After NYC, which city has the best/most authentic Italian food? (quality, market)

[HockeyGuy85]

Who gave this guy internet?

[Stumbler.]

Originally Posted by Stumbler.

The stereotypical Italian food ("red sauce") in the US supposed to be based off Sicilian? It's certainly not much Northern Italian.

Originally Posted by Deezus

Excatly. And not to knock old fashioned "Red Sauce" spots--those can be pretty fun and tasty. But it's bascially a version of certain dishes that originated in Napoli(Naples) and brought over to places like New York.

Oh, Naples that's what it's (the "red sauce" food established by the early immigrants) supposed to be based off from? I had thought Sicily at first. The mass majority of Italian-Americans were in the early part (and still are?) southerners.

[btownboss4]

Generally Italian Immigrants were from Rome south because the north was more prosporous than the south, the typical gravey is southern while the north has cheese sauses (alfrado ect,)

[Stumbler.]

Originally Posted by MD2LAFTW

It's bland in comparison to Indian, Middle Eastern, Ethiopian and Peruvian foods I've had.

I had a friend who said Korean food was "bland" and liked Indian food.

I don't know when it comes to a cuisine, if the more the types or varieties herbs, the spices and seasonings used in a dish, the less a dish is considered bland (using fewer of them), or if people who are hot pepper loving are just using bland as a euphemism for not having "stinging heat".

I personally get kind of annoyed when people think the only kind of spice that exists in making food "not bland" is chili pepper heat (and not other varieties of spices or seasonings that actually add flavour along with it). In fact, by itself just "heat", especially if it's enough to dull your senses is makes food pretty hard to taste and thus ironically makes it less flavourful.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

Generally Italian Immigrants were from Rome south because the north was more prosporous than the south, the typical gravey is southern while the north has cheese sauses (alfrado ect,)

85% of the Italian immigrants are in fact from Rome and points south because of the dismal conditions post WW2.

Tomato based favorites come from the south, while all the white sauces and more "continental" dishes come from the north.

That's why most home-style Italian trattorias, especially those that have pizza, have southern Italian cuisine as their mainstay and Italian fine dining tends to be northern.

I'll take either, in a heartbeat.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by grapico

Now listen here Mr. Fox, and listen up close. Have you ever heard that song that goes a lil something like this... "Where I come from, it's corn bread and chicken"
Now I want you to think about that a bit, and you kno where that is? The U S of A. Not fancy schmancy Italy that people want to be sipping their expensive Char Do NAYYY and etc and being pretentious.
Now did you see that menu?! It is astronomical.
You are being wasteful going to restaurants like that, a materialist. You should be thankful in the morning that your lady can make you some biscuits from scratch or some corn bread and milk. That will fill your belly more than a few green beans or gobbling more imported mushrooms with fancy sauce from some italian chef on the food network.
I would never pay that much for a beer, is tha twhat they charge over in fancy yankee doodle Boston?

Talking about your subways already, just like I thought. How do you think that is funded, by spending money like the greed monglers? I went once and saw a rat the size of an armydillo, won't do that again.

Now you have a nice day sir mr fox and just remember how this country got made, by blood, sweat, good home meals, not fancy people trying to be Italians and Parisians.

Oh, I'm sorry that "fine dining" is too difficult a concept for you to comprehend. You hicks from the "heartland" know absolutely nothing about culture and sophistication which is why you can't comprehend it. Besides, I went to Harvard (I visited a few times, didn't attend) so it's difficult to discuss these things with lesser folks from Podunk, Whereveryourefrom, USA.

Anyway, I won't have my woman cook me anything because I don't have a woman at the moment. Again, probably difficult for you to get because you probably settled down at age 17 with some girl named Peggy Sue you met at Sunday school, got married, moved into a little house on the prairie, and had a baby all before your 18th birthday. But again, I wouldn't expect someone like you to know any better.

