Italian meal structure

Italian meal structure is typical of the European Mediterranean region and differs from that of Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe, although it still often consists of breakfast (colazione), lunch (pranzo), and supper (cena). However, breakfast itself is often skipped or is lighter than that of non-Mediterranean Europe. Late-morning and mid-afternoon snacks, called merenda (pl.: merende), are also often eaten.
Full meals in Italy contain four or five courses. Especially on weekends, meals are often seen as a time to spend with family and friends rather than simply for sustenance; thus, meals tend to be longer than elsewhere. During holidays such as Christmas and New Year's Eve, feasts can last for hours.
Today, full-course meals are mainly reserved for special events such as weddings, while everyday meals include only a first or second course (sometimes both), a side dish, and coffee. The primo (first course) is usually a filling dish such as risotto or pasta, with sauces made from meat, vegetables or seafood. Whole pieces of meat such as sausages, meatballs, and poultry are eaten in the secondo (second course). Italian cuisine has some single-course meals (piatto unico) combining starches and proteins.
The most popular breakfast (colazione) is sweet, consumed at home or at a café. If the breakfast is consumed at home, it consists of coffee (espresso or prepared with a moka pot), milk or caffè latte accompanied by baked goods such as biscuits, for example shortbread, or by slices of bread spread with butter and jam or with honey or gianduja cream, made with chocolate and hazelnuts. Milk is sometimes replaced by fruit juice. On some special occasions, such as Sundays or holidays, there may also be more baked goods, such as cakes, pies, pastries, or other regional specialties.
If breakfast is consumed at a café, espresso coffee predominates, together with cappuccino or latte macchiato, accompanied by a cornetto, bombolone, or other pastry; however, the choice of breakfast desserts is varied, some of which are often present only in certain regions or cities. In recent decades, other types of coffee drinks have also spread, such as mocaccino and marocchino.
Much less frequent, but not completely unusual, is the savory breakfast (although much lighter and frugal than other European savory breakfasts), often consisting of focaccia (of different types and depending on the region) or even just toasted homemade bread seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, tomato or sliced salami.
However, many Italians only drink coffee for breakfast and no food.
Lunch (pranzo) is generally considered the most important meal of the day. The full version is composed of four courses:
Lunch is always served with bread.
Meals, particularly lunch, are generally concluded with a cup of espresso or coffee prepared with a caffè moka, sometimes followed by the so-called ammazzacaffè, consisting of a glass of local liqueur, bitter or sweet (of which there is wide choice).
On special occasions, such as holidays and anniversaries, there are also two other courses:
Wine is often a part of the meal, especially during lunch and dinner.
A merenda (from the Latin merenda) is a snack in the mid-morning (around 10 o'clock a.m.) or mid-afternoon (around 5 o'clock p.m.). It is usually a light meal, consisting of panini or tramezzini, fruit alone or bread and jam, if not a dessert and, in summer, possibly gelato. It is common for children, and also eaten by adults.
Supper is the other main meal of the day. The supper (cena) scheme has the same courses as lunch, but with dishes and foods that are usually lighter.
Exceptions are richer dinners (cenoni) eaten for festivities such as New Year's Eve, Christmas Eve and the Carnival period.
Unlike lunch, supper, when consumed among close family members, does not necessarily include a first course based on starchy foods (such as pasta or polenta) or cereals (such as rice), so sometimes supper consists of the equivalent of a second course (a meat or fish-based preparation), with or without a side dish, or a single dish, such as a soup or a light soup, and including bread.
A structure of an Italian meal in its full form, usually used during festivities: