Reply to Do foreign countries and cultures have superior cuisine and food culture than the US?

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Reply to "Do foreign countries and cultures have superior cuisine and food culture than the US?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think America has the best food culture because it is a melting pot so brings flavors and techniques from all over the world plus it is incredibl rich with incredible distribution networks so you can get an amazing variety of foods in all seasons in almost all places.

That’s not to say that there’s not a lot of crap here.  But if I had to pick one country in which to eat for my whole life, it would be the U.S.  second pick would probably be Italy in part because I really like even causal fast food there (pizza, cured meats, etc.), and Italy does have a great range of food because it was the melting pot of the Middle Ages/rennaissance, bringing food from most of the world together.

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What Americans don’t realize is that Italian food varies greatly by region. In southern Italy (Naples) you will not find any butter or cream based pasta sauces. They use strictly olive oil. If you ask for butter in a restaurant they will give
you a dismissive snort/shrug and tell you they have none. This idea that Italian food is one single cuisine is an American concept. Italy was, until quite recently, made up of several kingdoms. Northern Italy’s food is closely linked to Austrian/German food. America had a large number of Southern Italian immigrants which created the idea of “Italian American” food. It’s not a true representation of Italian food in Italy. [/quote]

Ironically if you go to good Italian restaurants in large US cities (not limited to NY/LA/SF but also smaller cities like DC, Philly, Boston, etc.) you will discover many Italian restaurants reflecting different regions of Italy and where the chefs understand the distinctions you are making and know even more than you.

There are also restaurants that celebrate Italian-American cuisine, which is distinct as it is an adaptation of Italian dishes by multiple generations of families and influenced by American culture. It can also be phenomenally good. Caruso's Grocery in DC is my favorite example right now.

Trying to pretend there is a single version of Italian cuisine in the US and that "Americans" are totally ignorant if distinctions in Italian cuisine based on region, is so weird given both the large number of Italian immigrant communities in the US and the unusually strong interest that the US has in Italian culture (as compared to other European cultures in particular).

Meanwhile, go get Mexican food literally anywhere in the world outside Mexico or the US and count the myriad ways they just fundamentally get it wrong.[/quote]

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