I know this was probably meant to put the joke on the naive American, but I can't help but feel the egg is on the face of the conservative Italian, here. Really needs to broaden his horizons on what can be done with food.
No it isn't... Food in Italy is done this way, and food in America is done another way. If an Italian tourist goes to an Italian restaurant in the United States, and asks for dishes they don't serve, then it's his fault for being naive about the type of food that is served there. It is not on the restaurant to be "open minded" with what kinds of food they serve, because that's not how a restaurant works!
The guy said that it's impossible to put spaghetti and meatballs together. Not that they don't do it, but that it's not to be done. That's what I mean by conservative.
Italian here. You can put spaghetti and meatballs together but you can't call it an "Italian dish" because it isn't (also for us it's a pretty weird combination). Furthermore Italian food is different from region to region so if you ask for "bagna cauda" (a dish from Piedmont) in Sicily they probably don't even know what it is.
The joke you missed is that in the first panel he says he wants some "REAL Italian food". It's not about conservatism, it's about the fact that many dishes that Americans regard as "authentically Italian" were invented in the USA and are unknown in Italy.
Love it! Once I was in Brussels at Pizza Hut (yeah, yeah, I know... that's not REAL pizza... whatever, I'm Italian I can have the real one anytime! XD) and the guy sit next to me ordered a "pepperoni pizza", and of course it came with salami on top. Man, he went on for 5 minutes telling the waiter "this is not PEPERONI (pepper bells)" and the poor guy "well yeah, it's PEPPERONI" "no it's not" "yes it is"
American here... and I still had to look up what is in pepperoni. It's salami with paprika or chili powder to give it a red color. So to us, Pepperoni pizza has a particular kind of salami on it, and anything else looks wrong.
Alfredo sauce is typically made from heavy cream, cheese, and garlic. Originally, it was just butter and Parmesan tossed with noodles. We always put sauce on noodles, which I understand is not how it's done in Italy.
The thing that mystified me from American film/TV is "General Tso's chicken", which is believed to be a Chinese dish. It's not. I don't know what it is, but Chinese restaurants in Europe don't do it -- nor do they in China. I'm still not sure what it is, but it doesn't matter as I couldn't eat it -- I'm vegetarian -- but I'm amused by the assumption that it's universal.
It was invented by a Taiwanese chef who moved to New York and opened a restaurant there. I'm not sure if he invented it before or after he moved to New York.
Yes, like chimichanga, pasta primavera, fortune cookies, the Cuban sandwich, vichyssoise, fajitas, chile con queso, chop suey, moo goo gai pan, and Russian dressing, General Tso's chicken was invented in America. :-)
Haha, works the other way around, too. My bf, first time ordering a pizza in the US: "pizza with salami, please" American waiter: "huh?" Luckily, the guy at the table next to him had a pepperoni pizza so bf resorted to pointing. American: "oh, you mean a pepperoni pizza!" Bf: "huh?!?" Now you have to know we're from Austria, where "Pfefferoni" are hot, spicy peppers, the thin green ones. And you typically eat them as pickles. We eat them basically as a condiment for "Leberkäs" - which has nothing whatsoever to do with neither "Leber" (liver) nor "Käse" (cheese). :)
And I happen to be reading this from the *real* home of the Caesar salad, Tijuana, Mexico! Still the signature dish at Caesar's Restaurant in downtown.
Caesar Cardini was living in San Diego, and had restaurants in both places, when the Caesar salad was invented. In an interview, his daughter Rosa reported that it came about because a Fourth of July rush depleted the kitchen's supplies, so he had to improvise with the ingredients they had left.
Do they have Fourth of July rushes in restaurants in Tijuana?
It's not just about what you can eat, it's about how you can eat it. At a restaurant in Venice, we asked if we could split a pizza for lunch, as we weren't very hungry. The waiter stiffly told us "it's not possible"!
That's because in Venice they'd make you pay for breathing, if they could do it! Still... it's quite unusual to order a pizza for two, in proper restaurants/pizzerie (mainly because you'll pay for one thing, but you are two, so they would use 2 forks/dishes/glasses anyway)
Ha, that reminds me of my time as a student in Belgium. We were four and, since none of us were big eaters, we ordered 2 pizzas and four plates (which is not *that* strange: there are some restaurant where you can actually buy pizza per slice). The owner of the restaurant, who was an Italian, looked at us like we just used a bunch of dirty words...
Yes, but the places where you buy pizza by slice are different from the ones where you buy pizza on the plate. The first one is a "fast food" place, the second one a restaurant.
Other than having food allergies that make it impossible to eat out locally, nevermind eat out while travelling... in a perfect world I think I'd just ask what the server recommends. Tastebud adventures, ho!
I know this was probably meant to put the joke on the naive American, but I can't help but feel the egg is on the face of the conservative Italian, here. Really needs to broaden his horizons on what can be done with food.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on what you wanna do with food! :P
DeletePineapple on pizza is a big yes for me. Ketchup on pasta... let me quote Achmed, the Dead Terrorist: I KILL YOU. :D
No it isn't... Food in Italy is done this way, and food in America is done another way. If an Italian tourist goes to an Italian restaurant in the United States, and asks for dishes they don't serve, then it's his fault for being naive about the type of food that is served there. It is not on the restaurant to be "open minded" with what kinds of food they serve, because that's not how a restaurant works!
