Why is the food so much better in Italy?

Old Aug 7th, 2006, 01:22 AM
  #21  
ira
 
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> found the food disappointing in Italy. Perhaps my standards were too high.

Regretfully, I've settle back to enjoying a good Pizza Hut pizza. <

You are kidding, Jules, right?

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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 01:37 AM
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>..my friends in Italy have very small refrigerators also because they too shop every day.<

Or they shop every day because they have small fridges?

It's not all that hard to eat as if you were in Italy, it's just more expensive in the US.

You need canned San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil from your garden, whole milk frsh mozzarella (you can make your own), pizza dough prepared fresh the night before (after midnight is best), EVOO from Italian olives (which is different from Italian olive oil), a good baking stone and a wood fired oven - bingo, perfect pizza.

(In Italy, of course, you send a kid down to the local cafe to bring back a couple of pizzas.)

Make your own tagliatelli about an hour before you are ready to put the pasta into boiling water.

You can grill fresh vegetables from the garden on the stovetop in the morning and let them marinate in garlic or lemon flavored olive oil all day.

etc, etc, etc

You can also bake your own bread.



Come to think of it, this is what we did in the US about 150 years ago.
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 02:24 AM
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"Or they shop every day because they have small fridges"..now that is something to consider Ira..sort of like the question regarding the chicken and the egg, lol.

And unfortunatly you are right, most of us do not take the time to cook like many people still do in Italy.

I do know that the younger women, who all have careers are not home cooking the fantastic lunches that are more like dinners in the middle of the day as their mothers still do. The times are changing.
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 02:54 AM
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LoveItaly, what a difference between Europe and the US! Our very small community (17.500 souls) counts 10 real bakeries. I can smell the nearest one when I'm in my garden. All of them have their own specialty and the varieties of bread/rolls increases almost daily.
The 3 supermarkets also sell bread products but the quality simply doesn't compare.
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 03:29 AM
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MyriamC, I am so envious. When I am in small towns and cities in Italy there are lots of bakeries, the aroma is to die for. My friends will run out to pick up some rolls for breakfast, again to get fresh bread for lunch, late afternoon for bread, rolls, or perhaps a dessert for dinner.

I got excited as it was announced a German Bakery was opening up in our oldtown center. I was one of the first customers. Myriam, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I walked in, no aroma. Everything was on shelves in plastic bags. Just like at the supermarket. I started questioning the clerk. Oh no, they didn't actually bake the products there! She looked at me rather strangly as though she wondered what my problem was. All the items are baked "off the premises" and brought into the bakery..in plastic bags. I have since seen the delivery truck unloading items to take into the "bakery". How pathetic is that?

And oh, the "icing on the cake". The City Fathers decided the oldtown area needed a plaza (or piazza) to give it a European feel. It was constructed next to the "fabulous" bakery. A large area that is concrete, a few tiny little trees and a couple of benches, lol.

You can see I am not quite overwhelmed with where I live obviously.

Ira, I know I mentioned to you when OWJ and I drove from Atlanta to Charleston we drove through your town. You are so fortunate to live where you do, it is so charming.

And some point..I am out of here, lol. But can't do that right now.
So enough complaining, sorry!!
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 04:50 AM
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I'm American, my SO is German. We are rehabbing an old house to share and we have a small refrigerator. One or the other of us shops every other day or so...
He and I were talking about eating over the weekend, and the last time I used a prepared food was couscous.
I am not bragging but made a conscious effort years ago not to eat foods with ingredients' names I cannot pronouce, too much salt and colorings.
I'm damned tired of cooking all the time!!! <GRIN>
So? We're going to France for 10 days. I think their food is nicely adapted from the italian masters of the 16th Century.
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 05:09 AM
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Mvk -- you're too funny.

I guess I found the food in France to be better than anything I'd had at home...but I did find a fine restaurant here in Denver that makes a comparatively good escargot, so I'm not grumbling about not being in France.

And Pizza Hut pizza is good. Compared to something out of my freezer.

Jules
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 05:16 AM
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LoveItaly, we have a wonderful "real" bakery in our little town (down the road from ira). He opens early in the am and by mid-day, the shelves are almost bare. Wonderful aromas when you walk in. Samples each day of a different loaf. Wonderful, crusty cinnamon raisen bread. He even does a bruschetta tray. Hmmm...maybe I need to make a run into town!
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 05:28 AM
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You can find good food all over the world. You are absolutely ridiculous in saying that the food in Italy is better than anywhere else; you are just romanticizing your tomato sarni, sweetpea.

I honestly think most of you haven't really traveled to make such statements.
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 05:59 AM
  #30  
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Hi MyriamC
>..what a difference between Europe and the US! Our very small community (17.500 souls) counts 10 real bakeries.<

OOOOH, I could stop making my own bread.

