"You guys are falling into the romantic Italy trap—breakfast here typically consists of a few cookies dipped in caffè latte, or a brioche or cornetto at the local bar on the way to work. Here in Central Italy, people are seriously into pork and pork products. And no self-respecting Greek would eat low-fat yogurt. The overall message is good, but those details make me smile."
Writes Anthony Paonita of Perugia, commenting on the NYT article "The Mediterranean Diet Really Is That Good for You. Here’s Why. It has become the bedrock of virtuous eating. Experts answer common questions about how it leads to better health."
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Can't get through to read it, but some thoughts as someone who knows a bit about Italians and Italy...
The key, I think, is that outside of the cities, the food is much fresher. An Italian refrigerator is the size of a shoe box. They buy from the butcher or the baker or the farmer for that day and maybe the next.
They walk a lot. Little old ladies dressed in black tromp up and down steep steps every day to shop or go to church or to go to the main square.
Caffeine and wine...lots of both. And garlic and really good olive oil in copious amounts.
It's not so much a diet as just everyday life...
"You guys are falling into the romantic Italy trap"
If you're eating low carb, breakfast is perhaps the most difficult meal. We've taken to avocados, which we never used to eat, because it's a low-carb option. Don't give a flying fig whether Italians eat them or not.
I never really thought of avocados as Italian.
But then, I never really thought of them as edible, either.
Virtuous eating? Somehow morality has abandoned matters sexual (who are we to judge?) and moved to matters dietary.
Yeah sure. Italians don't eat meat. And only a bit of cheese.
Let me introduce you to Chef Dario Cecchini of Panzano, Tuscany. This is a steak!
Yeah, avocado toast is a traditional Mediterranean breakfast. Absolutely ridiculous.
When I hear most people talk about the "Mediterranean Diet", it is obvious few of them have ever actually been to any country on the Mediterranean.
Why isn't Pork "Romantic"? Italians make some of the greatest pork dishes in the world. And of course there's various cold cuts. If you don't know what they are, contact David Brooks.
I like the Greek Yogurt put out by FAGE - they started in Greece, but who knows who owns them now.
Mainstream contemporary Italian food: The land of white flour bread, white flour pasta, simple pizzas where pepperoni is unknown, gelato, cheese, and processed meats. Italian-American dishes -- to include US pizza and tiramisu -- are often better and have evolved into having greater complexity. US California Pizza Kitchen-like foods, as loaded with veggies and non-Italian toppings, are different dishes entirely. Italian pasta can be superior to US pasta because they don't put it out as huge mountains of noodles as a main course. They keep it small and are relatively generous with meat, fish, cream, cheese, etc.
Low-fat and non-fat yogurt are wrong in every way. The flavor is gone, the texture is akin to damp sawdust, and they don't digest well or at all. Eat the full fat versions of all dairy but stay away from sweetened dairy.
There is no such thing as virtuous eating. Unless you are sharing your food with someone who is poor and hasn't eaten.
Marcus B. THEOLDMAN
Who cares if it’s authentic? If I like it and it pleases me to think it brings me closer to some cafe in Tuscany, then so what if it’s a fantasy? Where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise.
I roll my eyes too at people who spend a lot of money on high quality Greek yogurt and then piss away the advantages by getting the low fat tub.
You know what are freaking delicious in Tuscany? The clementines! Steaks as "big as a terlet seat", as Moe put in to his date in that one Simpsons episode, not kidding about the huge steaks. Delicious wines everywhere. Fried artichokes are also worth the calories.
If you are on an Italian kick, let me recommend the movie "Nine" on Netflix.
"This is a steak!"
Man, I'm glad I clicked on that.
What tcrosse said! Eating doesn't get to be virtuous -- or vicious, unless you are a cannibal.
He's just NYT-picking.
"your American fads are not good enough for our old traditions"
OK whatever.
No argument that Americans eat crap.
Eat more veg. Eat meat from small farms. Ditch the sugar.
Douse everything in good quality olive oil.
Somehow morality has abandoned matters sexual (who are we to judge?) and moved to matters dietary.
The two have always been intertwined. See also: Kellogg's Corn Flakes.
We recently returned from an epic 3-weeks in Italy trip. Christmas in rural Tuscany, then 10 days of cosmopolitan immersion with a lot of walking, husband claims 16000 steps a day as per his gadgetry. I gained 5 pounds. It was glorious.
"simple pizzas where pepperoni is unknown"
I tried one that had a cut up hotdog on it, rather than pepperoni, the toppings were watery. Lots of other things to try though, so that was that. And yeah, they have been eating wheat in that part of the world since at least the Bronze Age, ("Do they eat bread like we do?" - The Odyssey) and they seem to have adapted to it. It was the first time that I have tasted bread on a par with what my mother made outside of my childhood home. Don't eat it, more for me.
A diet of animal proteins and fats, baked carbohydrates, and green supplements.
Tim in Vermont says “If you are on an Italian kick, let me recommend the movie "Nine" on Netflix.
