What’s the best thing you can do after a glorious meal, when some of the good stuff still remains on the plate, but not quite enough for a full forkful of it? Simple! You grab a piece of bread and do la scarpetta. The “little shoe” is perhaps the most famous culinary act of defiance our country knows, because it isn’t entirely acceptable when it comes to good manners, yet everyone does it without a care in the world. 

Maybe it’s because of our natural sense of rebellion, maybe it’s because we’ve always been told by our grandparents that non si spreca niente,  not even a drop of sauce, or maybe it’s just because there is nothing quite as good as bread dipped into something tasty: whichever the reason, fare la scarpetta – which is, for the very few who don’t know, soaking up the sauce left in a plate with a piece of bread – is one of Italy’s favorite activities.