Who’s to say where the Italian love of eating began? Did it start with the Etruscans, or perhaps the Romans with their enogastronomic (eno meaning wine) excesses, often depicted as grand bacchanalia? Maybe it stemmed from the spread of a food-friendly Catholicism under the Vatican and the Papal States, or just maybe it was born with the Renaissance and seeded abroad by probably one of the greatest culinary traditionalists in history, Catherine De Medici.

Whatever the source, Italy’s strongest tradition historically has been the belief that the pleasure of eating is directly linked to the pleasure of living. In fact, for most Italians, “di mangiare bene e’ una cosa sacra” – “to eat well is a sacred thing.” Over the years, tradition and the demand for fine, but genuine, food have given birth to what is now referred to as “La Buona Cucina Italiana.” “La Cucina” has been there all along, undergoing constant refinement by inventive chefs who have also preserved traditional culinary values even as they innovate.

Aside from Italy’s primary tradition revolving around delicious foods and just the right wine to accompany them, there is “La Famiglia,” the family. Not so amazingly, the traditions of food, wine and the family go hand in hand, one with the other, never to be separated. As a matter of fact, in Italy, all human interaction seems somehow to be caught up with this sacred ritual of eating and drinking. It starts when you are a child and take your first sip of wine while watching your grandmother roll out homemade pasta, takes you through to your lavish 15-course wedding reception, and then on to the birth of your own child. Then the cycle starts all over again.

In Italy, eating “pranzo” with the family on Sunday (not to mention holidays like Christmas and Easter) is almost as important as going to church. On those holidays, one should be prepared to spend at least five hours at the table savoring each delicately prepared dish to the point of painful satisfaction. If these are the less important occasions, it’s hard to even talk rationally about the special occasions, such as baptisms, confirmations and, most of all, weddings. There is absolutely no more squeezing into that wedding dress the day after a 30-course meal that can last up to 10 hours. All the festivities and dancing in the world can’t work off those calories! Food is so precious to Italians, especially men, that you can wind up divorced before you are even married by just suggesting to your husband-to-be that the 30-course reception menu be cut to only 15 courses. When it is all over, who feels like going on a honeymoon? The more likely departure would be to waddle to the hospital to get something to relieve that awful feeling of over-indulgence.

As a guest in Italy, you can be sure that the first words spoken by your hosts upon entering their home will be, “What can I offer you?” This is the beginning of the end, where all the trouble starts. Everyone has heard about Italian mothers, that when it comes to food, they just don’t take no for an answer. Even when a gastronomic crisis is imminent, an Italian mother will always insist on refilling your plate. Somehow, they just have a problem with empty plates. Since it is considered rude to refuse food or drink, and you do not wish to insult the cook, you muster up the nerve to participate in gluttony. The mustering is not all that hard because the food is always fabulous. Sometimes the simple temptation of having another helping on your plate of, say, homemade pasta, is beyond any human being’s exercise in self-control. (By the way, there are very few bad cooks in Italy. This is a problem as a diet before any trip to Italy is definitely warranted, especially if you are visiting friends or relatives).

This is not the end of it. Just to be sure that there is no confusion, you should know that there are other important ground rules associated with Italy’s greatest tradition;

NEVER:

• Show up at anyone’s home without bringing something to eat
• Deny a child food; reheat pasta; say you have had enough to eat
• Ignore a holiday (it’s an occasion to eat); eat alone; put cheese on a fish-based pasta
• Serve coffee with a meal; eat a meal without bread; put more than one dish on the same plate,
• Buy vegetables when they can be freshly picked from the garden; eat salad at the beginning of your meal; use butter when you can use olive oil; have a good meal without a good wine (it helps digest the meal); eat frozen food; buy fish when it’s been raining (it’s not fresh because the fishermen haven't been out lately); let your food get cold; put sauce on a good piece of meat; expect the bill in a restaurant before you ask for it
• When you have guests, always make sure that there is plenty of food (so much that you are 100% sure to have leftovers).

Many think that in Italy the year is set by the Gregorian calendar. In actuality, it is set by the seasons, the moon and the sacred tradition of food and wine that intertwine themselves into the daily life of the average Italian. Even if you are a foreigner, it is so easy to fall into the rituals of:

• Making salami and proscuitto only in the winter when the temperature is right for their curing

• Buying only those fruits and vegetables that are in season, or better yet, only that which is fresh from your “orto” (vegetable and herb garden) and from your fruit trees

• Trimming the grape vines and bottling wine only when the moon is rising

• Butchering meat just at the right time of the month

• Making homemade pasta with farm-fresh eggs that are plentiful in the summer, then leaving it in the warm air to dry

• Canning fresh vine-ripened tomatoes for sauces throughout the winter

• Making pesto sauce with delicious fresh summer basil so those same fresh, delicious flavors can be savored all winter; drying delicious summer herbs for use throughout the year in Italy’s sumptuous regional dishes.

When Christmas and the holiday season approach (by the way, Italians celebrate the 8^th,  24^th, 25^th and 26^th of December, as well as the 1^st  and  6^th of January; all days obviously used as pretexts to indulge the country’s most important tradition), the feelings of fullness and over-satisfaction fill the air before anybody has taken a single bite.

Still, in spite of its pitfalls with regard to one’s waistline, of all the traditions in Italy, eating well has to be, indeed, one of the most pleasurable.

Oh, how wise were the great Venetians (my ancestors), whose unparalleled decadence created “Carnevale,” a yearly occasion where time was set aside to celebrate and indulge in just one last grand festivity before beginning Lent’s long and gloomy fast.

Suzanne Campion-Tittoto is an American of Venetian and French origins. She currently resides in Asolo, a town close to Venice, with her Italian vintner husband.