy. So you won’t do this every day, and on alternating days, you’ll eat a lot of salad. Right? We have seen an enormous variety of snacks offered. Potato chips are very frequent, as are olives, crackers and cracker-like products. But also, sometimes, veggies, pastries with tomato, breadsticks, and small sandwiches.
That’s the free stuff. But many places also offer apericena, a much more elaborate spread, for a couple of extra Euro all the way up to fifteen. These are usually a bargain: you’ll find meats, cheeses, pasta, pizza, veggies, and sometimes even sweet treats. Some places offer a buffet, where you serve yourself, others bring you food as long as you keep eating it. The hands-down best place for apericena in Rome is Momart Café, which also makes a mean cocktail. There’s outdoor seating, and the place is packed from about 7:30 on. The food is not amazing, but it is varied and plentiful; we especially liked the veggies (in raw, cooked, and fried forms). And there’s pizza too!
