Nearly every Italian menu is divided into predictable sections; knowing these takes out a lot of the guesswork of ordering dinner.
Antipasto: Literally, before the meal (pasto in Italian), these are appetizers, and may be a plate of cured meats and marinated vegetables (the classic antipasto on American menus) or a small savory dish, usually served cold.
Primi Piatti or Primi: The first course (literally translated to first plates), which may be soup, risotto (rice), or a pasta dish. Pasta appears in such a bewildering variety that it’s impossible to know the local names for each type. Best advice: either ask the waiter and be prepared for an unintelligible reply, or take your chances, based on the sauce that accompanies it. Tip: Bolognese is a tomato sauce with meat.
Secundi Piatti or Secundi: The second course is the main dish, and the menu may be divided here into Pesce (fish) and Carne (meat). Many of the fish you will find on a menu in Italy are local varieties and can’t be translated. Methods of preparation include griglia (grilled), al forno (baked or roasted), bollito (boiled) and fritto (fried). The most common meats are pollo (chicken), vitello (veal), agnello (lamb), lombo (pork loin) and bistecca (steak, usually beef or veal, but may be pork).
Contorni: Vegetables are not usually served on the plate with the main dish, except as a garnish. They are ordered separately, and given the chef’s full attention. Sometimes they will have sauces, but more often will be roasted or sauteed and combined and seasoned in an interesting way.
Dolci: Sweets may be on the menu or brought around on a tray at the end of the meal.
Do you need to order from each of these sections? Certainly not – unless they have settled in for a long Sunday dinner, Italians often don’t order one from each section either. So no one will think it odd if you choose fewer courses.
