Ten Rules: Things To Avoid Eating Italian Food

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patrizio

Community Member
Jun 5, 2013
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http://d.repubblica.it/cucina/2013/...eotipi_americani_cucina_italiana-1798046/1/#1

All true!

1) No cappuccino during meals. Cappuccino is for breakfast with a good cornetto (croissant)
2)Risotto and pasta are NEVER side dishes. The only exception is Ossobuco alla milanese
3)Only thing to put in the water boiling for pasta is salt
4)No pasta with ketchup instead of sugo di pomodoro. You can be killed for this.
5) In Bologna, you'll ask for "tagliatelle" alla bolognese, not spaghetti. Tagliatelle are fresh pasta with egg. Spaghetti are usually dry pasta. Pasta with meatballs doesn't exist, the ragù alla bolognese is the more similar thing. It's minced spiced meat.
6)Chicken pasta. Doesn't exist.
7)Cesar salad. Good, but not italian. In Italy the only dressing for salad is olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
8) The cloth with white/red squares in all foreign "typical italian restaurants". never seen in italy.
9) The "fettuccine alla Alfredo" are not a traditional dish. They were served only in the restaurant in Rome, Alfredo. They're famous because many actors liked em in the times of dolce vita. Now the restaurant tries to ride the mith, but there's not so much left. The new site of the restaurant is: http://www.alfredo-roma.it/ . I DON'T suggest to go there, as it's 20 years I don't eat there. But Douglas Fairbanks gave'em some golden cutleries...
10) Learn and respect the tradition of your mama and country.
 
hehe thanks for these!

I must admit, I'm not really one for specific etiquette or sticking to rules, but I do like a nice meal, and I know that organisation and things can make it nicer!

Nice list though, so thank you!

My sister used to put tomato ketchup on pasta when she was a child!
 
Thanks for the interesting list and tips. I am puzzled about the need for #3 though. What on earth could people add other than salt? My mind is a blank!
 
Champers said:
Thanks for the interesting list and tips. I am puzzled about the need for #3 though. What on earth could people add other than salt? My mind is a blank!
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I know my mother in law sometimes adds potato slices with her pasta in salty water. This is a very interesting link and there are things on it I didn't know about. I never really understood that red and white checkered tablecloth thing either.
 
Wow, I'm still kinda laughing after reading those :D

patrizio said:
4)No pasta with ketchup instead of sugo di pomodoro. You can be killed for this.
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Epecially afte reading this one :D

I would add.... don't use ketchup as tomato sauce on pizza base either, I used to do it only when I didn't know better. A proper tomato sauce is made with real tomato sauce (not ketchup..), some olive oil and oregano. I'm glad I didn't get killed before I found out about how to make tomato sauce for pizza! :cool: :D
 
This is a fun list. Thanks for affirming that risotto and pasta are not side dishes. They are so heavy, how can anyone eat anything else. I think its funny if people think they can use ketchup as tomato sauce, I have seen some people do that in other countries because lack of options.
 
There are tourist rules and Italians rules! The only rule I would break is salt in the pasta water as I use a drop of olive oil in mine because I use pesto and it makes it easier to mix.

Also, pizza is generally not eaten in the evenings in restaurants, but they serve these days because the tourists expect it and it's cheaper to make and to profit from. I've seen places create tourist menus, because people prefer to eat what they are familiar with.
 
I agree that pizza should be a day time or snack item, but Americans love their pizza and they have turned it into heavy duty dinners. I think diner as the Italians seem to do it is more elegant and not pizza time.
 
patrizio said:
3)Only thing to put in the water boiling for pasta is salt
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I was gonna quote this, and then thought... neah, 99,9% of all Italians do it. But then I saw Gabe's reply:

Gabe said:
The only rule I would break is salt in the pasta water
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so I think this is probably worth mentioning: did anyone try to add pepper in the pasta water? :)
I've actually learned the trick from an Italian guy, he once cooked for a bunch of us and I loved how the pasta tasted, a little spicy. Actually, just the right amount of spicy! So naturally, I asked what did he use to make the dish so he told me the secret: adding some pepper in the water makes the pasta absorb the spiciness :)

I'm not sure if this is just something some people do, or if this is actually something region specific... I'll ask the next time we meet.
 
Rosie said:
I was gonna quote this, and then thought... neah, 99,9% of all Italians do it. But then I saw Gabe's reply:



so I think this is probably worth mentioning: did anyone try to add pepper in the pasta water? :)
I've actually learned the trick from an Italian guy, he once cooked for a bunch of us and I loved how the pasta tasted, a little spicy. Actually, just the right amount of spicy! So naturally, I asked what did he use to make the dish so he told me the secret: adding some pepper in the water makes the pasta absorb the spiciness :)

I'm not sure if this is just something some people do, or if this is actually something region specific... I'll ask the next time we meet.
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Okay, I will try that. I only add oil to pasta like linguine or spaghetti though as the strands tend to stick together and as I multitask, I don't pay too much attention to it. I add olive oil to my pasta anyhow, so in a way it saves me adding more as the strands are already oil coated! Some may say it's a waste of oil, but it's better to have me less stressed and detangling pasta.
 
I will never get used to the way a menu is served in Italy! I am not gonna be hungry after a primo of pasta or risotto! But on the other side, I tried to do it like in other countries and just pick a secondo with a contorno, and the meal of meat always came to me so tiny, and the choices of side dish are often limited. I've lived in Rome four months and visited different cities, but getting used to this way of eating just... did not work out for me.

I do find it interesting that, for these rules, some people added a few exceptions worth a try (pepper in the water? I'll try that!). However purists Italians can be with their traditional food, rules are made to be twisted or broken ;)
And for this that they are in general very protective of their own cuisine (with reason, considering the horrors other people pass as Italian!), we've seen some of them massacre potato salad, a staple of German food. Though it could be just the ineptitude of our roommates.
 
Huh, these are all very good tips! The ketchup thing made me laugh though. My dad and his girlfriend put ketchup on everything, and I always tease them that they would get the fury if they ever went to Italy and did that! I knew about the salt thing when boiling pasta though. I did NOT know that Cappuccino was a breakfast only thing! That is very interesting!
 
Italians don't drink juice for breakfast, do they? What a tiring list of things to avoid. I was surprised to learn that chicken pasta did not exist. That is really something new that I learned. :eek: I should be suspecting something like that, because I have never tasted chicken pasta.
 
Thanks for these. Wow I never knew that Ceasar salad wasn't Italian. Do you know how it became associated so strongly with Italian cuisine?
 
No chicken pasta! How is that possible? Pizzas are actually supposed to be light but they have become so heavy duty thst we cant help but eat them as a meal
 
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