Untold Italy · Friday, August 7, 2026
A common faux pas in Italian markets is to select your own fruit and vegetables. Nizim advises that unless you have a personal relationship with the vendor, you should ask them to pick what you want. This rule also extends to supermarkets, where using provided gloves for produce is essential.
“Another big no no is being in a market and starting to touch the fruit and veg to select yourself. If you see other people doing that in a market at a stand, it means that that person goes to that stand knows the vendor, and the vendor as a special exception is letting them pick their own stuff. But you normally ask the person to give you, however much of whatever thing you want.”
“So that's another big thing that will rub people the wrong way when you're in the supermarket, because I do love going into any supermarket wherever I go, because the Italian ones are so good.”
“But if you want to like get an apple or you know anything, you need to put the plastic gloves on, right. Yes, yes, yes, absolutely.”