Secondi

Second course - - fish, poultry, meat, etc. Primo is the first go-round - - pasta or soup, usually. You don't have to get both. You might want to change the post title to something more meaningful.

Charlene, First of all, I agree with Ed. Is there a reason you used an E-mail address as the title of the Thread? It has absolutely no relevance to the question. You might want to hit the "Edit" button and revise the title. To elaborate a bit, Italian meals are typically presented in "waves". These consist of Antipasti (Appetizer), Primi Piatti (first course - often Pasta), Secondi Piatti (second course - usually fish, beef or whatever), Contorni (vegetables), Insalata and finally Dolci (desserts). It's not necessary to order the full selektion . There's no way I could eat or could afford the "the full meal deal", so I typically just order Insalta and Primi (along with some Vino, of course). Cheers!

Actually, I understood what she meant immediately. Anyway, depending on where you go in Italy, the course sizes vary. If you are in a very touristy area, like Rome or Venice, each course is itsy bitsy. Quite annoying when you have a tight budget. My family of four tried to just get "primi piatti" pasta course, but it was usually to small (even for the kids). So, as Ken said, it is often necessary to get at least two courses to be satisfied. When you think of Italy, don't you think of a great big bowl of pasta? Maybe in less touristy locations. We found it tough to eat well without spending a lot of money. We were in Italy for a month and each place we visited presented the same problem (Rome, Positano, CT, Venice).

Kerry, the OP originally had her email address as the topic name. She has since changed it to "Secondi" which makes more sense. Glad to help. :-)

Kerry, you will not get a great big bowl of pasta in the less touristy places either. That is not how Italians eat. Pasta and other primi piatti are not supposed to be the whole meal, so portions are fairly small. I love the food in Italy even though I do not eat pasta. Generally my husband and I will each order an antipasta dish, and then he orders from the primi ions and I order from the second. We both are happy with that.

Most European meals are much small than US which is why about 2/3 of American are overweight. We are very accustom in the US to splitting meals which we do not do in Europe. Portion size is much more reasonable.

Charlene, this excellent post by Zerlina may give you more info on eating "Roman." Enjoy!

Even though the portion sizes are generally smaller in Italy than in this area, at my age I can usually only handle a Salad and Primi (and sometimes not even the Salad). After one meal in Monterosso last year, which consisted of only Salad and Pasta (and of course Vino), it was all I could do to "waddle" out of the restaurant after dinner! It's unfortunate that we're unable to post photos here, as that would provide a good view of the size of the meal.

Kerry, above, may think of a big bowl of pasta when thinking of Italian food, but Italians do not. They really do eat both a primo and a secondo at lunch and dinner, and the portion sizes are smaller than in the US to allow for this. It's not a trap for tourists. And yes, Italy is expensive. There's no law that you have to have both, but I almost always do, both to get enough food and to have the variety that the system encourages (with their method, you're not loading up on either pasta or meat, but have some of each). I don't usually get a contorno when I'm eating alone, even though I should have more vegetables, because it's often too much for one. (I do get one to share when I'm eating with someone else.) Of course, even though I didn't have room for vegetables, I always find room for dessert. Funny how that happens... Of course, the nature of both the primi and the secondi vary by region; some places favor polenta or rice instead of pasta, for instance. And pizza is not served, except in designated pizzerie. I've seen tourists get very upset because the food on offer didn't match their concept of "Italian food." If you want to really get into nitty-gritty details of what's served in each region and town, get Fred Plotkin's Italy For The Gourmet Traveler. While the title may imply that you have to be rich or fancy to appreciate his advice, it's just the opposite. His point is that Italians of all kinds learn to appreciate the regional foods and specialties, and so can you. Often, he specifically suggests avoiding the most expensive places, and recommends moderately prices restaurants, as well as food stores and the like.

Harold, Italy for the Gourmet Travel sounds great, but doesn't appear to be available on Amazon for my kindle. Do you know if it's available electronically.