Linda--you are much too sweet of a person!! :) I would hate to see someone deny me something I needed when I was jet-lagged!!

The waitress was just so sweet and apologetic that you couldn't get mad at her. I was too tired to be mad anyway, but thankfully the food came quickly and we didn't have too much time to try to stay awake.

The most important question has not been asked:

when drinking coffee with lunch or dinner should one stick out the pinkey finger or not?

Curt
<i>The most important question has not been asked:

when drinking coffee with lunch or dinner should one stick out the pinkey finger or not? </i>

<b>YES</b>

Blackduff

Recently in Puglia, Italy, I couldn't even get a coffee (expresso) AFTER my meal - smart restaurant too. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that it was grappa, limoncello or nothing. The fact that I was driving home cut no ice with the waiter.

Kate, is it possible that the restaurant did not *make* coffee? I mean, not even have the facilities or ingredients, ie coffee?? I know that in Italy, cafes are popular. I am thinking of some of the Italian restaurants in the North End of Boston that do not serve dessert and expect that if you want it, you will retire to the nearby cafes...

Wine is cheaper than coffee in Europe. But not in the U.S. or when flying with the U.S. airlines.

Sodas are sweet and will probably make the meal taste bitter.

I don't usually drink coffee past mid-morning (or sometimes with a chocolate dessert), but I stopped at a nice cafe on Isle of St. Louis and, because they didn't serve until 7, ordered a cafe creme and read a book. When the server came to ask me if I would like to order, I did, and I also ordered another cafe creme and some water. I have to admit that there was a slight cocking of her head when I did, but she graciously went and got it. I think I would have received the same look in the US if I had ordered a hot fudge sundae in between the salad and the steak, but I still would have been served. The servers in all the cafes and restaurants I went into treated me with respect, and that's what matters. If it makes them happy to dis a tourist behind doors, they can be my guests.

Actually, that's a fair point.

If a restaurant is not in the habit of serving coffee, they may not even have a machine.

Sometimes, near closing time, it can become impossible to get coffee due to the fact that espresso machines have to be fully cleaned and purged every day. Since it is a tedious task, the barman sometimes jumps the gun if it looks like nobody is going to order coffee anymore.

Presumably if the restaurant sells Coke, they aren't likely going to make an issue of when it is consumed, provided it isn't the only thing the diner orders, of course. Ditto coffee (except, as the previous poster points out, in the instance where the machine has been put away for the day.)

Meanwhile....

&quot;....the cold wine will coagulate the hot cheese balls and they won't soften down for two days.....&quot;

&quot;[an Italian friend] believed that acidic tomato sauce would cause any milk drunk to curdle.....&quot;

This is quite interesting, how people come to equate cooking with digestion. It's as if people equate the processing of food pre-ingestion with the processing of food by our bodies post-ingestion.

Cold substances added to a cheese sauce during cooking might cause it to coagulate, but wine or tomato sauce per se can't be bad for the digestion of anything, even dairy products such as milk or cheese. The pH of wine and tomatoes, pH range around 3.5 to 4.5, pales in comparison to the acidity of the stomach, pH of around 2.0. The stomach acid is there to aid digestion, not make it worse! (And no, the temperature of ingested foodstuffs doesn't alter the stomach pH. )

Our digestive systems evolved long before we learned how to brew tea or coffee.

Sue
Since you have all of the information about the stomach, etc. can you explain people get constipated.

Blackduff

Here's a small recipe using fondue and drinks.

http://www.recipesource.com/special-...e-fondue1.html

<i>She adds that one should not drink cold beverages with cheese fondue, or
your stomach will be sorry. She says white wine or tea is best, and
warm-ish Coke or mineral water is OK. She said NEVER drink beer with Swiss
fondue. (She was quite firm on this last point.)
</i>

So, I guess there are different viewpoints. I've had fondue with both wine and tea. I feel a lot better after the meal with tea.

Blackduff

Sorry, lost this thread until recently.

Blackduff, there's too many reasons to go into here, especially since constipation can mean either infrequency of bowel movement, changed (e.g. hardened) nature of the stools, or both.

Partial list:

Behavioural (stress, often about being constipated!); sedentary lifestyle;

When the reason is dietary, it generally involves insufficient fibre or bulk matter; and/or not enough liquids;

calcium and iron supplements;

Medications (lots, including ordinary antacids that upset optimum pH environment of beneficial bacteria)

Anatomical (e.g. growth in colon);

Illnesses, including serious ones like Parkinson's, endocrine disorders, etc;

Spinal cord injuries;

Pregnancy;

etc etc etc.