Aha! So this is what that tasteless Tuscan bread is for

Italy has Fiat, the Colosseum, the Vespa and the Vatican. It has Michelangelo, Andrea Bocelli and Gianluigi Buffon. And Italy has la scarpetta. You know, that saltless bread that appears on the table at practically every restaurant. However tasteless the bread may be, this is what Italian culture says it is meant for.

We Dutch people pounce on a basket of bread as though we haven’t had anything to eat for years. We frantically look for a knob of butter, which is nowhere to be found on an Italian dining table. Then oil it is—if there’s any on the table—with a kilo of salt sprinkled over it for dipping. Because if you’re unlucky, your bread basket is in Tuscany, where bakers haven’t a clue about salt and the bread tastes of absolutely nothing without it. But greed isn’t one of the seven sins for nothing: anyone who attacks the bread basket before the food arrives will pay the price later.

First of all, because by the time the secondo arrives, your stomach will most likely rebel, since an avalanche of carbohydrates has already invaded it. But more importantly, you can forget about a round of fare la scarpetta.

Italian culture

Fare la scarpetta—that’s what you need the bread for. The expression literally translates as ‘doing the little shoe’, with the sweeping motion made with the bread symbolising a shoe moving across the ground. Tear off a piece, hold it between your fingers and wipe your empty plate clean with it. There’s absolutely nothing barbaric about that; in Italy, it’s part of the culture, just like the hand gesture.

You can even mop up the sauce in the large serving dish in the middle of the table, although the honour then goes to one designated lucky person. Go on, though: Italian etiquette may well knock the bread from your fingers, so know where to do your little shoe. But given that the average cena Italiana is hardly a stiff affair, that etiquette isn’t likely to be lurking nearby. No, a plate that looks as though the cleaner has just been by is the greatest compliment a waiter and chef can receive. Not to mention the dishwasher.

You can dip it at home

Besides, fare la scarpetta is a final moment of reflection between you and your perfect pasta. And that tasteless Tuscan bread suddenly becomes deeply reverent: nothing should overshadow the perfection of a good dish, not even the tool you use to scoop up the last bits from your plate. Sourdough? You can dip that in your soup at home.

Read also:

• This is the trick for always ordering the best pizza
• Why cannoli is one of Sicily’s best inventions
• Divinely delicious: this recipe for gnocchi with sage butter

Source: Italiamo