Text:

“We always ate salad after dinner”

Context:

My dad grew up in a large Italian-American family in New Jersey. Every night they would have family dinner. They would eat different meals depending on the day of the week: spaghetti on Sunday, leftovers on Wednesday, etc. However, one thing remained the same: when salad was eaten. Salad was always eaten after the main course. At school, my father would sometimes tell other kids that his family would eat salad after the meal, and the kids would make fun of him, not understanding why his family did that.

Analysis:

Eating salad after the main course is a very Italian tradition. It’s a ritual because it is a repeated and patterned act that followed every family dinner my father had. My dad believes they ate salad after dinner in order to promote digestive health with the fiber. After having spent time in Italy, I agree with my dad’s belief and add onto it saying that salad is eaten after dinner in order to not be full for the main course. The pasta, fish, or meat dishes in an Italian meal are considered the highlight. It is considered almost disrespectful to not finish the main course, so eating salad after the main course ensures that you remain hungry for the meal and don’t fill up on salad. With food being so innate and important in Italian culture, it makes sense that rituals such as this one exist surrounding dinner time.