When Italians sit down together for dinner, a special joy combusts from their mutual love of good eating: the flavors, the steam, the memories, the dreams … the edible heritage. Food is a favorite topic of conversation. And it seems every Italian has an opinion about American food.
During one long Italian meal, my friend Claudia says she loves American food. Her favorites include the BLT sandwich and “chili soup.” She’s charmed by our breakfast culture and that we “meet for breakfast.” She says you would never see families going out for breakfast in Italy.
But she notes that in the United States, size matters more than quality and dishes try too hard. She says that the average number of ingredients in an American restaurant salad or pasta is eight or 10 — double the ingredients in the typical Italian salad or pasta. And she can’t understand our heavily flavored salad dressings. “If your lettuce and tomato are good, why cover it up with a heavy dressing? We use only oil and vinegar,” she says. When I try to defend the fancy dishes as complex, she says, “Perhaps ‘jumbled’ is a better translation.”
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