Aperitivo Lecture & Tasting
Having an aperitivo at Collins’ Restaurant & Bar gave me insight into Italian culture. Sitting around the table with my classmates, we were able to get to know each other on a deeper level outside of a classroom setting. We enjoyed sipping on our drinks, making jokes, laughing, and talking about our favorite parts of being in Italy so far. We ended up spending over two hours together, even though the activity was supposed to be much shorter. We were all living in the moment and felt at peace watching the drinks being made and hearing about their significance while experiencing it at the same time. We took our time sipping the drinks and carefully trying to detect the different flavor notes by smelling and tasting them. We also tried each appetizer one by one, sharing our thoughts and deciding which dishes we liked the most.
Aperitivo is so much more than having a cocktail. While some might find having a drink at the end of the day to be the goal of an aperitivo, it is really a time, almost a ritual, to slow down, catch up with people, and transition from the workday to the night. We all lingered until the very end of the set time and then decided that we wanted to spend even more time together, so we walked to a nearby viewpoint to watch the sunset. This showed me how aperitivo creates time to slow down and enjoy the people around you rather than always thinking about what comes next. Even the drinks became something we could share with one another. The drinks that some people did not enjoy as much were passed around to the people who had a palate that enjoyed them more. I personally was not a fan of the strong flavor of the Americano cocktail, but I happily gave it to a classmate who loved the taste. We all talked about our own food traditions with our families and the similarities we noticed with Italian culture. We even started talking about the upcoming Italian holidays, which led us to reminisce about our own holidays back home. It was nice to learn more about each other through the traditions we have with our families. We all felt similarly that it is going to be hard to be away from home during Thanksgiving since it is a time when everyone has memories of gathering with their families.
A true aperitivo is accompanied by food along with drinks. The point of having an aperitivo before dinner is to open up your stomach before having your meal. The typical drinks are usually bitter to awaken your palate. The presentation at Collins’ covered the proper preparation of an Americano (Vermouth rosso, bitter, seltzer), Aperol Spritz (bitter, prosecco, seltzer), and Hugo (St. Germain, lime, prosecco, seltzer). Along with learning how to make these drinks and getting to taste them, we learned about the history of each drink and how they came to be popular and commonly enjoyed drinks in Italy today. The food served was a modern take on Umbrian cuisine. The restaurant’s focus is on a blend of elegance and harmony, and the food is centered around the seasons, authenticity, and pure and refined flavors. The ingredients were sourced from small local producers who value sustainability.
The food was all so fresh, and you could tell the intention that went into the presentation and the choice of pairings and ingredients. All four appetizers had a different taste and texture profile, which made it fun to try each one and figure out which was everyone’s favorite. For my appetizers, I was given a tasting plate of a few of their menu items, including schiacciata bread with onion and sage, arancini “cacio e pepe” (homemade rice croquettes with pecorino cheese and black pepper), guacamole on toasted bread, and Apulian friselle topped with burrata cheese, cherry tomatoes, and basil. I ended up loving the schiacciata bread. The combination of the caramelized onion and sage blended so beautifully, and I immediately knew I wanted to recreate the dish in some way of my own. We all went around the table saying which dish we liked the most, which became another small way for us to share our opinions and learn about each other.
In my everyday life, I am always thinking ahead and checking the time to make sure I am not late for my next activity. It felt so different not to feel rushed. By the end of the night, I realized that I had not checked my phone once to see what time it was. Instead, I had spent the evening talking, tasting, laughing, and watching the sunset with my classmates. Getting to experience an aperitivo made me understand that it is not just about the drinks or food, but about intentionally creating time to be present with other people. I loved being able to slow down and get to know my classmates over food and cocktails that are special to Italy and the region.