Who's Looking?

Who's Looking?

The Italians, that's who; Italy is the home of the 'spettacolo'. The Italians have no shame in showing their aesthetical appreciation of something that they deem to be beautiful. Walk through Florence on a 'good day', and heads will turn, and turn again and remain that way for a precarious amount of time (chances are, said admirer will be cycling or driving). So what does one do on a good day? Stay inside to prevent a potential collision? No, one struts like a peacock, tail held high. That is if you're Italian of course; a person of another nationality would duck their head and blush (NB Jordan doesn't count).

Now this isn't an earth shattering observation. It's globally acknowledged that Italian life is driven by the aesthetic. One only has to look to the Fashion Houses of Milan and the art in Florence to appreciate the importance of cutting a 'bella figura'. However, what's slightly more insightful is the extent to which this appreciation goes. Far from being a component of the Italian mind-set, it positively engulfs it.

In Italy, bello refers to all number of beautiful things and experiences. For something to be deemed worthwhile, it often requires a degree of referential beauty. While a person will be described as beautiful, so will last night's film and the party held the night before. They too command 'beauty points', if one can refer to them as such. A foreigner may well be flattered to be greeted with 'ciao bella/o' when they enter a shop or cafe. And yet beauty is such an essential component of everyday life, that the reference should be interpreted as just that, a form of reference; not a deeply felt sentiment. Sadly, the barista in the cafe below isn't going to sweep you off your feet with an impassioned declaration of love next time you ask for your usual.

Despite the general use of the word bello, it still holds huge weight. To understand the Italian way, one needs to accept that Italians go about their daily lives with eyes wide open. Far from being rude, it's deemed acceptable to remove a plate of food as soon as the person's taken their last mouthful (and is still chewing). I found this deeply disconcerting at first, especially as I'm a slow eater. My grandpa told me that each mouthful should be chewed one hundred times and whilst I don't pay too much heed to this, my mum would tell me off for 'wolfing' my food down. At first this led to a few blushes on my part; my fellow diners would be free of their plates and I'd still be playing with my spaghetti (god knows what would happen in a Chinese restaurant, I hope the Italians aren't overly adept at using chop sticks). However, I've since learnt to understand that there's no pressure to play catch-up. On the contrary, the Italians will sit for hours allowing their food to digest. It's rather a case of a dirty plate, being considered brutto.

The same rule applies to the food itself. One never mixes components on a plate; an Italian would find it messy and therefore unappetizing (unsurprisingly KFC has yet to introduce the Variety Bucket to the Italian market!). Salads are always served separately, and most often vegetables will come as a side order. Despite being told by an Italian friend that Italian meals are lengthy affairs because eating and talking at the same time simply isn’t feasible (apparently too much energy would be taken up by such multi-tasking – one must eat and then talk), Italian meals are often long because of the number of plates required. Giving yet more weight to the saying that a woman's work is never done in the kitchen!

Of course, examples of such ‘aesthetical infiltration’, don't simply apply to eating etiquette. I took great offense when I was told off for walking behind the bar at the restaurant I work at. Apparently it's not acceptable to do this whilst carrying a handbag. At first, I thought my boss was implying that I could steal something and sneak it into my purse. However, after further investigation I realized that it was considered visually displeasing to the clients. Next step? Trial run of recently acquired fuchsia pink nail varnish? Only if I want to leave with my P45 in hand.