Dining Guide / Italian Cuisine

Contrary to what has become the trend around the globe in recent years, in Thailand it's not the Italian cuisine which is the most widespread among the European cuisines but the French. This is surprising in so far as among all fine cuisines of the world the Italian is the one that appeals to the largest number of people.

French escargots, Spanish tripe, German sauerkraut, and Japanese raw fish are a matter of taste. