Italian Aperitivo Style: How to Host A Chic Spritz Night at Home
Aperitivo is the Italian custom of enjoying small savory foods and a drink before dinner is served. Aperitivo isn’t fully about cocktails, as food often supports conversation and anticipation before entering dinner time. It’s a small corner where people can wind down after working hours and enter the evening meal. The key to hosting a…
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Aperitivo is the Italian custom of enjoying small savory foods and a drink before dinner is served. Aperitivo isn’t fully about cocktails, as food often supports conversation and anticipation before entering dinner time. It’s a small corner where people can wind down after working hours and enter the evening meal.
The key to hosting a chic Italian spritz night at home in the aperitivo style is that you need to have at least one appealing drink, multiple salty bites, and keep your guests excited for what to come.
How to Host Aperitivo at Home
A successful home aperitivo should have a simple structure. You, as the host, should choose the drink first. The drink will guide the food, so you need to pay attention to the drink’s bitterness, acidity, sweetness, and carbonation.
For example, an Italian spritz for aperitivo hour would go well with aged cheese, rich pate, and salty olives. Then you should create contrast in flavor and texture. You can pair briny vegetables with cheese, as they can enhance the flavor. Add nuts for some crunch, and cured meat for some richness.
Then, all of your food and Italian aperitif cocktails should be within reach and provided on small plates. Aperitivo starts 60 to 90 minutes before dinner. So, if you’re serving chilled ingredients, don’t take them out too soon.
Popular Italian Spritz Choices for Aperitivo
An Italian Spritz is simple, yet rich with history. Each cocktail recipe is shaped by regional taste, and it’ll shape your Chic Spritz Night differently.
● Select Spritz: The most classic form of an Italian Spritz. It’s usually served with a single green olive that provides a savory shift.
● Aperol Spritz: One of the more popular Spritz versions internationally, due to its softer, more approachable profile. It has a sweetness that can go well with a long aperitivo.
● Campari Spritz: A deeper, more complex Spritz variant with assertive flavor. It’s a Spritz that’s more bitter, with clear root botanicals, bark, and citrus peel notes.
● Cynar Spritz: An artichoke-based Spritz offering an earthy, layered drink experience. It’s a suitable choice when you serve a briny Italian aperitif, and your guests don’t enjoy sweet drinks.
Italian Aperitif Choices
Italian aperitif cocktails would offer a different profile that would pair best with certain food, but here are some inspirations on what you can serve for your aperitivo.
● Arancini: Fried balls of risotto filled with vegetables, meat, or Nutella for a sweet treat. Best paired with Aperol Spritz.
● Venetian cicchetti: A cicchetti is a platter of snacks, but Venice is known for its seafood, so the platter usually consists of fried calamari or other small fried fish, creamed codfish (baccala), anchovies, alongside fried vegetables or cheeses and salami. They’re great pairings for a Select Spritz.
● A charcuterie plate: A must for an Italian aperitif. Fill a board with various cheeses, crackers, salami, and sliced baguette. Then, add a tray of crudites with cucumber slices, bell pepper strips, carrot sticks, celery sticks, and serve with a vinaigrette.
