Italian cuisine is well-known throughout the world. The nation has the best recipes for delectable cuisine, including fresh fish and outstanding wine. Italian cuisine is now available all over the world, but did you realise that it may not be authentic? Particularly Americans are guilty of significantly altering traditional Italian cuisine—by substantial modifications, meaning fully inventing new dishes and calling them "Italian." The worst component? Most of these recipes are prepared in an American-style with much heavier ingredients, much more salt, and much larger servings than Italian cuisine. Why do we use these things while Italians wouldn't? Perhaps it's because some of your most cherished and favoured "Italian" foods are included on this list.
Garlic Bread: Garlic bread would be included in a list of the world's best-tasting foods. What could possibly be disliked about garlicky, cheese-topped toast that has been drenched in butter? Consider the fact that it contains a lot of sodium, simple carbs, and calories (the latter of which raises blood pressure). What about the fact that it is not at all Italian? The closest Italian equivalent is bruschetta, which consists of thin slices topped with copious amounts of fresh tomatoes. However, these delicious bits are nothing like the garlic breadsticks from your favourite restaurant or the frozen garlic bread from the grocery store.
Marinara Sauce: Perhaps you feel as though we simply pulled the rug out from under you. Isn't marinara sauce an Italian dish? Nope. The red sauce you've been slathering on your pasta and pizza is unlike any sauce you'll encounter on your vacation to Europe. While tomatoes are on our list of foods you should eat every day, traditional Italian sauces are lighter on the tomato and heavier on other components like olive oil and herbs. Marinara sauce is a good example of this. A lighter dish with a more delicate flavour is the end result. To go real, order pasta "al Pomodoro" or spaghetti "alla puttanesca" if you can bear to give up your beloved marinara sauce.
Italian Dressing: Are you ready for one more fake Italian meal? Italian-style dressing. The ingredients in this tangy dressing include oil, vinegar, sugar, herbs, and spices. However, Italians don't often garnish their salads; when they do, they merely drizzle some olive oil over the vegetables and greens.
Pepperoni Pizza: Pepperoni In Italy, pepperoni pizza is not available. Let's rephrase it, then. In Italy, you can order pepperoni pizza, but you won't get a slice with circles of salami on it. Instead, you'll get slices with bell peppers on top. According to a legend, when Italian immigrants came to America, the word "pepperoni" was misinterpreted and began to imply "flesh" rather than "veggies." Beyond the linguistic barrier, though, there is nothing in Italy that resembles pepperoni pizza from the United States. Nothing else even comes close to our pizza in general, either. First off, the only pizzas having meat on them are those with thinly sliced prosciutto or leaner Tuscan sausage. Second, Italian pizza has a thinner crust, less sauce, and less cheese than American pizza.
Spaghetti and Meatballs: No! Not even spaghetti and meatballs? It's unfortunately true. Americans invented spaghetti and meatballs entirely on their own. However, this is merely a fantasy you're more likely to find. When most people think of Italian food, they picture mounds of pasta, meatballs the size of baseballs, and a snowfall of Parmesan cheese on top. In Italy, meatballs are nearly always offered as an appetiser by themselves. Additionally, pasta is hardly ever used with meat in general.
Mozzarella Sticks: Fried? extremely cheesy? very little nutritional value? Okay, you probably anticipated this one. Specifically Americans are mozzarella sticks. The use of mozzarella, a cheese with Southern Italian roots, is the sole connection they have to Italy. These are simple foods to give up if you're attempting to eat authentic Italian cuisine.
