Being a vegetarian in Italy is not particularly difficult. Although the locals are often mystified as to why anyone would voluntarily give up the ‘pleasures’ of meat and fish, I am at an advantage in being able put my eating habits down to English eccentricity.
In the 15 years I have lived here, I’ve found that while my options may be more limited I have never had to resort to the dreaded standby of omelette and salad.
One of the main irritations, though, is that menus rarely show which items are suitable for veggies. There is no equivalent of the UK Vegetarian Society’s simple ‘V’ symbol to make life easier. Even in slow food eateries where the politics and principles of consumption are fundamental, the focus is more likely to be on the provenance of the ingredients than whether or not they contain any dead animals.
A few dedicated vegetarian restaurants do exist but these tend to be in the larger cities. Out in the sticks, you may be lucky and find a macrobiotic place or, a relatively new trend, those labelled as BIO. ‘Bio’ is short for ‘biologico’ which in English would normally be rendered as ‘organic’. Continue reading