DeleteThe guy said that it's impossible to put spaghetti and meatballs together.
DeleteNot that they don't do it, but that it's not to be done. That's what I mean by conservative.
Italian here. You can put spaghetti and meatballs together but you can't call it an "Italian dish" because it isn't (also for us it's a pretty weird combination).
DeleteFurthermore Italian food is different from region to region so if you ask for "bagna cauda" (a dish from Piedmont) in Sicily they probably don't even know what it is.
The joke you missed is that in the first panel he says he wants some "REAL Italian food". It's not about conservatism, it's about the fact that many dishes that Americans regard as "authentically Italian" were invented in the USA and are unknown in Italy.
DeleteEhi, if you're in Italy you CAN'T joke about food! I tell you for your safety! ;)
DeleteLove it! Once I was in Brussels at Pizza Hut (yeah, yeah, I know... that's not REAL pizza... whatever, I'm Italian I can have the real one anytime! XD) and the guy sit next to me ordered a "pepperoni pizza", and of course it came with salami on top. Man, he went on for 5 minutes telling the waiter "this is not PEPERONI (pepper bells)" and the poor guy "well yeah, it's PEPPERONI" "no it's not" "yes it is"
ReplyDeleteMe, I was having an Hawaiian so... LOL XD
Uh... do I get this right, for an American a Pepperoni pizza is a pizza with Salami on it?
DeleteAnd what the hell is Fettucine Alfredo?
btw. I am from the non-Italien eastern part of Germany ;)
American here... and I still had to look up what is in pepperoni. It's salami with paprika or chili powder to give it a red color. So to us, Pepperoni pizza has a particular kind of salami on it, and anything else looks wrong.
DeleteAlfredo sauce is typically made from heavy cream, cheese, and garlic. Originally, it was just butter and Parmesan tossed with noodles. We always put sauce on noodles, which I understand is not how it's done in Italy.
By the way... They're not "noodles". It's pasta. Noodles are from Asia, especially northern China (where it's too cold to grow rice) and Japan.
DeleteNoodles and pasta are not the same.
https://www.country-guide.ca/2016/01/21/the-difference-between-noodles-and-pasta/47994/
The thing that mystified me from American film/TV is "General Tso's chicken", which is believed to be a Chinese dish. It's not. I don't know what it is, but Chinese restaurants in Europe don't do it -- nor do they in China. I'm still not sure what it is, but it doesn't matter as I couldn't eat it -- I'm vegetarian -- but I'm amused by the assumption that it's universal.
It was invented by a Taiwanese chef who moved to New York and opened a restaurant there. I'm not sure if he invented it before or after he moved to New York.
DeleteYes, like chimichanga, pasta primavera, fortune cookies, the Cuban sandwich, vichyssoise, fajitas, chile con queso, chop suey, moo goo gai pan, and Russian dressing, General Tso's chicken was invented in America. :-)
DeleteHaha, works the other way around, too.
ReplyDeleteMy bf, first time ordering a pizza in the US: "pizza with salami, please"
American waiter: "huh?"
Luckily, the guy at the table next to him had a pepperoni pizza so bf resorted to pointing.
American: "oh, you mean a pepperoni pizza!"
Bf: "huh?!?"
Now you have to know we're from Austria, where "Pfefferoni" are hot, spicy peppers, the thin green ones. And you typically eat them as pickles. We eat them basically as a condiment for "Leberkäs" - which has nothing whatsoever to do with neither "Leber" (liver) nor "Käse" (cheese). :)
And I happen to be reading this from the *real* home of the Caesar salad, Tijuana, Mexico! Still the signature dish at Caesar's Restaurant in downtown.
ReplyDeleteCaesar Cardini was living in San Diego, and had restaurants in both places, when the Caesar salad was invented. In an interview, his daughter Rosa reported that it came about because a Fourth of July rush depleted the kitchen's supplies, so he had to improvise with the ingredients they had left.
DeleteDo they have Fourth of July rushes in restaurants in Tijuana?
It's not just about what you can eat, it's about how you can eat it. At a restaurant in Venice, we asked if we could split a pizza for lunch, as we weren't very hungry. The waiter stiffly told us "it's not possible"!
ReplyDeleteThat's because in Venice they'd make you pay for breathing, if they could do it! Still... it's quite unusual to order a pizza for two, in proper restaurants/pizzerie (mainly because you'll pay for one thing, but you are two, so they would use 2 forks/dishes/glasses anyway)
DeleteHa, that reminds me of my time as a student in Belgium. We were four and, since none of us were big eaters, we ordered 2 pizzas and four plates (which is not *that* strange: there are some restaurant where you can actually buy pizza per slice). The owner of the restaurant, who was an Italian, looked at us like we just used a bunch of dirty words...
DeleteYes, but the places where you buy pizza by slice are different from the ones where you buy pizza on the plate. The first one is a "fast food" place, the second one a restaurant.
DeleteAlso, don't ask for a doggy bag in Italy.
Other than having food allergies that make it impossible to eat out locally, nevermind eat out while travelling... in a perfect world I think I'd just ask what the server recommends. Tastebud adventures, ho!
ReplyDelete