A few months ago, I wrote a post saying that I would be starting a new series on Italian cuisine. Unfortunately, I haven't got around to it for a number of reasons, so I figured it was high time I did.
For everyone’s sake, I’d better make a detailed disclaimer.
My series will inevitably contain (veiled) sarcasm, so don’t take everything at face value, and if you have any doubts, feel free to ask. I’m neither a chef nor a food nerd, but I’m Italian and that makes me an excellent food critic by birthright. I won’t be following any particular order in the series. I’m happy for anyone to contribute and share their experiences, but I won’t tolerate criticism of Italian food. If you criticise, do so at your own peril, and you should know that I may send the Italian-food secret police after you. And these guys don’t mess around. The French are also welcome to read this series, because everyone deserves to know what real food is.
Headline image by hansmuelders on Unsplash
I'm looking forward to it! I love Italian food, culture everything relates to Italy! I'm a HUGE fan of porcini mushrooms. I want you to introduce some dishes from them. Anyway, I know the photo place. That's my favorite place, Venice. I really miss there.
I love Italian food, but I'm a vegetarian and I'm very squeamish when it comes to meat and fish. I might not comment as much as I would otherwise, although I suspect that you're not about to share nonna's recipes. It would be great if you were, though. My favourite meal at the moment is a recipe that was in an Italian food magazine to which I have an online subscription through my local library.
I love Italian food too (except for gnocchi), so I'm looking forward to your series.
@Dripdrip Italian cuisine has many vegetarian recipes. Indeed, some of the most common recipes are vegetarian. I bet that this Italian food magazine is La Cucina Italiana.
@CocoPop When you say Italian food, you mean Italian Italian or Italian American? I'd rather you thought about it carefully. 🧐
@yumiyumayume I agree with you. Porcini mushroom are pure heaven. However, I can't guarantee that I'll write anything about them.
I love both. In Palm Beach we have authentic Italian restaurants.
The answer should've been Italian Italian, but I'll forgive you🙄.
The owners and staff may well be Italians, but that's not the ultimate indicator of an authentic Italian experience. There's an Italian TV show where the host goes around the world trying Italian restaurants. Let's say they can do a lot better.
This is Italian-Italian. I don't know if you know him, but I had dinner at one of them with Joe Bastianich (his mother had a cooking show here in the states) and he told me it was the real deal. And it was during a truffle festival, so it was my first time eating truffles. I was blown away. I don't think I've ever eaten anything so sumptuous in my life. He also gave me the following advice: if you taste the least bit of sugar when you taste the red sauce, they're cooking for Americans, not Italians. He was right; in most Italian-American restaurants, the sauce is like dessert.
@Simone- It's Sale e Pepe. I look at La Cucina Italiana as well, but Sale e Pepe usually has more recipes that I want to try. My favourite recipe so far is Spaghettoni con burrata, pomodorini e limoni sotto sale. The lemons were a problem, but a friend who had an Italian mother-in-law has told me how to salt them.
@CocoPop Joe Bastianich is well known in Italy. He was a judge on Masterchef Italia for eight editions, providing an endless stream of memes. Since you mentioned that you don't like gnocchi, I thought you might like this epic scene (from 3:13 to 3:24): https://youtu.be/xUmp0OKlXn0?feature=shared
Make sure the volume is turned up.
Edit: You don't need to know Italian to get the comedy of this video. The 14 million views speak volumes.
@Dripdrip You truly deserve a standing ovation for cooking authentic Italian recipes from an Italian food magazine. 👏👏👏
@Simone- That video "is not available in my country" 😢 He's the nicest guy. We were both looking to invest in an interesting venture in Palm Beach, but we both backed out at the same time and for the same reasons, but he stuck around the island for a few days to enjoy the warm weather. He's ever the gentleman and always impeccably dressed. One evening, we sat in front of a sidewalk gelataio and I was so impressed at how many people recognized him and said hello. And he looks like a real hardass, but each time, he'd stand up, smile and greet people so warmly — even when they were actually interrupting us.
@CocoPop That's cool!
@Simone- I like Italian food, so it's worth making an effort. There are no restaurants here that come close to making authentic Italian food, so I have to cook it myself. My only problem is the ingredients, because vegetables in the supermarkets are not very exciting.
You're so right. The secret of many Italian recipes is the high quality of the ingredients. And the British climate doesn't really help😅.