Free Nonsense
An Italian man in Porto
By Dario Messina*
When I first landed in Porto I didn’t know what to expect from this city and its culture. I thought that the Portuguese were the cousins of Spaniards… I’ve been many times to Spain and Spaniards are quite similar to Italians. So, the Portuguese and the Italians must be quite similar... hmmm not so much!
I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. I am Dario Messina and I am a researcher here at Centre for Enterprise Systems Engineering (CESE). I am a Sicilian, and this is important for you to understand what follows, because Italians become more affectionate as you move south.
Before I arrived here in Porto, aside from the institutional emails I had to exchange with the director of my doctoral program and my supervisors, I had the opportunity to exchange a couple of emails with three wonderful people: Marta, Zé Pedro and Ricardo. Well, Ricardo was the first one to show me that we Portuguese and Italians are different.
My first meeting was with Ricardo and Zé Pedro. We were more or less the same age, and they greeted me with a hug, so I thought they were warm enough. We chat a bit, then I with Ricardo went to drink my first - of a long series - fino and everything was very nice.
A couple of days after I met Ricardo at INESC TEC so I went to greet him. Imagine the scenario: me with my arms up in the air about to hug him. Ricardo, who is a big guy, started moving backward as if he were in The Walking Dead! Ahahah! That day I understood that most of the time Portuguese guys greet others with a handshake. In Sicily, on the contrary, guys greet others with two kisses on the cheeks, and a hug if you're close.
Fortunately, as things started progressing, instead of speaking Esperanto (a combination of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English) I learned how to speak Portuguese thanks to Professor “Menino”, who taught me the real Porto-guese. This means that now I can have a simple conversation.
I think I’m well integrated thanks also to the help of my great colleagues and friends (Solange, Fábio “o chefe”, Rita, Eric, Vânia, Cláudio, Tiago, Catarina, Ana Maria, Bé, Gi, Filipe, Rui and Luís), my supervisors Ana and Lucas, and all the workers of INESC TEC. However, I'm still think there is a huge problem between our cultures - with food.
Now, Portuguese people, yes come here and listen to me well: I know that you know the basics so why do you have to drive me crazy?
I really thank the women that work at the cafeteria because they are really kind, but as Grasiela would say “A sério, filha”???? Every day, I go downstairs dreading what I’m going to eat that day. So I take this opportunity to give you some hints:
- I know that food gets mixed in the stomach, but there is no reason for you have to start mixing it on the plate. Eating begins with the eyes.
- If Pasta is floating in the pot, it is dead. Yes, like the goldfish in the bowl.
- Tomatoes are good and healthy, but there is no need to put them on top of everything (note for B., the same is valid for mayo :) )
- Fish (and everything that lives in the sea) and meat don’t have to be mixed. A courtesy in this case - I don’t eat fish,
- Finally, Pizza is good with almost everything so, how is it possible that I never saw one that is acceptable? Here some basic recipes:
- Margherita (tomato sauce and mozzarella)
- Margherita + Chorizo
- Margherita + Ham (and if you want also mushrooms)
- Margherita – tomato sauce + tomato cherry + arugula after cooking (if you want it TOP add also Grana cheese sliced).
NEVER: Bolognese sauce, Fish and similar, Chicken, Pineapple).
Love,
Dario.
*Researcher at the Centre for Enterprise Systems Engineering (CESE)
