In Southern Europe, alcohol—primarily wine, but also beer—is part of everyday life, so integrated into the cuisine that mealtime would be unthinkable without it. Children are introduced to moderate, healthy drinking habits early in life. In Italy, for instance, children from an early age are given glasses of wine mixed heavily with water, with the mix gradually becoming less and less diluted as they become older. People generally do not drink anywhere except at the lunch or dinner table, and drinking to the point of overt drunkenness is frowned upon. Distilled liquors are not unknown, but are
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