Wine, food, and history are so intertwined that some popular sayings just sprout from it.
In Rome if someone is too stingy in giving you something or you want a larger amount of it we say “nun sta’ a guarda’ er capello” ( don’t look at the hair)… but what’s a hair in this case and where does it comes from?
For that, we must go back to around 1500 AD when the Pope was also the king of the Papal state (it was 18,000 square miles… a bit wider than the actual Vatican).
In that age, there was a tradition among young Roman “Bulli”( kind of like “Bullies” but with more charm) to carry a big knife called “ Lama a 3 scrocchi” (3 crank blade ) everywhere for its peculiar sound when deployed, and duels were a daily “activity “.
Fights erupted for any reason… such as the amount of wine served in the traditional clay carafe, when the host fill it a bit less than what expected.
This events were so common that, in 1588, Pope Sisto V found an ingenious way to solve the issue: banning all clay carafes and making all Hostarias (wine bars) use a glass bottle with a line on the neck just before the top. That line was the threshold the wine must hit, and was called “capello “ ( hair). Sisto V also put in place harsh punishments for the transgressors of this rule.
From that moment on, when wine was served and the customer said “ hey, fill it more you’re not at the line yet!” The hosts usually replies “be happy and don’t look at the hair” !
And that, ladies and gents, is a very peculiar piece of history from my beautiful hometown
P.s. of course, I have a 3-crank blade made by a custom knife maker in Rome
