this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2025
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[–] whaleross@lemmy.world 124 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I knew an Italian exchange student that kept whining that nothing tasted good and nothing tasted as it should up here in Scandinavia. Then another exchange student (from Thailand I think) got tired of him and told him ~"the rest of the world isn't your mother" and it was a literal moment of realisation for this dude.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 11 points 2 weeks ago

Wow, a rare good tasteful Your Mom remark

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[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 85 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I wholeheartedly support culinarily disrespecting Italians, honestly.

Dudes trying to convince us that they are presenting ancient traditions when their precious dishes are invented in like the 60s

[–] htrayl@lemmy.world 43 points 2 weeks ago

Also, many times they will say some isn't an authentic way to do something, and then you will learn it is authentic for like, a few towns over.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Dudes trying to convince us that they are presenting ancient traditions

Ancient traditions

Look inside

Post Columbian exchange vegetables

[–] bob_lemon@feddit.org 7 points 2 weeks ago

Post-columbian fruit is underselling just how new at least posts of it are. Carbonara was invented by US soldiers in the 1940s, literally made using bacon and powdered egg from their rations.

Tiramisu is unclear, but 1939 seems to be the earliest of the possible candidate, the earliest actual document is from 1969.

Pizza as we know it today was reimported from the US.

I love Italian food, but it's much less traditional than people pretend.

[–] reyp@feddit.it 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

tourist traps are everywhere. nevertheless Italian cousin remains top notch. fact

[–] UndulyUnruly@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Must be a freak in the sheets.

[–] gerryflap@feddit.nl 41 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I'm Dutch and I think this map is completely unfair. It overrates our food significantly

[–] cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The Dutch chartered an enormous company to trade spices, but never used them.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 16 points 2 weeks ago

That's just common knowledge, dealers never dip into their own product.

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[–] reyp@feddit.it 40 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Spain and Portugal should be tier 1 or 2

[–] Anissem@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 weeks ago

Madrid’s food scene is amazing

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[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 32 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

I'm just under the line of "toxic" in Finland and you could drawn the line a bit further south.

Finnish national dish? Traditional version? Here you go, the entire recipe;

Pound of beef, cubed

Pounds of pork, cubed

Water

A spoonful of salt.

Put meat in pan with water.

Take pan off heat after enough time.

Done.

That's literally the Finnish national dish "Karelian stew". Obviously nowadays it definitely includes black pepper as well and bunch of other things, because the traditional version is literally just a bunch of boiled meat without any spices.

edit haha enjoyed that but yes, the formatting was off, although you could obviously used water cubes in a pan as long as you still put it on hot. Actually, it might be an interesting experiment to put a pot on a hot stove / flame with beef & pork & ice. Insofar that maybe a tiny bit of the meat would brown before the ice melts and becomes water idk. At least then there'd be browning resulting in some taste. The classical one has none.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 15 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)
[–] Obi@sopuli.xyz 12 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I, too, am really curious about the cubed water.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 7 points 2 weeks ago

Maybe ice is simply more available than liquid potable water in Finland.

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[–] Drusas@fedia.io 6 points 2 weeks ago (10 children)

I made lohikeitto for the first time recently and that was pretty damn good. Almost like an American chowder, but thinner and with nice, tasty dill (I'm sure I don't have to tell you that, but other readers might like to know).

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[–] los_chill@programming.dev 30 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Spanish and Greek food beats Italian. Heck Polish food is way underrated. Also American pizza is better.

[–] reyp@feddit.it 10 points 2 weeks ago

American pizza made by Italian immigrants. ftfy

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Funny seeing this, especially from an iberian perpective, because local culinary is mostly the same as theirs. With the slight difference we actually have the balls to spice our food.

[–] ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I have yet to sample an Italian arrabiata sauce that I would remotely call 'spicy'. Though, to be fair, I'm an American that over spices everything I cook, so my palate is probably blown out at this point.

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[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 24 points 2 weeks ago (13 children)

As an American who just had some glorious fake pizza last night, I thought I hated pasta until I had good Italian, and then I realized I just hate Americanized Italian food. Except pizza, we do it better.

Pasta still isn't my favorite, but I'll take it if it's authentic. My SO makes some great aglio e olio and carbonara, often with shrimp.

