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[macrosan]

We have had much discussion at eGullet about the alleged international pre-eminence of French cuisine.

Do you accept that for historical reasons French cuisine became the international bench-mark when people started to "live to eat" in addition to "eat to live" ? Or is this just a localised perception in certain Western countries ?

Do you believe that French cuisine has maintained any pre-eminence in terms of its use of ingredients, its general methods of cooking, and its innovation ? Or do you believe that Italian cuisine has achieved comparable international stature ?

What would you define as the cruucial or unique characteristics of Italian cooking ?

[Lidia Bastianich]

All I know is that by repeated polls taken by the National Restaurant Association, Italian restaurants are the number one ethnic cuisine followed by the Chinese, Mexican and French (in that order). Certainly, the French deserve credit for packaging "the experience of restaurant eating." But I think that Italian cuisine has come another route--through a more simplistic and traditional venue and has infiltrated the American fabric on a rudimentary level and is very much part of "America."

Every American has an Italian American food story that they can relate to as part of their growing up. Yes, you could say that French restaurants were the foreleaders in the ultime dining experience. But the true Italian restaurant experience is certainly has certainly entered the America mainstream.