From: merritt@macro.bu.edu (Sean Merritt)
Newsgroups: ne.food
Subject: cucina italiana
Date: 1 Sep 92 17:24:59 GMT
Distribution: ne
Organization: Boston University Physics Department



I was going to stay out of this italian food thread but...

The background: since 1990 I have spent ~ 18 months in italia.
I lived in Abruzzo but spent time in Marche, Romanga,and Roma.

Types of eating places:

1) ristorante- most formal , menu's are usually extensive
   but they seldom have everything on the menu. 

2) trattoria- set menu which the waiter will rattle off quickly
   causing stanieri like myself to ask " Ancora , per piacere	
   e piu lenatamente questa volta."

3) pizzeria- some will serve pasta as well, but the better
   ones will serve only pizza, crostini, and bruschetta.
   The brick oven is usually visable to the dining room.
   The pizze(plural of pizza) are always single person
   servings.
		
4) spaghetteria- also may server "the other food" but most don't
   they do however usually serve crostini and bruschetta.
   This is the place where you will get heaping portions of
   pasta. My favorite spag place would do 1/2 and 1/2 orders
   and served on huge rectangular plates.

5) tavola caldo- like a cafeteria or deli, usually offer both
   types of food and an assortment of salads. 

6) rosticceria- mostly take out or standup eating. cooked meats,
   etta).	

7) bar- in italia a bar is a place to drink coffee, eat sandwiches,
   pasrty or ice cream, and get the latest gossip. Oh and they serve alcohol
   too.

8) alimentari- the local small grocery store. The best palce to get a
   panino(sandwich), made to order while you wait. Panini in a bar
   are pre-made.


The differeces between what I experinced here and there:

1) I have never seen an italian use a spoon to eat spaghetti.

2) Pasta is a small first course and never the entree. Quite often
   people who are watching their weight(yes the fitness bug
   has bitten italia) skip the primo all together. I have yet
   to have white sauces here like my favorites in italia:
   carbonara,boscaiola,faruk,quattro formagio,etc...
   Riso(rice) is an alternative to "differnt types of noodles".
   If you have never had rissotto ai funghi porcini, you are missing
   out big time. Again rissotto is served as the first course
   and in smaller portions. 		

3) salads and vegetables are served last, after the meat course.
   vegetables are usually cold. Potatos are considered a veggie
   and thus one could get strached out, having already ate 
   a bowl of pasta.

4) Meat courses are usually smaller portions than here. And God
   forbid that you would serve more than one course on a plate!
   Everything is served	on separate plates. In fact they won't 
   bring your secondi(meat/fish course) until everyone you are
   eating with finishes their pasta. Lamb and veal are by far
   the most popular choices. I did eat quite a bit of rabbit
   (you can get it in the super market), turkey and chicken
   (which taste so much better becasue they aren't pumped
    with steroids.) , and wild boar.

5) Pizza is defined quite well. There are names for each type 
   of pizza. They will list these, there are seldom a la carte options.
   I just memorized the names of the pizze I liked. My favorite
   is "i quatro stagioni". Pizza has very little sauce on it
   the crusts are very thin and taste more like pita bread. The
   toppings go right to the edge and you never see a "lip"
   on the crust. Every pizza I ever ate was cooked in a brick oven
   over a wood fire. The closest thing I've seen here is what
   they are calling pizzetta these days. Pizza bread or
   pizza bianca is a bread similar to foccia. I lived steps
   away from a forno(bakery) and would by this stuff to make
   sandwiches for lunch, fresh bread is big deal. If you haven't
   bought bread by 4pm, forget it you go without the stores sell
   out. Bread is served with every meal.

6) Calzone never have sauce. They have meat and cheese fillings	
   but no tomato sauce as I've seen here in Boston.	

7) Pepperoni is pickled peppers. You want salumi or salsicca
   for what we call "pepperoni". The closest I ever found
   was in Torino(Turin) and billed as salsicca picante.

8) Garlic bread here seems more french than italian. Bruschetta
   is usually made from near nuclear density bread and has
   toppings like tomatoes or mushrooms(in addition to being
   rubbed wth smashed garlic cloves and olive oil).

9) Fruit after the meal is almost automatic. Some people
   have "dolce". Either of these with a cafe(shot of espresso) and some
   grappa or other digestivo are the finish to a good meal.

10) I haven't seen the milky white balls of mozerella here that make
    a capprese so tasty(the cheese served with slices of tomato,olive oil
    and basil leaves, a primo or secondo.)

In my 12 years in Boston I have not found one palce that even comes
close to authentic italian dining. When my italian friends are here
they want to eat anything but italian and if we do go to and "italian
style" restaurant they are horrified when the food comes all at
once on the same plate. Some of them like our pizza but they state
that it is completely different than what they are used to.
I went to Uno's with people from Napoli, Firenze and Bologna,
none of them had ever had deep dish pizza or even heard of it.


-- 
Sean J. Merritt		         |      Nietzsche che dice?
Dept of Physics Boston University| 	       Boh!	
merritt@budoe.bu.edu		 |