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You’re doing Italian food all wrong, say Italians

blue_dolphin

By blue_dolphin
in Food Media & Arts

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

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A little entertainment here: A new international YouGov survey identifies 11 ‘food crimes’ committed against Italian cuisine by the rest of the world


The greatest sin is apparently having ketchup with pasta, followed by putting pasta in cold water then boiling it and, of course, pineapple on pizza. 


I like how Hong Kong seems good with everything and India barely finds anything acceptable. 
 

There's also an age breakdown amongst Italians with young Italians substantially more likely than their older peers to say that having cappuccino after a meal, garlic bread with a pasta meal, adding plain pasta to a plate or bowl and then adding the sauce afterwards, and having risotto as an appetiser or side dish are ok.

 

Edited by blue_dolphin (log)
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gfweb

gfweb

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Pretty much I agree with the Italians, though cooling pasta in cold water makes some sense if making a pasta salad.

 

Garlic bread is generally for children.

 

But ketchup on pasta ceases to be Italian food, it comes under the jurisdiction of midnight drunk food. 😶

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Alex

Alex

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33 minutes ago, gfweb said:

But ketchup on pasta ceases to be Italian food, it comes under the jurisdiction of midnight drunk food. 😶

 

I don't think I ever was that drunk, and I hope never to be.

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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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KennethT

KennethT

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My father loved ketchup on pasta - but then again, he grew up in the Depression in a Jewish household - I don't think they had anything like a tomato sauce except for stewed cabbage rolls or something like that.

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TicTac

TicTac

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1 hour ago, KennethT said:

My father loved ketchup on pasta - but then again, he grew up in the Depression in a Jewish household - I don't think they had anything like a tomato sauce except for stewed cabbage rolls or something like that.

My grandfather always told me stories of a buddy of his at hunt camp that would put ketchup in his coffee.  Not sure if it was true, or if he was just trying to gross me out - either way, he sure got a kick out of our reactions. 

 

Garlic bread with pasta....oy.

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Duvel

Duvel

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In the end of the 60‘s, when Italian food hit Germany and my parents started dating, my (paternal) grandparents enjoyed spaghetti with tomato sauce for the first time (expertly prepared by my mom (brave soul cooling exotic stuff for the furture in-laws). 
My grandfather insisted on having potatoes on the side. Spaghetti with tomato sauce and a side of (home fried, boiled or mashed) potatoes became a staple ih their household …

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heidih

heidih

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Begs the question "what is Italian?.  The ack pronouncements are what at least in the US are not so uncommon OLD standards in "red sauce" Italian restaurants. Immigrant cuisine. And Italy is a country, as most are, of regional and distinct cuisines. I realize it was a "for fun"article.  As we have discussed before - unless you are claiming authenticity - if it tastes good - who gives a flying flip ;)

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

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19 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

California is weird.   I don't think I've come across any of those sins, except garlic bread, for which there is no substitute as an accompaniment to an icy beer in a beer garden.   

 

 

 

I know people here in California who enjoy a cappuccino after dinner.  I personally make Marcella Hazan's Fettuccine col Sugo di Tonno con Aglio e Panna which contains Parmesan cheese.  And I have served orzo as a side dish so there's 3 mortal sins right there 😈

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Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

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47 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I know people here in California who enjoy a cappuccino after dinner.  I personally make Marcella Hazan's Fettuccine col Sugo di Tonno con Aglio e Panna which contains Parmesan cheese.  And I have served orzo as a side dish so there's 3 mortal sins right there 😈

Without disparaging the author, several of his/her objections have been dissed in modern times, such as the ban on cheese with fish you mentioned.   And orzo as a side dish is a no-brainer!    We call it "roni"!

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eGullet member #80.

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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9 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I know people here in California who enjoy a cappuccino after dinner.  I personally make Marcella Hazan's Fettuccine col Sugo di Tonno con Aglio e Panna which contains Parmesan cheese.  And I have served orzo as a side dish so there's 3 mortal sins right there 😈

 

As I recall Bugialli published a Sicilian recipe for Swordfish stuffed with cheese.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

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21 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

As I recall Bugialli published a Sicilian recipe for Swordfish stuffed with cheese.

 

We should vet those arbiters who etched so many of our strictures in stone.    As in, who the hxxx were they?   For every one, there i possibly a counter authority or grandma who did the opposite.

eGullet member #80.

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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3 hours ago, kayb said:

Not fish per se, but I’m awfully fond of lobster Newberg, coquille St. Jacques, and crab imperial.

 

You put cheese in lobster Newburg??

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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  • 6 months later...
DianaB

DianaB

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On “ YouTube” can be found an American/Italian couple producing weekly videos on Italian cooking.  Recipes are generally simple, we have made quite a few.  Some are surprising, eg chocolate mousse with blood (I think from a pig but my memory may be wrong), American husband announced it delicious.  
 

They dedicated an episode to Spaghetti Carbonara including a “scientific” method cooked sous vide.  That recipe we found amazing and it is the only way I have made carbonara since discovering it.

 

A search for “Pasta Grammar” will find them (Ava was a language teacher in earlier life).

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