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[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 20 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (10 children)

I feel like France, Greece, and Spain are gonna have some pretty strong objections.

RIP Portugal

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[–] Meltdown@lemmy.world 20 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

If you wanna be pedantic, Italian pasta is actually the knockoff of Chinese noodles.

Also, Greek food is fantastic!

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 weeks ago

Yes, it is, and, yes, it is!

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[–] synapse1278@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago

Food in Portugal is delicious

[–] Foni@lemm.ee 16 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

How can you put Spain on the same level as Great Britain? Damn Italians don't know how to make anything other than sauce with tomatoes and they think they know how to cook.

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[–] Rakete@lemm.ee 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)
[–] Jiggle_Physics@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah, Italian chef friend of mine once said that you use garlic, or onions, rarely both, in authentic italian food. Unless you are from one of the many places where they always use both.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

A lot of people don't realize that Italy is a relatively young country comprising multiple distinct regions and culinary histories.

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[–] hm_@lemmy.wtf 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

This is Funny if you think about it because Modern Pizza originates from the USA and Pasta from China

[–] chaogomu@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

Naples. Modern pizza comes from Naples.

That dish was then taken to New York where shredded cheese was used in place of the slices used in Neapolitan pizza.

Pasta on the other hand, does descend from a Chinese dish. Sort of. The Proto-italians actually invented some types of pasta dish themselves, notably the precursor to lasagna and ravioli.

[–] ThirdConsul@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

Tbh I find Italian culinary traditions underwhelming. Like they just gave up 10 minutes in, no work at all because it's too hot.

To be fair, the further from coastline, the better the Italian cuisine - more herbs, more variety, more complex recipes (e.g Ligurian braised rabbit)

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[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Fake pizza, sure, but doesn't imply it's bad. Plus ironically, you can find Italian style pizza in the US if you look for it.

That said, I'll still apologize for Dominos, Pizza Hut, et. al. for fast-foodizing the concept of pizza.

[–] JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 weeks ago

Bruh, Giovanni isn't getting his ass outta bed at 1am to whip me up the drunkenness abolishing disaster that is a late night Domino's order, including all the extras of course I don't just want a pizza I want lava cake and bread sticks and cheesy bread and maybe a pasta bread bowl. I'll take a few bites of everything and pass out on the couch to wake up in the morning pleasantly surprised that drunk me was thoughtful enough to order us pizza for breakfast.

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[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The Netherlands is probably an "overcooked pasta" enclave than. When I was a kid, I was sure Al Dente was Italian for Deathly Toxin.

[–] Exec@pawb.social 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

overcooked pasta
Al Dente

Ah, so Al Dante

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[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)
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[–] Kundas@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

As someone who's lived Italy, this does sound like something an Italian would say lmao

[–] epicstove@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Pre 1600s: Y'all a wanta some Rotting fish juice?

[–] ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Eh, half the authentic East Asian food you get has Fish Sauce as an ingredient, which is essentially Rotting Fish Juice. Hell, Worcester Sauce in the West is similar but different.

Source: Unmilitant vegan that is peeved that fermented fish product ends up being the secret ingredient in many authentic dishes.

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[–] Draegur@lemm.ee 8 points 2 weeks ago

poland in the fattening/caution zone is kind of on point actually

i fucking love polish food and feel that describes it pretty well X3

[–] zer0nix@lemm.ee 8 points 2 weeks ago

I'm a little disappointed that the center is a knife and fork instead of a hand pinching fingers together to make a point

[–] makyo@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I mean, Italian food really is brilliant, they really just over time took all the best things they found and just made great food with it and left out everything else.

It's sort of crazy to think about how delicious a recipe with four ingredients can be until you realize they're four of the most delicious things on the planet.

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[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (4 children)

I grew up north of the toxic belt, and it's my firm opinion that Italian food is overrated. Well, except Parmesan, I'll give them that.

Lasagna is like a moussaka with too much tomato sauce and layers of pasta that should've been skipped.

Anyone who downvotes this is either Italian, or has a fetish for mashed tomatoes.

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Agreed, Bosnian and Croatian food are the only proper food :3

[–] Carlo_io@feddit.it 7 points 2 weeks ago

I confirm. Source: I'm Italian:):):)

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