What's the deal with this commonly-heard coffee rule?
One of the most common rules around drinking coffee in Italy often finds its way into American pop culture, memes, and media. There's an idea that Italians will disown you if you attempt to even order a cappuccino after lunch, and will do everything in their power to ensure that you don't get that drink—at least until after lunch.
So, is that true?
Yes. And no.
First, we have to understand the structure of meals.
The structure of meals
When it comes to food, and mealtimes, the Italian people follow a fairly structured regimen.
Breakfast
This is usually a small pastry, like a cornetto, and an espresso. Sometimes a macchiato. Rarely, a cappuccino. Rarely because milk is quite heavy and a fair majority of Italians believe that milk will upset their digestion, or cause them to be bloated afterwards. So it's more common that they will have a little milk to cut the acidity of espresso, but nothing more.
If they do order a cappuccino (or make one at their house), it's often for dipping as there are a wide variety of Italian breakfast cookies that are designed to be dipped into coffee.
Sometimes, breakfast will be a little bit more advanced than this, but rarely. Italians believe in a small breakfast, or they will feel too bloated and slow to start working.
The first aperitivo
Around noon, or twelve-thirty, bars will once again become crowded as people flock to them for their first aperitivo of the day. This usually entails some kind of bitters-derived drink like Campari or Aperol, or sometimes just a beer. This is designed to whet the appetite. bitters to start the digestion process, and little snacks like peanuts, chips, or olives to get the stomach excited for the meal to come.
Lunch
The biggest meal of the day, hands down. If you're spent some time in Italy, you might have heard that before.
For many Italians, dinner is a small affair, usually just a pasta, or maybe even a pizza if you want a night out (pizza in Italy is considered a personal dinner rather than a shared dinner, and is often offered when people want something "light").
But lunch is the reason we get out of bed in the morning. It has all of the courses. The antipasta, or nibbles like sausage, cheese, olives, crackers, bread, and so much more.
Then the plates are cleared and out comes the primi, or first course: pasta. Whether it's ravioli, or cavateli in sauce, it's always delicious.
Then the secondi. For all you meat-eaters out there, this is the meat dish. Sometimes it's as extravagant as a roasted pig, steak, or broiled fish. Other times it's sausages and meatballs (yes, after the pasta!).
With this comes the contorni, or the side dishes. Typically vegetables. Sometimes a quiche or frittata.
Afterwards, the dessert. Pie, cake, pastries from the pasticceria.
The entire time everyone is drinking wine. And when the dessert is served, usually a digestivo and black coffee. Something to wake you up after all the food and alcohol.
So... Can I order a cappuccino after lunchtime?
It's not so much that the Italian people don't believe you shouldn't have a cappuccino after lunch, but, how could you possibly do that to your digestive system?
The wine aids digestion, as does the digestivo. A black coffee is supposed to be good for it as well. You should go back to work (or exploring the city).
So why would you go and ruin your digestion with a cup of milk?
The Italians won't stand for it.
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