Italian food is no joke!

   All Italians I have met can all agree on one thing: Pasta needs to cook for about 12 minutes with exactly a handful of salt, that is put in AFTER the water is boiling…otherwise it is just shit!

 

   You will quickly experience that the Italian attitude, when it comes to food, is nothing less than religious. They can spend hours telling stories of amazing food they have experienced. It is stories that becomes legends, and soon you will find your self intrigued by the tale of a taste of a specific dish, that you simply must try one day. You have to.

   Every city of Italy has one store that has the best of something, if you ask the locals. So it matters where you buy stuff, because only the best is good enough. You can't just go by all of your stuff in the supermarket! And this is why butchers can still survive here – because Italians don’t mind going three or four places to get their groceries. One guy has the best fruit, another guy has the best cheese, a third guy has the best meat.

  The food therefore, becomes not only a matter of getting full, it becomes an experience. And almost everyone has a grandmother who’s lasagna or gnocchi can make their eyes go all dreamy, when they tell about it. Just try asking a guy from Pescara what “arrosticini” is, and he will tell you about the most amazing lamb in the world. And he will know exactly where to get to get the best ones.

   I once witnessed a guy telling an Italian that he doesn't really like pasta. The Italian guy looked at him like he was a ghost. According to Italians, if you haven't tried good pasta, you must have lived in a cage or in prison all of your live. They simply cannot imagine.

   This blog is not long enough to cover all of the different types of Italian specialties but there is, in my opinion a few general reasons why the Italian cuisine is among the best in the world. (If Italians read this blog – yes, I mean THE best in the world) One of them is the fact that they take their time. The concept of “Sunday’s pasta” is a great example of this. Italians can spend an entire Sunday preparing for that one delicious meal in the evening, by making pasta from scratch and shape it into Bucatini, Capellini, Fusili, Pelizzoni or the classic Spaghetti (which, I admit, I though was the only kind of pasta there was) If you ever get the chance to see Italians make pasta, you will be amazed of the technique in which they roll and shape and design the pasta – every. Single. Little. Piece of Pasta that is! Every bite is made by hand. With love. I almost felt too intimidated to have seconds, the first time I tried this homemade pasta delight. I mean, the pasta I normally have (Italians skip the next part) is sloppy spaghetti with ketchup, or meat sauce made from a powder product if things get wild. But luckily the Italian women live to get you full, and rarely take "no, Grazie" for an answer when it comes to eating.

   Another reason why the Italian cuisine is so great is the fact that it is usually cooked with the concept of: “Less is more”. Although this does not apply the use of olive oil! But in general the Italians somehow manage to turn a few ingredients into something amazing. Just try the tomato-sauce. But what is amazing is that each area of Italy has its own specialties. From the pizzas (or pizze) in Naples to the different kind of fish near the coasts to where I am now, in the central Italy where the specialty is the Pecorino Cheese ( which I admit, I could live off!). There is only one way to explore the Italian food – travel in Italy! The more I experience Italy and try the different types of food - and don't even get me started on the deserts - the more I start to recognize why stories should be told about the amazing cuisine of Italy.


Next off: How to make friends in Italy