It’s on HBO - just found it. Thanks for the recommendation.
btw - my quote was not a quote from the link.
I suspect that no cultural diet is perfect. People will eat what tastes good and that is usually unhealthy. It's just that some cultures have more access to local, healthier foods.
Cool. My wife spent the first couple weeks of December in Perugia. Every day I'd get a picture of some amazing-looking meal. She is very health conscious, so she probably was eating healthy, but some of those things looked awesome. Most intriguing was the wild boar with some sort of gnocchi. I've got to get over there myself some day.
NB: Upscale restaurant business needs the latest fad foods and foreign foods to draw in their snob customer base. Give them a break. They will grow up someday.
Conan may have his own opinion, but the answer to the question "What is best in life?" is a porchetta sandwich, served piping hot, from the little mom-and-pop Italian grocery store the next town over from me. No avocados in sight. "Madonna mia!"
Temujin said..."Let me introduce you to Chef Dario Cecchini of Panzano, Tuscany. This is a steak!"
Great video. I couldn't help but notice that all of the butchers and cooks, including Chef Dario, were in pretty good shape, too.
"It’s on HBO" D'oh! That's. right, it's not on Netflix. I blame this damn flu!
Like all places there are multiple italy's. The rich north and the poor south. The land of semolina wheat for pasta vs the duram wheat. Fish vs meat. Of course every family needs that wheel of Parmigiano and has excellent tomatoes for sauces.
Don't forget the polenta, lovingly stirred by granddad for hours to ensure it is creamy.
P.S. Americans cannot get enough of moralty via food. We are wedded to this idea that what you put in your mouth to eat provides moral support and a path to enlightenment. I don't know who to blame, so I blame Thoreau.
"I never really thought of avocados as Italian.
But then, I never really thought of them as edible, either."
More for me.
Of course, avocados aren't originally Italian; they originated in central and south America.
But, then, so did tomatoes.
If you are on an Italian kick (since we're doing this), or a food kick or a movie kick (or all three), let me recommend Mid-August Lunch (not on Netflix, but it is on DVD and maybe some other on-demand or streaming service). The charming trailer (see link) for once doesn't oversell the picure -- if anything it undersells. A niche film, but this blog feels like the niche. If you liked Radio Days, My Dinner with Andre, Big Night (any or all of those), chances are good you will enjoy Lunch.
"Have you ever been to Spain?"
"Well, I've been to Madrid."
"Oh my dear. You haven't been to Spain!"
I am so tired of these more-authentic-than-thou ethnic people - black, Chinese, Oaxacan, Southern, whatever - who try to show what a poser you are by being a poser themselves. Yes. When foods come to another country - check out the Australian version of Chines food for example - they undergo some modification and are never quite authentic again. Deal with it.
Black people don't really care about brown-bag lunches. College Mexican-Americans get upset about sombreros, but Mexicans don't. Actual Vietnamese people don't care about your pronunciation of pho. I know more about being Swedish than you do. Why should you remotely care?
Second comment: "If you're eating low carb, breakfast is perhaps the most difficult meal."
That seems wrong to me, unless you're talking about all the delicious high-carb breakfast foods that are so hard to resist: pancakes, waffles, French toast, doughnuts, Danish pastry, toast with butter and marmalade, orange juice, coffee with plenty of cream and sugar . . . many would add various hot and cold cereals and hash-browns and McMuffins and their brethren.
However, there are a lot of very tasty breakfast foods that have near-zero carbs, as long as you don't put them on toast: 1. eggs cooked a dozen different ways, including omelets with various combinations of cheese, meat, and vegetables mixed in; 2. ham, bacon, sausage whether tubular or disc-shaped, Spam, and more exotic regional delicacies like liver pudding. Stick to these and black coffee and you will lose weight.
"However, there are a lot of very tasty breakfast foods that have near-zero carbs, as long as you don't put them on toast: 1. eggs cooked a dozen different ways, including omelets with various combinations of cheese, meat, and vegetables mixed in; 2. ham, bacon, sausage whether tubular or disc-shaped, Spam, and more exotic regional delicacies like liver pudding. Stick to these and black coffee and you will lose weight."
That's our breakfast. Every day (well, except the Spam and liver pudding). Tasty, but getting old.
My weight problem is it would be good for me to put on a few pounds. But it's hard to do on a low-carb diet.
Eat a lot of salmon at breakfast. Low-carb yogurt.
Ordered Mid-August Lunch. My favorite food film (on HBO) is Babette’s Feast (1987). Not Italian though.
Americans seem particularly vulnerable to diet marketing.
The marketing is so intense so as to prevent people from realizing that it is all bullshit.
Enjoy your high carb OR high fat meals in moderation.
Don't waste your time on stupid diet substances.
"Americans seem particularly vulnerable to diet marketing.
The marketing is so intense so as to prevent people from realizing that it is all bullshit.
Enjoy your high carb OR high fat meals in moderation."
I can take your advice, or I can look at my blood-glucose readings.
I think I'll do the later.
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