Aperitivo Hour Snacks | Wine Enthusiast

Timing might not be everything, but it accounts for a lot. Stef Ferrari, author of the cookbook Stuzzichini: The Art of the Italian Snack had the great fortune of living full-time in Italy a few years ago. Unfortunately, her move to Florence in 2020 coincided with a global pandemic. She’d long had her sights on visiting Caffe Gilli, the world-famous bar renowned for its sophisticated cocktails. But when she got there, she couldn’t go inside due to lockdown restrictions.

Her long anticipated aperitivo wasn’t quite what she’d hoped: “I wasn’t able to sit in this very elegant, historic cafe in the way that I had dreamed about it.” She remembers getting her fancy cocktail to-go in a paper (though thoughtfully garnished) cup and sitting with it on cobblestones in the piazza. The care with which it was presented made an impression on her: “When I went to pick up my drink, they also gave me a little paper bag, and I was like, ‘I didn’t order anything.’ And the guy said, ‘No, no. That’s for you.’ And when we went and sat outside and opened up this bag, inside were these just beautifully composed bites.” A salmon puff pastry, homemade crackers and warmed olives accompanied her paper-cup cocktail, because it was just unimaginable to the Florentines to not serve the aperitvo with stuzzichini, or snacks— no matter the circumstances. The hospitality on display started Ferrari on a path that would result in her newly released cookbook and ode to art of aperitvo.

The practice has its roots in the traditions of Italian culture, but aperitivo as we know it now really only dates back to the 1990s, buoyed by the rise of the nuova mobilia, migration of younger people from more rural areas to urban centers like Rome and Milan. The idea of having a few small bites with a splash of bitters or bubbles has grown over time and expanded to the wonderful practice of apericena, when one aperitif leads to more, and which Stef Ferrari calls “the conflation of aperitivo and dinner.”