L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano A d r e a m c o m e s t r u e ! Y o u a r e finally in Italy, sitting at a love- ly table al fres- co, somewhere in Florence – or wherever you fancy, real- ly! With the soft chit-chat- ting of people around you and the gentle breeze of late s u m m e r o n t h e s k i n , y o u eagerly open the menu and read through all that's on offer: panzanella, ribollita, b istecca alla fiorentina, pap- p a r d e l l e a i f u n g h i … c h e delizia. A bottle of Brunello would be perfect, too, and then, vin santo and cantucci. H a n g o n , t h o u g h : t h e r e ' s this… coperto?! What on Earth is coperto? Literally, the word "coper- to" means "covered," but in t h i s c o n t e x t r e p r e s e n t s a small service fee you may have to pay in some restau- rants. While it used to be more common in the past – I s t i l l r e m e m b e r a standard coperto of 2,000 lire (the equivalent of one euro or a one USD today) in p i z z e r i a s w h e n I w a s a teenager in the 1990s – you s h o u l d n ' t b e s u r p r i s e d t o find still today. B u t w h a t d o e s c o p e r t o cover and what's its history? Popular food and culinary c u l t u r e m a g a z i n e A g r o d o l c e c o m e s t o t h e r e s c u e a n d e x p l a i n s u s both. Strictly speaking, cop- erto is paid to use the table, cutlery, and crockery of the restaurant, as well as the cleaning after you finish your meal. Its history goes back many centuries, as it was i n t r o d u c e d b y m e d i e v a l innkeepers who used to offer tables both inside and out- s i d e t o t h e i r c u s t o m e r s . Now, outside seats weren't c e r t a i n l y t h e c o m f y , p i c - turesque affair we are used t o n o w a d a y s , s o i t m a d e sense that there was a price to pay to enjoy some more comfort under a roof, al cop- erto. The fee was applied o n l y t o t h e p e o p l e w h o would bring their own food to the inn – yes, apparently you could do that, back then – and were charged for their seat and the use of cutlery a n d c r o c k e r y . I f , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , y o u c a m e empty-handed and enjoyed w h a t w a s o n t h e m e n u , the coperto was included in t h e p r i c e o f w h a t y o u ordered. I t m a y s u r p r i s e y o u t o know that, in fact, bringing your food from home when y o u w e n t t o a t a v e r n remained common up to the early 1900s, when the coper- to started to include also w a t e r a n d b r e a d . D i d n ' t restaurateurs lose money that way, though? Apparent- l y n o t , b e c a u s e i n t h o s e y e a r s i n n s a n d t a v e r n s would make most of their money from selling wine, not food. Of course, we are talking about popular eater- i e s , n o t c e r t a i n l y f a n c y restaurants for the upper classes. Since time immemorable, Italians have been waiting for the abolition of this little yet, for many, rather annoy- i n g f e e , w h i c h h a s b e e n annulled already in other p a r t s o f t h e w o r l d : o u r cousins the French did it in 1987, so today you get ser- v i c e , b r e a d a n d a j u g o f water already included in the price of what you order, no additions. And because we don't have a national law dictating how restaurateurs must behave, it's all left in the hands of local authori- t i e s , w h i c h d e c i d e w h e t h e r c o p e r t o m u s t b e paid or not. In many parts of Italy, y o u ' l l n o l o n g e r f i n d t h e word coperto on the menu, but rather servizio, which means pretty much the same t h i n g . W h e t h e r i t ' s m e n - tioned as a separate fee or n o t , w e a r e a l w a y s p a y i n g c o p e r t o , w h i c h i s more often than not already included in the price of what you order. Lazio is perhaps the region that clarified the situation better with a 2006 regional law that bans the c h a r g i n g o f c o p e r t o b u t a l l o w s t h a t o f s e r v i z i o : a g a i n , t h o u g h , i t i s t h e restaurateurs' duty to ensure that the indication is present and explained on the menu, s o t h a t c u s t o m e r s k n o w , quite literally, what they are getting for their hard-earned money. Don't worry though, because coperto won't set y o u b a c k t o o m u c h : t h e a v e r a g e p r i c e f o r i t i s b e t w e e n 1 . 5 0 a n d 2 e u r o (1.50 and 2 USD). Y o u k n o w w h e n y o u a r e s o m e - w h e r e u s u a l l y q u i e t , p e r h a p s s i t t i n g o n a bench in your favorite corner of the park near home, and it gets all of a sudden strangely b u s y ? O r w h e n y o u s t a r t noticing more and more peo- ple passing by your desk at work and you don't under- stand why? In Italian, we call that andirivieni (ahn-dee- ree-vee-ai-nee). A n d i r i v i e n i i s a f u n k y word with pretty old origins if it's true that it appeared for the first time in the early 15th century. As hinted at in our first paragraph, the word brings to mind traffic, the coming and going of people, a busy street at rush hour, like in sentences like Hai visto che andirivieni in cen- tro? C'è un mercatino del- l'antiquariato ("Have you seen how busy is the town center? There is an antiques m a r k e t ! " o r T u t t o q u e s t o andirivieni davanti a casa non mi piace per niente ("I really don't like all this com- ing and going in front of the house"). But andirivieni can also be used in other contexts, m o r e f i g u r a t i v e l y . F o r i n s t a n c e , i t c a n b e c o m e a s y n o n y m f o r c o n f u s i o n o f thoughts, or even for anxiety, like in Avevo un andirivieni di pensieri in testa, e non r i u s c i v o a p r e n d e r e s o n n o ( " I h a d s o m a n y thoughts in my head I could- n't fall asleep"). A n d i r i v i e n i m a k e s m e always think of hundreds of tiny ants at work, walking up and down a wall: there isn't, perhaps, a better image to explain the meaning of this word. - Si vede che il ristorante dietro l'angolo ha aperto: guarda che andirivieni! - You can tell the restau- r a n t a r o u n d t h e c o r n e r opened: there are so many people around! - Sto cercando di studi- are ma con questo andiriv- ieni non ce la farò mai! - I'm trying to study, but w i t h a l l t h i s c o m i n g a n d going I'll never manage! - Non capisco perché c'è c o s ì t a n t o a n d i r i v i e n i i n strada oggi - I don't know why there is such a bustle in the street today LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: andirivieni – it's mayhem! Italian curiosities: what is coperto and why do we pay it in Italy? People enjoying a meal in Rome. Often coperto is included in the price we pay for our food (Photo: Konstantinos Papaioannou/Dreamstime) © Ocusfocus | Dreamstime.com

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