Do Italians eat Chinese?

Ain't no cheese in China!

"notbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

No, really. I get the impression Italians are totally dedicated to
their own cuisine. You never hear of Italian fusion. I think
Americans would eat Eskimo if they could get it. But, Italians....

nb ...too many beers

I was raised in a household with an Italian father, so I can say we
definitely had a mediterranean diet and I've carried its influence in an
ongoing way (including having Campari and Frenet Branca around). I regularly
eat really simple rustic fare, like seared or grilled meat, lightly cooked
veggies, pasta, and things cooked on top of the stove. But I live in San
Francisco so I also love Asian food. I have most of the Asian
staple/condiments like sesame oil, fish sauce, chili sauce, etc and will
just as often marinate something with a little fish or soy sauce as with
some kind of herbed vinagrette or lemon. If I was on a deserted island
though? I'd probably choose pizza over dim sum.

Um...

Spaghetti

Noodles

Marco Polo

Hel-LOOooo...

--Blair
"They invented fusion."

rox formerly rmg said:

some kind of herbed vinagrette or lemon. If I was on a deserted island
though? I'd probably choose pizza over dim sum.

I remember once when I worked at Site 300. The chow hall food was
trucked in from the main cafeteria at LLNL in thermal containers and
not what one would call ...gourmet. It was a Friday and the main dish
of the day was Italian chow mein, not so mysteriously following
spaghetti on Wed and chow mein on Thur. Needless to say, I passed.
:\

nb

Blair P. Houghton said:

Um...

Spaghetti

Noodles

Well... Risotto...

Rice farming has also not been invented in Northern Italy.

Quoted message said:

Marco Polo

Hel-LOOooo...

"They invented fusion."

Tomatoes from Central America, basil from Africa, marjoram from Asia...

Jens

"notbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

No, really. I get the impression Italians are totally
dedicated to their own cuisine. You never hear of
Italian fusion. I think Americans would eat Eskimo
if they could get it. But, Italians....

Not much, I think. The last time we were in Rome, the husband and I were
having an interesting conversation with our cab driver, asking him where he
went to eat with his friends when they didn't go for Italian. He was
baffled as to why anyone would eat anything other than Italian, since the
food was so good. You see the occasional "ethnic" eatery in Italy, but
they're few and far between, even in the big cities; they're nonexistent in
towns and villages.

OTOH, my husband's Italian colleagues are quite world-open about what they
eat when they're outside of Italy.

-j

notbob said:

No, really. I get the impression Italians are totally dedicated to
their own cuisine. You never hear of Italian fusion. I think
Americans would eat Eskimo if they could get it. But, Italians....

nb ...too many beers

I guess it depends on who "invented" pasta. If you go for the Marco
Polo story, then Italians eat Chinese almost every day. 🙂

My guess is that much of what is considered modern Italian cuisine
represents fusions from the north, the south, the New World (tomatoes,
peppers, etc.), immigrants and armies, all magically incorportated by
the Italians and the climate into a deliciously "Italian" cuisine.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

notbob <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

No, really. I get the impression Italians are totally dedicated to
their own cuisine. You never hear of Italian fusion. I think
Americans would eat Eskimo if they could get it. But, Italians....

nb ...too many beers

LOL... The subject header is hilarious. I can just picture a bunch of
Italians trying to poke a Chinese person into the pot to cook 'em up.
Thanks for the chuckle.

Michael

--
“It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun.”
_Ray Kroc, creator of the McDonald's franchise

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Curly Sue) said:

notbob said:

No, really. I get the impression Italians are totally dedicated to
their own cuisine. You never hear of Italian fusion. I think
Americans would eat Eskimo if they could get it. But, Italians....

nb ...too many beers

I guess it depends on who "invented" pasta. If you go for the Marco
Polo story, then Italians eat Chinese almost every day. 🙂

My guess is that much of what is considered modern Italian cuisine
represents fusions from the north, the south, the New World (tomatoes,
peppers, etc.), immigrants and armies, all magically incorportated by
the Italians and the climate into a deliciously "Italian" cuisine.

Exactly. As I understand it, the tomato was not indigenous to Italy, but
the Italians sure do wonderful things with how they cook tomatoes.

