If you are Italian, then your family most likely never sliced homemade bread with a knife - they “broke” the bread.
In our home - bread was always torn with the hands - something we still do today - even if separating to make a sandwich. And if at any time the bread WAS to be sliced - the bread was held with one hand - close to your heart - and the knife would cut towards your heart - not away from you. Symbolizing the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the blood He shed for you. You didn’t use a cutting board for slicing bread - it was unheard of.
But with the Italians, cooking isn’t just cooking foods, and eating is not just eating foods. It’s more like a religion. You cook, you eat, you share, and breaking bread also meant the conversation while sharing. It is all treated with love and respect. And you look forward to it. Mealtime is never dreaded.
You see - in an Italian household - you eat and you talk and you share. One hand holds the fork, the other hand holds the bread, the men eat with a full mouth and their arms waving while still engaging in conversation - and it’s just a tradition. It’s love. It’s caring. It’s normal.
It would be sacreligious for an Italian family to sit and eat and not talk. Italian families talk - and talk - and talk. You’d never see a man in my family sitting at the table with a newspaper! NEVER!
Regardless of what you were eating - it was considered a meal - filled with love and sharing. And you ate it like it was a meal - and most of the time more was added to go with it.
In an Italian household you don’t eat and run. You sit for hours and you engage in the best conversations you will ever have. And you don’t eat in front of the television. As a matter of fact - the television was OFF during mealtime and you did not answer the phone. They can all back later. If not - they can knock on the door and join us in sharing.
And the longer you sit - the more meals you will be served! Trust me!
To an Italian - good homemade food is the cure-all for everything - whether it’s a cold, a tummy ache, a broken bone, and even if you have trouble with your car or your roof is leaking - “EAT THIS - IT WILL GET BETTER” - that was always our family motto. EAT - this and that can wait.
You eat, you talk, you share, you eat some more, you talk some more, you share some more, and the time passes. Next thing you see is another platter of something good to eat. Even if it is only biscotti, cakes, and other sweet treats. And of course - the fresh hot coffee - and in many homes - the homemade wine.
As a child - no one “bought” wine. We never heard of a liquor store. They made wine. Dandelion wine; wine from grapes. In barrels, in glass gallon jugs, in any glass bottle they could find - but Italian-made wine. And after they used the grapes for making wine - they made “grappa” (Italian brandy) from the grape skins, seeds and stems.
Waste NOT!
As a matter-of-fact, nothing was ever wasted. Any leftover bread was made into bread crumbs, etc. including leftover cake! There was always something you could make out of it. Something new was always made, appreciated and enjoyed even with the use of leftovers.
One thing about Italian cooking and baking - no preservatives, no chemicals and always filled with love. True Italians always infuse their goodies with LOVE, and CARE, and RESPECT. Never will you find an old-fashioned Italian “throwing” something together. NEVER.
God did not give us food to “throw together” - Italians respect food. That is the way it is supposed to be.
I have this “thing” about recipes that are written using words like “throw” or “put” or even the word “toss”. Food is not garbage. You don’t treat it that way. Yes - you can “toss” a salad, or “toss” macaroni in a sauce - but in our home it was always “gently mixed” as opposed to tossed, thrown, etc.
We still shut off the television at dinnertime, and phone calls can wait. Mealtime is family time. It is not the time for tossing a load of laundry in the washer or dryer (which to this day I prefer to line dry my clothes and I still hang outside - but then again I still iron), reading the newspaper or a book or magazine, listening to music with headphones on, or doing homework (or anything else) at the table. When at the table for a meal - you EAT and you talk. Italian children are encouraged to speak. An Italian family is a family.
So when you go to an Italian home and you are going to “break bread” be prepared for the best homemade food and the best conversation of your life.
