Appetising aperitif foods
For the last five months in which I’ve been sharing my love of aperitif culture, I’ve been writing mainly about aperitif drinks. The drink is the backbone of aperitif culture, of course: it’s what lubricates the conversation and eases you out of the pressures of the day. Aperitif food goes almost unnoticed in most discussions, but what’s on your plate can be as important as what’s in your glass. There appears to be a contradiction in serving food to stimulate the appetite. However, the purpose is not to provoke hunger but to kick-start digestion. Hunger can be the enemy of a good dinner. It temps you to gorge on whatever is served first, which is especially dangerous if it’s the bread roll on your sideplate. Good aperitif food will take the edge off your hunger while encouraging the production of saliva and other gastric juices. It tells your brain that something good to eat is coming. Key to its success is that it is visually appealing and stimulating on the tongue. There...