[Paid4This]

Well, I'm Italian and the fact of the matter is there is nothing "authentic" about most "authentic" Italian food in America. It's like that scene from the Sopranos, where Tony and some of the others go to Italy to confab with the big boss. They go to a restaurant and Pauly is looking at what I believe was a squid ink sauce pasta in dismay, and says "Can I just get a bowl of pasta and gravy?" The made Italian killer eating with him tells the waitress, in Italian "Get him a bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce," and then to his other companion "And you thought those Germans were classless pieces of sh''!"

I ate at a VERY authentic Italian restaurant in NYC several years ago, I could identify nothing on the menu from the favorites that my mother makes - no lasagna, spaghetti, gnochi, or anything else. The waitress told me the chef only made authentic Italian food. We picked at our 30 dollar plates, then took a cab over to little Italy, picked a hole in the wall, and I had some of the best ziti I'd ever had. My friend claimed ziti was an American invention.

Snobs turn their nose up at places like Olive Garden, but the fact is most parts of the country don't have good Italian food. You find pockets of it, but there's no decent Italian here in Austin, Texas, and my friend in Tucson has similar complaints. While I don't eat at Olive Garden, it's better than nothing. Those Romano's Macaroni places are much better.

[Dialup Llama]

I have an aunt who cooks authentic Italian for holidays. Very little pasta, mostly seafood. Seven different varieties of fish.

[southern rock]

You find pockets of it, but there's no decent Italian here in Austin, Texas,

Have you ever been to that Italian restaurant on the river walk in San Antonio that has the tree growing out of it? Pretty good Italian food. They also have belly dancing on weekends. I could never figure that one out.

Anyway, I'm a fan of the Americanization of ethnic foods. America is a culture too, and we have our own style.

[Dialup Llama]

>Those Romano's Macaroni places are much better.

Buca, Macaroni Grill and Olive Garden are different price points for the same cusine.

[lelio]

Pauly is looking at what I believe was a squid ink sauce pasta
Heh, that reminds of ordering some calamari at a more "authentic" restaurant. I'm guessing "authentic" means "stuff that you can't sell normally" as who in their right mind would order long squid bodies that were slightly roasted and not fried like normal?

[Pietro]

"Well, I'm Italian and the fact of the matter is there is nothing "authentic" about most "authentic" Italian food in America."

You're right about that which is why I hate "Italian" restruants. Whenever my wife drags me into one I always order the steak. As far as I'm concerned there's only one correct tomato sauce and that's my family's, no other sauce tastes right. I wouldn't eat macaronis at one of those places on a bet.

I remember an old Italian one time telling me that restruants in this country only served peasant food. As the progeny of peasants I could relate. But even the peasants had a wider pallette than is represented in these eateries.

I do get a kick out of Italians complaining about the way we are presented to the rest of the country. Mostly they show us as buffoons, but hey, that's how they present everybody else too. So what?

The funniest thing was when Joe Columbo, the mob boss, tried to start a movement protesting the portraits in the media of Italians as mobsters. How freakin' ironic, how freakin' Italian.

I love my heritage, I just don't look for validation of it from the moronic media.

[Bella_Bru]

Depends on which part of Italy you are tlaking about. Much of the food imported here came with folks from the Campagna region, specifically, Naples.

I hate Northern italian style cuisine....too much French influence.