Picnics are usually multi-dish meals. I’ve been trying to bring together traditional North American picnic fare with a well-rounded summer menu. For example, potato salad – where does it fit in? I started to think about what actually constitutes a multi-dish meal, and shifted my thinking to multi-course meals, so instead of thinking about individual dishes and how they work together, giving myself a framework of types of courses that I could find dishes to fit in. I found on Wikipedia an entry on Italian eating traditions with a section on meal structures, which offered up this handy table.
Meal stage
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Composition
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Aperitivo
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Antipasto
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Primo
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"first course", usually consists of a hot dish like pasta, risotto, gnocchi, polenta or soup.
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Secondo
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"second course", the main dish, usually fish or meat. Traditionally veal, pork and chicken are most commonly used, at least in the North, though beef has become more popular since World War II and wild game is found, particularly in Tuscany. Fish are generally caught locally.
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Contorno
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"side dish", may be a salad or cooked vegetables. A traditional menu features salad along with the main course.
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Formaggio e frutta
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"cheese and fruits", the first dessert. Local cheeses may be part of the Antipasto orContorno as well.
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Dolce
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"sweet", such as cakes and cookies
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Caffè
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coffee
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Digestivo
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"digestives", liquors/liqueurs (grappa, amaro, limoncello, sambuca, nocino, sometimes referred to as ammazzacaffè ("coffee killer")
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Apart from the drinks (Aperitivo, Caffè, Digestivo) I think this is a good framework to work from. Which still leaves me wondering where the starchy potato salad fits into a balanced summer meal? I think I shall have to ask friends and relations who enjoy starches more than I do some questions to help me clarify this point, or leave off the potato salad all together.
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