On Sat, 25 Feb 2006 13:42:06 GMT, [email hidden] (Curly

Sue) said:

notbob said:

No, really. I get the impression Italians are totally dedicated to
their own cuisine. You never hear of Italian fusion. I think
Americans would eat Eskimo if they could get it. But, Italians....

nb ...too many beers

I guess it depends on who "invented" pasta. If you go for the Marco
Polo story, then Italians eat Chinese almost every day. 🙂

My guess is that much of what is considered modern Italian cuisine
represents fusions from the north, the south, the New World (tomatoes,
peppers, etc.), immigrants and armies, all magically incorportated by
the Italians and the climate into a deliciously "Italian" cuisine.

And the Greek slaves that they brought over as cooks.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

notbob <[email hidden]> wrote in news:hsmdnU0sKo6BeWLeRVn-
[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

No, really. I get the impression Italians are totally dedicated to
their own cuisine. You never hear of Italian fusion.

Mediterranean cuisine is partly Italian fusion.

--
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why
the poor have no food, they call me a communist."

Dom Helder Camara

A friend who lives in Italy explained to me that when most Italians go
out to eat, they
are looking for mostly the same kind of food they might make at home,
perhaps more "refined" in ingredients, but basically familiar foods.
They might go out for Chinese food once a year or so just for a lark,
but do not think, as we often do, "what shall we eat tonight, Thai,
Mexican, Japanese, French, Italian?" That being said, Italian food is
much more varied that most Americans know. The cuisine of the north,
for instance, uses butter, not ollive oil, with a definite French
influence, to the northeast, it's German-influenced, not the
tomato-based Sicilian cuisine found in most American Italian
restaurants. I would say that your impression of dedication to their
own cuisine is fairly accurate, but their own cuisine will vary from
one region of Italy to another.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Blair P. Houghton said:

Um...

Spaghetti

Noodles

Marco Polo

Hel-LOOooo...

Although there is some evidence, I'll see if I can dig it up, that it
wasn't brought over, but rather had been created in Italy independently.

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

notbob said:

No, really. I get the impression Italians are totally dedicated to
their own cuisine. You never hear of Italian fusion. I think
Americans would eat Eskimo if they could get it. But, Italians....

Some of the Italians (and ex -pats who live there) who post on
rec.travel.europe say that finding "foreign" ingredients in Italy is
frequently a hassle...

Quoted message said:

nb ...too many beers

There's no such thing as "too many beers" nb... ;-)

--
Best
Greg

Quoted message said:

Exactly. As I understand it, the tomato was not indigenous to Italy, but
the Italians sure do wonderful things with how they cook tomatoes.

Ever wonder how the world would have turned out if Italy had got the
potato and Ireland had got the Tomato?

--Bliar

Blair P. Houghton said:

Ever wonder how the world would have turned out if Italy had got the
potato and Ireland had got the Tomato?

no

stitcher said:

A friend who lives in Italy explained to me that when most Italians go
out to eat, they
are looking for mostly the same kind of food they might make at home,
perhaps more "refined" in ingredients, but basically familiar foods.
They might go out for Chinese food once a year or so just for a lark,
but do not think, as we often do, "what shall we eat tonight, Thai,
Mexican, Japanese, French, Italian?" That being said, Italian food is
much more varied that most Americans know. The cuisine of the north,
for instance, uses butter, not ollive oil, with a definite French
influence, to the northeast, it's German-influenced, not the
tomato-based Sicilian cuisine found in most American Italian
restaurants. I would say that your impression of dedication to their
own cuisine is fairly accurate, but their own cuisine will vary from
one region of Italy to another.

So, are they stuck with the cooking of their own region or do Italians
decide if they want to go out for Tuscan, Sicilian or Venezian?
--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

Blair P. Houghton said:

Um...

Spaghetti

Noodles

Marco Polo

Hel-LOOooo...

--Blair
"They invented fusion."

Hel-LOOoo :-)

Your thinking Gary Cooper 1938 not Marco Polo 1260 A.D.

Ist century books from Rome mention cooking pasta.
--
Pan Ohco
I would like to see the bottom of my monitor, but I have cats.

Again, this is only my impression, but mostly the restaurants in their
own town will have the local
cuisine. In the larger cities, you might have more choices. For
instance, there is a restaurant I know of in Venice which highlights
Tuscan cuisine, but mostly in Venice you get Venetian cuisine.
In Genoa, you eat Genovese in most restaurants, pesto and seafood and
such. You probably would
have a tough time getting the local Piedmont cheese bra outside of
Piedmont, so it would be hard to have that as an offering on a menu in
Sicily. I will consult my Italian friend for more info on this.