There seems to be a trend today to return to authentic Italian food.
People are no longer satisfied with the Americanized Italian food that
is often served at restaurants, especially chain restaurants. There is
also a move to make more and more Italian food at home. People like to
have control over the food and make healthy substitutions or
personalize Italian food recipes.
This is due in large part to the internet. Before the internet people
who wanted to make or buy authentic Italian food had to hope that an
Italian family or international market had setup shop in their town or
a neighboring city. Also, the Americanized version of Italian food
became popular because it was easy and cheap to make. However, with the
internet people can now learn online in the comfort of their own homes
the secrets to making good Italian food and now that shoppers can buy
directly from the source it is cheaper to buy ingredients and prepared
food.
Holiday Italian foods
The biggest tradition is with Christmas and it starts on Christmas Eve.
The traditional Christmas Eve meal doesn't include a lot of Italian
food that foreigners may be familiar with. That's because the Italians
observe a type of symbolic fast which actually equates to more of a
light dinner. This means that there will be no Italian food that
includes the typical meats. Instead the Italian food will be centered
more around seafood including fish, snails, and frogs. That may sound a
little more French than Italian, but it's a great time to experience
some excellent traditional Italian food that is hard to find outside of
Italy.
Anytime is a good time for Italian food, but the holidays really make
authentic Italian food shine as families get together to celebrate with
traditional dishes. Try celebrating the holidays with Italian food and
you'll be introduced to a side of the cuisine that many don't know
exist.
The way to eat food the Italian way
There are some differences to the layout of an Italian home cooked meal
versus other cuisines that you'll want to be aware of. First off, real
Italian food is not meant just to bring sustenance; it exists to bring
family and friends together. An Italian meal is at least three to four
courses and is not something to be rushed through. Meals in general are
longer in Italy because of the cultural view that meal times are not
just about feeding the body, but about feeding the soul.
To end a meal diners get not one, but two desserts. The first is a
cheese and fruit course that will help prepare you for the dolce or
main dessert. The dolce will be the rich dessert of the evening, such
as cake. Of course, the meal will end with coffee or espresso, a
classical capstone to the array of Italian food that has been served.
However, there is one last course to come that foreigners may not be so
familiar with. The last course is actually the digestive course and
consists of liquors and is often referred to as the "coffee killer".
The well know Italian food
A very popular Italian dish is the minestrone soup. This soup makes
excellent use of one of the most popular ingredients in Italian food,
beans. Beans are widely used in Italian food and are the feature
ingredient in many soups, not just the minestrone. Along with beans are
nuts as another popular ingredient. The main nut preferred for Italian
food is the pine nut. This nut is used to not only accent pasta dishes,
but also as a main ingredient in popular desserts. But, the most common
and popular use of the nuts is in pesto sauce. Nothing says Italian
food like a good pesto sauce.
The most ubiquitous of all popular Italian food ingredients is olive
oil. The best olive oil is known as extra virgin olive oil and many
Italian food chefs rely strictly on extra virgin olive oil. The
difference between extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil is the
acidity. In order to be classified as extra virgin the olive oil must
not contain more than one percent acidity. Virgin olive oil on the
other hand cannot have more than two percent acidity. Extra virgin
olive oil is by far the most popular in Italian food where it is used
not only to cook food in, but also as a dressing for salad and a
dipping option for bread.
Italian food is one of the most popular cuisines in the world. It has
long been an American favorite and there are countless Italian food
restaurants throughout the United States. While Italian food was first
brought to this country by immigrants and ma and pop shops, like
everything else in this country Italian food franchises are quickly
defining this country's perception of Italian food.
