Why do they use giant pepper mills in Italian restaurants?

I've always wondered why they don't just put a smaller pepper grinder on the table for you to do it yourself. Simple answer to this was that when they started to do that people used to pinch them as souvenirs, as in those days not many people could afford such expensive items, and I'm talking late 50's here.

So the used the Italian cunning and made sure you could not walk away with one. The larger the better.

But nowadays when they are now affordable, I think the italian Waiters like them as they are an implied symbol for the size of the Waiters other grinder - or so they would like the Ladies to think!!!

Keep up the good work Waiters, you always seem to work hard and you do bring a smile to the Ladies, and some Men's faces

They use large ones because people love to eat pepper with their food. Also if it's bigger, then more pepper fits inside so they don't have to fill it up that much. I'm not sure though why they wouldn't do this in the rest of Europe, and I never really thought that using a pepper mill in an Italian restaurant was a tradition.

Large Pepper Mill

By "Italian restaurants" I assume you mean Pizza Hut and places like that (basically American style pizza parlour chains, not genuine Italian places).

They use the big mills because they serve absolutely massive American style pizzas, not traditional Italian pizzas. Grinding pepper onto a deep pan, 15 inch pizza with cheese stuffed crust using just a normal pepper mill would take too damned long!

terryellis - I hadn't thought of that. Jesus, imagine how hard up and austere your life would have to be to want to steal such a mundane item as a pepper grinder. It's like how in the 30s depression era, light bulbs in train carriages and other public places had to be made with a reverse screw thread, as otherwise people would just steal them to use at home.

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

Why do they use giant pepper mills in Italian restaurants?

They don't do it in the rest of Europe - does anyone know where this odd tradition came from?

It keeps the person serving you as far away from your plated food as possible. It doesn't make for fresh herbs as the pepper is replaced less frequently than in smaller mills (as someone else had misstated).

It does however keep them from having to refill the mills as frequently since it is an essential flavoring after the cooking process.

Pepper is not a universally loved flavor so restaurants limit it in its cooking and add it to the taste of the individual instead.

It's an Italian thing! They have a deep respect for most foods being as fresh as possible, and they grind the pepper there for that very reason!

Because. Giant pepper mills are awesome, and Italians are awesome. They go hand in hand.

Nice peppermills and unique creamers have a way of disappearing on a regular basis. Many “collectors” have spoiled it for the rest of us. A more truthful answer would be that they are expensive and would cost too much to have one on every table. The same question could be asked about grated parmigiano cheese. The waiter is willing to spoon out or grate as much cheese as you want but is reluctant to leave it on the table. Simply ask the waiter if you could please grate your own pepper and he will usually oblige you.

Mabye the can hold more pepper if they are gaint and if you loves lots of pepper it fine for them. The should gaint salt mills and gaint vinegar pots too.