Life is a Minestrone

It used to puzzle me what the Italians did with their vegetables. In most of Italy – perhaps not in the poorest regions – every town boasts a market in which at any time of the year one can find the most magnificent array of fresh produce. Since the growing season extends to at least ten months of the year, they are always pretty well served. And yet, when you go to most restaurants, vegetables are conspicuous only by their absence.

There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that restaurants don’t think it is their business to give you vegetables which are for the home; they consider it their job to give you antipasti, primi and then to follow with a good chunk of protein. Secondly, they are not into contorni, or vegetables as an adjunct to protein. ‘Meat and two veg’ is an alien concept, although countless Italian restaurateurs in Britain have submitted to that perennial and seemingly undying British demand.