Here in Boston, we're pretty much like Paris, London and other European cities. We have the best colleges in the world and fine dining from every corner of the earth. We also don't have public restrooms because no one from Boston has an anus. So don't lecture me on how this country was made. There's nothing someone like you could teach me that I don't already know. Except maybe about Nascar and cousin-loving.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by Stumbler.

Oh, Naples that's what it's (the "red sauce" food established by the early immigrants) supposed to be based off from? I had thought Sicily at first. The mass majority of Italian-Americans were in the early part (and still are?) southerners.

A lot of Sicilians immigrated to parts of the US along with other parts of Southern Italy, and there are plenty of pasta dishes with tomato based sauces in Sicily--along with Sicilian varities of pizza, mannicoti and so on. However pizza had it's orgins in Naples, along with ragu sauces(tomato sauces with braised meat or Sunday gravy as it's called) being more popular. There's Sicilian influence in American Italian cooking, but alot of American-style dishes resemble more so resemble much of the Neapolitan region especially since marinara sauce or most tomato sauces really orignated in that region(tomatoes were actually a pretty late arrival to Italian cooking). Of course every region of Southern Italy including Rome itself has a great variety of pasta dishes and types.

When I went to Sicily last summer, the food was much more varied than just that however... Lots of unique gnocchi dishes, tripe sandwiches, pistachio-based cream sauces, couscous and other Arab influences in the Eastern part of the island, dishes served with sauces cooked with blood oranges, seafood stews, fresh swordfish and so on.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by Deezus

When I went to Sicily last summer, the food was much more varied than just that however... Lots of unique gnocchi dishes, tripe sandwiches, pistachio-based cream sauces, couscous and other Arab influences in the Eastern part of the island, dishes served with sauces cooked with blood oranges, seafood stews, fresh swordfish and so on.

No doubt. Sicily has extraordinary cuisine. It's just that it hasn't been marketed on this side of the ocean as fine dining. Fine dining always seems to be billed as Northern Italian or Continental Italian.

Agree on the bold - the best pistachios come from the slopes of Mt. Etna, blood red orange juice is better than any juice I've ever tasted, swordfish is made into involtini (stuffed "turnovers"). Don't like "spaghetti alla Norma," though.

And don't forget the cassata Siciliana, cannoli, and arancini.

And don't forget the overly emotional "crazy" people.

Maybe I should add that you can get great Italian food in Toronto and Montreal...closer to NY than Chicago.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

85% of the Italian immigrants are in fact from Rome and points south because of the dismal conditions post WW2.

Tomato based favorites come from the south, while all the white sauces and more "continental" dishes come from the north.

That's why most home-style Italian trattorias, especially those that have pizza, have southern Italian cuisine as their mainstay and Italian fine dining tends to be northern.

I'll take either, in a heartbeat.

I wonder if any of the immigrants who settled in Rome, NY were from Rome, Italy? lol

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by Stumbler.

I had a friend who said Korean food was "bland" and liked Indian food.

I don't know when it comes to a cuisine, if the more the types or varieties herbs, the spices and seasonings used in a dish, the less a dish is considered bland (using fewer of them), or if people who are hot pepper loving are just using bland as a euphemism for not having "stinging heat".

I personally get kind of annoyed when people think the only kind of spice that exists in making food "not bland" is chili pepper heat (and not other varieties of spices or seasonings that actually add flavour along with it). In fact, by itself just "heat", especially if it's enough to dull your senses is makes food pretty hard to taste and thus ironically makes it less flavourful.

Yeah when I think bland I don't think of Italian food, at least well made Italian food. Any cuisine - even highly spiced Indian - can be bland if done wrongly. I've often had Indian with no complexity in the flavour - the strongest flavour was the large amounts of salt and sugar they put in. Not to sound racist but it would probably pass with a lot of Westerners, but as better Indian places come up and more people become familiar with good Indian they are not going to put up with that. I've had some horrible Italian that was indeed very bland - DESPITE the amount of oil it was literally tasteless - and I have sensitive tastebuds. Well made Italian is never bland.

When I think bland food I think English or Japanese, but really, food that is not heavily spiced or full of herbs can also be really good.