Hi starrsville

>... we have a wonderful "real" bakery in our little town (down the road from ira). <

WHERE? WHERE? WHERE?

At present, I have to drive to Athens.

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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 06:05 AM
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ira, email me at starrsvillega at yahoo and I'll give you specifics (there's a weirdo on the board right now and I'll rather not give too much specific info).

Daily breads - Cinnamon Raisin Walnut, Fococcia, Bruschetta, French Baquettes, Cinnamon Rolls, Muffins

Tuesday - Multigrain, Classic Italian, Ciabatta
Wed - Honey Wheat, Country French, Rosemary Potato
Thurs - Whole Wheat, Country French, Sour White
Fri - Cranberry Walnu, Casatiello (provolone), Nine Grain
Sat - Scones, Kalamata Olive, Sour White

MUCH closer than Athens! Closed Sun & Mon
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 06:23 AM
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I agree that the general food in Italy is much better than the general food in the US. We eat and work in the US, and I've eaten and worked in Italy. I'll take Italy.

I also agree that locally grown produce makes a difference, as does good artisanal bread, and there aint no EVOO that I can get outside of California that is fresh, and hasn't been subjected to shipping and storing.

We too try to shop daily for meals, support local growers, eat freshly made good bread, and I cook my butt off. Except my butt isn't coming off. ;-)

Through the efforts of food producers, Italy has done a very good job of identifying, qualifying and quantifying typical locally produced food and wine. Thus the DOC and DOCG ratings. We have nothing like that in the US. Other than saying Florida orange juice, or California olive oil, and following truth in advertising regulations, there's nothing. And nothing is done to protect local producers.

Why? If you ask me, corporate hegemony. Please don't flame me for that. I have my opinions, and hopefully they are formed after careful consideration and information gathering, and I doubt if any postings here will change them.

We've been sold a diet and that is what is available to us. Some of us do what we can to eat well, but a chicken in the US isn't a chicken in Italy. Different attitude toward food production and comsumption. You know where I think our attitude comes from.

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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 06:33 AM
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If you deal with bakeries and pizzerias that make their own dough, I'd say in the Northeast US you get a product that's superior to much of Italy. My theory is that it has something to do with the water.

I've tried bread and pizza all over the US and in Italy, and for me, there's just nothing that compares with the good stuff in Boston, NY, Philadelphia, etc.
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 06:40 AM
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I think the reason is because we are enjoying our food with wine--not sodas. Sodas are sweet and make food taste bitter.

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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 07:08 AM
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To some extent, the argument HAS to be weighted to include "ambiance"...

I was recently given a bottle from a client who has an interest in an olive oil company in California...I have to say... its pretty darned delicious with just pepper and good bread (my choice to test EVOO)

And another thing...is Victoria just talking Italy Italian Cuisine to Italian Cuisine in another country OR that Italy's food is just better than any place else on earth?

That would be reaching a bit far...
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 08:13 AM
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I was disappointed in the food in Italy. As for freshness of the ingredients, I was served canned olives on 4 occasions and even canned mushrooms once. There were some good meals, but most were average at best. (And we followed all the "rules" set down by Fodorites, ate at many recommended restaurants, etc.)

As for pizza - even in the US, tastes and styles are so regional. The pizza in Italy was better that what we generally have in Dallas, but I prefer the type I grew up with in Illinois. (We had some fantastic pizza in Costa Rica - cooked like in Italy, but better ingredients and no black edges!)
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 09:36 AM
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This is a repeat of a thread that played itself out months ago.

I've managed to find wonderful food and pretty bad food just about everywhere we've been--including Italy.

I will say that food generally tastes better to me while on vacation and on weekends as opposed to workdays--no matter where I am.
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 03:38 PM
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We LOVED the Italian food. Before we left, I told my DW I planned to eat my way thru Italy. She rolled her eyes. She eats to live.... Plus, and most importantly, she believes in eating healthy. Well, by the 4th dinner, and countless wonderful pizzas, she too was sold. IMO, the food there is by and large much healthier than America's version of Italian which features lots of butter and heavy creams, etc. We didn't see many obese Italians and I think their diet has something to do with that. Anyway, that trip will be the closest she ever comes to being a foodie. We found moderately priced restaurants recommeded by our hotels and were never disappointed. Fresh ingrediants, friendly service and don't get me started on the wine which was uniformly good and cheap!!

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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 03:56 PM
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thanks so much for all the comments. I agree ( with most of you),its the quality of ingredients, the preparations, the atmosphere, the wine, and, probably, in no small part, not having to do the dishes when its over...
Ciao
Victoria
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 04:02 PM
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...because we don't have to cook it on vacation?
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