What Italy’s ‘Useless’ Bar Napkins Are Actually Made For

From the pasta-eating mistake of cutting your noodles to getting side-eyed for ordering a cappuccino after morning passes, vacationers have been bumbling their way through Italy since travel here began centuries ago. But one cultural misunderstanding seems to have exploded on the internet in recent years: the purpose of the infuriatingly small, seemingly pointless napkins (called tovagliolini) that come in dispensers dotting the tables of cafes, bars, pastry shops, and gelaterias across the country. Created from cellulose, and made water-resistant with polyamide-epichlorohydrin resin (PAE), these flimsy square sheets feel plasticky and aren’t absorbent — making them completely ineffective for wiping your hands or cleaning up a mess.

This issue has drawn the ire of many a tourist to Italy, even popping up on Q&A threads on Quora and various subreddits. One Quora user complained, “Why are napkins in cafes in Portugal and Italy so useless? They are hard and don’t absorb anything like traditional ones.” And Redditor u/Ziopover asked, “We’re talking about those little napkins that are on the counter in every bar… but what the hell are they for?”

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that, once again, tourists have gotten it wrong: these “useless” napkins aren’t what you think they are. They’re made for picking up pastries rather than cleaning. As Italy-based digital creator @ciaraswalsh explains, “These are not napkins that will just soak up water [as they have] like a waxy consistency to them. They’re actually used to be picking up your cornetto or brioche … so you don’t dirty your hands.”

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How to properly use tovagliolini in Italy

The reason these napkins have been designed as such is to prevent them from sticking to the food (and vice versa). Pastries are typically covered with jam, sugar, icing, and other delicious yet sticky ingredients. And Italians take their food culture seriously, so the last thing they’d want is for their breakfast to be ruined by having the toppings come off on the napkin or having bits of paper stuck to it.

To use the tovagliolini as intended, take one out of the dispenser and grab the pastry with it, ensuring that your fingers don’t touch your food. Wrap it around the bottom end of your pastry, covering it completely so it can be easily held. Now you can enjoy your cornetto (a crescent-shaped breakfast pastry) and coffee while your hands stay clean and dry.

If so many tourists are confused about the true purpose of tovagliolini, though, you may be wondering why there aren’t signs or pictures on the dispensers. Well, this is just one of many unwritten rules you should know before visiting Italy. You might also question why cafes and bars in Italy don’t stock larger, absorbent napkins on the tables alongside these mini-wipes. Cost is one reason — tovagliolini are much cheaper to produce and may even be provided by the cafe’s coffee company. It could also boil down to simple cultural differences — perhaps North Americans are just messier eaters than their European counterparts. Keep in mind, if you are using the napkin as intended, your fingers shouldn’t get dirty, as they won’t be touching the pastry at all. But you can always run to the bathroom to wash your face and hands after eating, or simply ask the staff for traditional napkins, if needed. Problem solved.

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Read the original article on Islands.