All About Pasta
If you think Italian food is all about pasta, sauce, and pizza, it’s time you think again. Some of the most amazing dishes in the world are Italian dishes that most people have never heard of. These dishes are usually regional in nature and tend to adopt the characteristics of the regions and countries bordering the area of Italy where they come from.
The problem with ordering food in a neutral bay restaurant, like in the US, is that the restaurant manager has to reduce the number of dishes they can serve so that the food is ready in a timely manner after you order. What often happens is that food that is distinctive but not as well known is left off the regular menu.
Italian Regional Dishes
And because Italy is filled with small but highly diverse areas, that means most of the great regional dishes are simply never on the menu. A good example of this is the food of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. This is a place right on the border of the former Yugoslavia and when you combine that culinary influence with the Italian love of cooking, you get fantastic dishes that most people outside of Italy have never had the chance to try.
As this region shares a border with the former Yugoslavia, Italian food here is strong with Austrian, Hungarian, Slovenian, and Croatian influences. One of the places where this is most evident is in the breweries in the area, places that you might associate more with Germany or Austria. Here they serve dishes such as Viennese sausage and goulash.
Hungarian Dishes
But the most used meat in the dishes of this region is pork. And if you ever visit this one, be sure to try one of their world famous San Daniele del Friuli hams. These hams are a staple of local Italian food. The entire region is known for its bacon and spicy sausages. There is even a local dish called jota that is unique to the region and is made with beans and bacon. But this is very different from the type of dish served in the southern United States. The pork in this area is spicy and this may come as a surprise to foreigners who are not familiar with this brand of Italian food.
There are so many types of Italian food that aren’t pasta with tomato sauce that it’s hard to try them all in one lifetime; but you could definitely try. Because good food should be fun.
What makes a good Italian food and a good Italian restaurant? This is what I think.
Italy has a wonderful tradition of good food. The importance of Italian food to Italian culture cannot be overstated. It is one of the core elements, and why shouldn’t it be? Think for a moment about the geography of Italy:
It goes a long way from north to south. Therefore, it has a wide range of growing seasons and soil types. This means a rich diversity of ingredients for food.
It is a peninsula, which means that it is almost surrounded by the sea, but also connected to the great landmass of Eurasia. There is an abundance of fresh seafood and foreign ingredients from neighboring countries.
It is found between Europe and Africa in the Mediterranean Sea. All Mediterranean cultures have excellent food traditions from North Africa to Lebanon and Israel, France, Greece, Spain and of course Italy.
Either way, food is an important part of Italian culture. Therefore, the food is the most important part of the restaurant. Sure, a great Italian restaurant has a great wine list, clean, elegant decor, and great service, but a good Italian restaurant can only survive on good food, even if it has a poor wine list, poor service, and poor scheme. gloomy decor.
By the way, if you leave an “Italian” restaurant hungry, it’s definitely not authentic. A white tablecloth and a high bill don’t make a great bistro. I honestly can’t stand those fancy Italian restaurants in Manhattan that charge you $400 for a bite that will make you want to stop for a slice of pizza on the way home. A great Italian ristorante will leave you full, not full, but full.
The second aspect of a great Italian restaurant is service. The service will be warm and professional, but not overly friendly. After the orders are taken and the food is rolling, the service should be almost invisible. Run, don’t walk, from an Italian restaurant where the waiter addresses the table like this:
“How are you this evening?” when the ladies sit at the table. This is the least Italian of them. An Italian would never call a woman ‘man’. They don’t take long to chat at the tables dressed in white, at least not the good ones. It’s all about the food and your comfort.
The third aspect of a great Italian restaurant is the atmosphere. I don’t know what it is, but the Italians seem to be able to create a charming atmosphere everywhere. I’ve eaten at places in suburban Denver malls, as unromantic as it gets, that are almost wonderful.