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There is no such thing as Italian food

magnusfide
Explorer II
Explorer II
Italian food doesn't really exist at least not as a unified category..
"The only time you should fear cast iron is if your wife is fixin' to hit you with it."-Kent Rollins
First law of science: don't spit into the wind.

Magnus
34 REPLIES 34

Ron3rd
Explorer
Explorer
I only eat America Food. Everybody knows what that is.
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Super_Dave
Explorer
Explorer
Just add "ish" to the end of all the cultural food categories so we don't offend anybody or get their panties in a wad.
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ppine
Explorer II
Explorer II
I have eaten my way across Italy and eaten in plenty of great Italian restaurants. We used to visit a neighborhood in Connecticut we called Spaghetti Mountain. Black Cadillacs lined up in front of brick row houses. Those people could party. I married into an Irish family and they loved the Italians.

magnusfide
Explorer II
Explorer II
toedtoes wrote:
magnusfide wrote:
Thank yous to Toedtoes and Punomatic who actually read the article instead of snarking sight unseen. I like the fact that the article tried to educate people on the variety of cuisine found in the nation of Italy. It's informative for those who actually read it.

Italy does have great food but it's a lot more than red sauce, meat sauce and pasta. I've had some outstanding antipasto in little cafes that make their own cured meats. I've also had some fantastic cod dishes in the northern part of Italy.


People tend to try to compartmentalize cuisine and in doing so shrink the variation down to a standard menu size of dishes. Reality is so far from that. People (and food) tend to cross borders and meld together and that creates many variations.

Italian isn't just marinara sauce, Chinese isn't just chow mein, Greek isn't just lamb, etc. They offer so much more if you're willing to open your eyes.

Exactly.
"The only time you should fear cast iron is if your wife is fixin' to hit you with it."-Kent Rollins
First law of science: don't spit into the wind.

Magnus

toedtoes
Explorer II
Explorer II
magnusfide wrote:
Thank yous to Toedtoes and Punomatic who actually read the article instead of snarking sight unseen. I like the fact that the article tried to educate people on the variety of cuisine found in the nation of Italy. It's informative for those who actually read it.

Italy does have great food but it's a lot more than red sauce, meat sauce and pasta. I've had some outstanding antipasto in little cafes that make their own cured meats. I've also had some fantastic cod dishes in the northern part of Italy.


People tend to try to compartmentalize cuisine and in doing so shrink the variation down to a standard menu size of dishes. Reality is so far from that. People (and food) tend to cross borders and meld together and that creates many variations.

Italian isn't just marinara sauce, Chinese isn't just chow mein, Greek isn't just lamb, etc. They offer so much more if you're willing to open your eyes.
1975 American Clipper RV with Dodge 360 (photo in profile)
1998 American Clipper Fold n Roll Folding Trailer
Both born in Morgan Hill, CA to Irv Perch (Daddy of the Aristocrat trailers)

ppine
Explorer II
Explorer II
Don't try to tell anyone from Italy that nonsense.

magnusfide
Explorer II
Explorer II
Thank yous to Toedtoes and Punomatic who actually read the article instead of snarking sight unseen. I like the fact that the article tried to educate people on the variety of cuisine found in the nation of Italy. It's informative for those who actually read it.

Italy does have great food but it's a lot more than red sauce, meat sauce and pasta. I've had some outstanding antipasto in little cafes that make their own cured meats. I've also had some fantastic cod dishes in the northern part of Italy.
"The only time you should fear cast iron is if your wife is fixin' to hit you with it."-Kent Rollins
First law of science: don't spit into the wind.

Magnus

parcany
Explorer
Explorer
When I was stationed in the UK in 67-68-69, we used to go to Italy for a month at a time. I used to get a 8 inch pizza, bottle of vino, and a heaping plate of spagetti and meatballs for $1.00. Never had a bad meal. Great food

Ron3rd
Explorer
Explorer
toedtoes wrote:
What they are really saying is that what the average non-traveler thinks makes up "Italian cuisine" is nothing like the real thing.

Same thing with most other ethnic cuisines. The average Chinese restaurant is no where near to the real thing. The average Mexican restaurant is no where near to the real thing. Not only are there many variations on a dish, but there are a multitude of dishes not see in the average restaurant outside of that country.


Bingo
2016 6.7 CTD 2500 BIG HORN MEGA CAB
2013 Forest River 3001W Windjammer
Equilizer Hitch
Honda EU2000

"I have this plan to live forever; so far my plan is working"

Ron3rd
Explorer
Explorer
magnusfide wrote:
Italian food doesn't really exist at least not as a unified category..


OK. What is American food? Does it really exist? Or is it just a bunch of borrowed ideas?
2016 6.7 CTD 2500 BIG HORN MEGA CAB
2013 Forest River 3001W Windjammer
Equilizer Hitch
Honda EU2000

"I have this plan to live forever; so far my plan is working"

magnusfide
Explorer II
Explorer II
NYCgrrl wrote:

So nice to see you are all still wandering around acting like cheerful maniacs:cool:.

Good to see you NYCgrrl. Yep the forum has been quiet lately probably everybody is FBing. I don't like FB. I like the more involved conversations here.
"The only time you should fear cast iron is if your wife is fixin' to hit you with it."-Kent Rollins
First law of science: don't spit into the wind.

Magnus

NYCgrrl
Explorer
Explorer
Ralph Cramden wrote:
This thread is bogus......True Italian food exists.......I have had it.


Ahhhhh yes the insult I flung at my kiddos when they were driving me crazee......oops:D.
So nice to see you are all still wandering around acting like cheerful maniacs:cool:.

Debbie
Explorer
Explorer
Jebby14 wrote:
Ralph Cramden wrote:
This thread is bogus......True Italian food exists.......I have had it.



thems fighting words.

Ha Ha!, This reminded me of a lunch with at that time future Mother inlaw 50 yrs ago. My husbands favorite at the time. I gag at the smell of it. I have been raised with homemade pasta and raviolis etc. that I now make for my family. Have converted both of them to real Italian.
When you think about it, Italian, Mexican, Chinese they all have
basic 5-6 ingredients, at least the American version. Someday, I hope to get to Italy.
I wanna go where I haven't been, but still wanna see what I've seen again!

valhalla360
Nomad
Nomad
toedtoes wrote:

Isn't that the truth anywhere you go? Randomly pick a dozen restaurants in a U.S. city and you will have some good/great meals and some that were less than appetizing.


Much less common in Italy to have a bad meal.
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