Food rules

I know, am I really going to miss them? After 4.5 years trying to learn all of them, being exasperated by them, and not getting the logic - I will, I will miss them. I've spoken here before about how I love Germans for their predictability about complaining about certain things, and while most people would never equate Italians and Germans, there is something comforting about once you finally learn the rules of Italian eating and know what you're up against. And while I poopooed a lot of them and still think they shouldn't actually be 'rules' but maybe just advice, I do now see the value in 'some' of them (be clear I did not say all). After trying eating pasta with shrimp or pasta with clams without parmesan, I can tell you I get it. It's true the cheese does overpower the light seafood flavor that is much better on its own. And while I do often sneak a cappuccino mid-afternoon from the vending machine so I don't have to embarrass myself/enrage the coffee bar about wanting milk after lunch, it is true that after a heavy meal an espresso does go down easier than a lot of milk with your coffee. And this whole business about having to have a tablecloth to eat or at least a rudimentary 'American' placemat, I get it. Eating on raw table makes a mess, that is much easier dealt with if you can whip said covering out of the way and 'shake it off, uh oh, shake it off'. And a much easier rule to adopt was no mixing of sweet and savory, because frankly most of the time it misses the mark. Yes I will admit that stuffing I made for Thanksgiving with panettone was weird. So let's just say, I will miss the rigor with which you view digestion and respect the individuality of flavors and I promise to take your lessons (not rules) with me, and respectfully break your rules when it suits my fancy, I'm still American after all.