Stuzighet

There is not a long list of traditional appetizers (starters) in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In a place that knew significant poverty as recently as the early 1960s, meals were one or two courses that provided necessary nourishment and staved off hunger. Appetizers connote an entirely different economic condition and approach to a meal. They require a longer time at table, and therefore those present can afford the time. They are served as a part of a meal in which flavors of food and wine are orchestrated by a knowing chef or host, and therefore where attention is paid by those who prepare and those who consume. This does not imply that the food will be fancy or necessarily expensive, but the presence of an appetizer signals a certain seriousness of purpose.