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Original poster

two qs abotu italian food

45 replies

LittleMouseWithCLogsOn · 14/05/2007 20:10

i once read an article abotu hwo the Ities dont put paremsan on tomato based pasta sauces - only cream ones

is this true? 9 havign put parmesan on spag bol)

ANd in restruaants why cant we alll haev our OWN balck pepper mmill and do it oursleves

tia

OP posts:
FrannyandZooey · 14/05/2007 20:12

  1. don't know and don't care

  2. so the waiter can lean over with giant phallic item and grind it suggestively at you, of course

Carmenere · 14/05/2007 20:13

They don't put parmesan on fish based pasta sauces but they do on tomato ones.
The pepper thing I think is a habit to do with having quality fresh ground pepper from before the times when small ones were popular.

Aloha · 14/05/2007 20:13

1 really? I am sure I have been offered it in Italy...but I could be wrong. Anyway who cares really - parmesan improves everything!

2 Because then the waiter couldn't stare down the front of your dress and call you a 'lovely laydee'.

MrsDiorKeanuReeves · 14/05/2007 20:13

Does it really matter if you like the taste? I used to put salad cream on all my potatoes...

Tutter · 14/05/2007 20:15

and you're not supposed to put parmesan on seafood dishes apparently

or they wouldn't, anyway

Tutter · 14/05/2007 20:15

sorry carmenere - echo

FrayedKnot · 14/05/2007 20:15

Carmenere is right

But of course you know spag bol does not really exist, so no Italian would be putting parmesan on spag bol

percypig · 14/05/2007 20:16

Trying to think back to gorgeous plates of pasta in Italy...think I was offered parmesan with any pasta, but it maybe came with (in a wee grater etc) those in a creamy or oil based sauce.

The most weird thing about Italian food to me is the way pasta (or risotto) is a course by itself and then you get your plate of meat, with nothing with it unless you order veg. Funny for me as a veggie, cos I fill up on pasta then just eat a side dish for my 'main' course.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 14/05/2007 20:19

Oooh mrsD - i have salad cream sandwiches

Carmenere · 14/05/2007 20:21

I used to love salad cream sandwiches mmmmm

MrsDiorKeanuReeves · 14/05/2007 20:22

Funnily enough, I only have it on salad now, but I used to love it on shepherd's pie, and on my roast potatoes.

BettySpaghetti · 14/05/2007 20:22

According to DP the pepper grinder thing is because its supposedly bad luck to have more than one pepper grinder in your home, so this has presumably been transferred to restaurants.

Califrau · 14/05/2007 20:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Califrau · 14/05/2007 20:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SweetyDarling · 14/05/2007 21:05

Spag Bol does exist, it's just that it's rather different to the way most of us think of it.

Brangelina · 14/05/2007 21:16

Spag bol doesn't exist, here it's called "pasta con ragù". There are dishes with the descriptive "alla bolognese" but none relate specifically to what the Brits call spag bol.

Yes, parmesan not to be used with fish or seafood but may be liberally scattered over anything else.

The single pepper mill is wholly explained by Franny's reply, along with the added detail that it shows the waiter's natty wrist action.

SweetyDarling · 15/05/2007 09:47

But Brangelina, there are lots of different ragus and there is a Ragu that is specifically Bolognese which is the (now very distant) basis of what the rest of the world thinks of as Spag Bol.

Original poster
LittleMouseWithCLogsOn · 15/05/2007 11:16

wheres collision?

OP posts:
ScottishThistle · 15/05/2007 11:29

Spaghetti bolognese doesn't exist!

Nnothing beats a real Italian waiter with a 12inch Pepper mill!

Brangelina · 15/05/2007 15:06

Yes Sweety, what you say is technically true, only most British recipes for spag bol bear not even the faintest resemblance to any sort of ragù of Italian origin. The bolognese version in particular tends to contain up to 3 types of meat, generally it's beef mince, pork and pancetta, occasionally with veal, depending on which little village near Bologna you're from.

Oh dear, perhaps I'm being unfair, but I've been scarred by the mum of a schoolfriend many years ago who made hers with 3 oxocubes and brown ale. Not long after that I went vegetarian .

ScottishThistle · 15/05/2007 15:08

Brangelina are you from Bologna???

Brangelina · 15/05/2007 15:10

No, from Monza. I used to have a boyfriend from Bologna who used to extol about the different flavours to be obtained by varying the mix of meats. The fact that I'm vegetarian was a major source of distress to him.

ScottishThistle · 15/05/2007 15:14

I worked in Milan for a few years & a good friend of mine still goes back to visit her ex charges in Monza.

Brangelina · 15/05/2007 15:21

Ooh, how long ago? Are you actually Scottish? I used to know a nanny from Aberdeen who I must say bears a little resemblance to your pic, only she had very blonde hair. Used to frequent a biker who looked like Jon Bon Jovi only with more facial hair. Was that you???? I tink it must have been at least 7 or 8 years ago now.

FrayedKnot · 15/05/2007 16:13

The point being, no Italian would ever serve ragu with spaghetti

It would be tagliatelle or those big wide ribbon thingies

Spag Bol was invented by the British when all you could buy in this country was spaghetti