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DH is Italian... I too thought it was just about pasta and pizza... OH boy... it is about Pasta... and meats... and soups... and salads of sorts... and so much MORE... it is all about FOOD....
Wow, where do I begin? Italian food is an experience with family, friends and food. When someone comes over to our home unexpectedly, I start taking simple things out of the fridge for them to eat. We share our friendship and love with food. If you were to come here right now, I grilled slices of our home grown eggplant today, I would toast some pine nuts, take out the Ricotta cheese & Pecorino Romano grated, add an egg, fresh parsley & a touch of nutmeg, mix it all up and put a tablespoon on top of the slice of eggplant, roll it up, cover with spaghetti sauce (homemade from tomatoes from my garden) & bake it for 20 mins. You would sit down to an Italian antipasto with different olives, artichokes, lettuces, meats and cheeses, & of course, crispy Italian garlic bread. My husbands ancestors are from Sicily mine, Naples, the foods are vastly different, but when we blend them together we get the same results, simple and absolutely delicious.
Italian food used to be peasant food 100 years ago, now it is on every gourmet menu. Lots of vegetables, escarole & beans, plenty of garlic, chicken Marsala with mushrooms. Simple and light veal or chicken piccata in a light lemon sauce, chicken pomodoro, with a light diced tomato sauce, baked chicken in white wine, spices and garlic, veal or chicken saltimbocca, veal/chicken braised with spinach, Parma prosicuitto, provolone in Marsala sauce. Simple soups, minestrone, chicken tortellini with little meatballs. Sunday dinners were homemade ravioli, meatballs, sausage, pork brachole, (or lasagna or manicotti) with homemade red gravy. Fish, fish and more fish. Italian food is about having people enjoy what you cook. Last night my husband worked later then usual and wanted to eat around 9:00 PM, I had fried homegrown green banana peppers, little sea salt and a lot of garlic and he put that on crusty Italian bread. It is the simple foods that make some serious delicious snacks/meals.
I have always cooked like this for my family practically every night and used to work at of the home 10-12 hrs. a day. It took preparation ahead of time, but the smiles and end results were always worth it. I have company at our home at least once a week, bring food to our Vet, employees at the restaurants we go to, homeless people, my husbands boss, etc. and I our food bill is still $65.00 a week. There isn't anything processed in our home & we eat very well.
If you live in NJ you have easy access to so many different food experiences, if you get a chance embrace them.
If you would like to look at my website, I self-published an Italian cookbook, you can see a couple recipes it is BCFALCO Italian Cuisine & Cookbook
I hope I was able to answer some of your questions. kelsie
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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Just when you start to think it's all olive oil, pasta, and tomatoes you might venture into a Northern Italian meal where rice and butter rule the day, or onto the cuisine of Venice where seafood of many types is a staple. I think the common element in regional cooking is to take the best local ingredients you can find and use them wisely, to please your eyes, your nose, your taste buds, and to center time with family and friends.
We were stationed in Italy (Naples) for 3 years. I was surprised on how little tomato they used in their cooking, and even less tomato sauce. There were more beans than I thought.
The post above about it being all about the family around the table, and taking the best of each area.
If there is something specific you are looking for, I brought home a cookbook from Naples - Southern Italian Cooking - and would be happy to look it up for you.
I get a sense that the meat and the way it is cooked is not important, but the cheeses, oils, and everything that is going on it that makes it a good meal
Do italians use a lot of spices, or is it just vegetables oils, and cheeses that they use to garnish their meats with
As you can see I am concerned with meat, what kind of meats do they use
Do italians like to serve huge quantities of meat
Also do they cut things into small pieces like the chinese
Do they like to saute, grill, bake, or etc. which ones
To me Italian food is about variety and incredibly fresh ingredients. Pasta and Pizza are only a tiny part of Italian cuisine. Each province has a very distinct cuisine and I love the use of Game , meats, vegetables and of course the fabulous seafood. And let's not forget the wonderful risottos.
A lot of wonderful hearty stews, fantastic soups, and a lot of very simply prepared brilliant fresh food. In Italy the most important thing is the quality of the ingredients.
Most of what you get in Italian restaurants is not real Italian food. Far from it. A trip to Italy and eating at restaurants NOT dedicated to tourists will reveal a complex, imaginative, highly regionalized cuisine. Red sauces are pretty rare, and except in the north, Olive Oil is the fat of choice. Meat is usually served in small quantities, and used more as a condiment, or one of many ingredients.
It is possible to find authentic Italian recipes on line and in books, but finding the wholesome ingredients in an agri-business dominated USA is not an easy task.
I am about to drive 40 miles to get some decent tomatoes and mozzarella, plus dozens of other essentials. Most of the tomatoes will be eaten raw, and a few Romas will help flavor primo e secondo piatti.
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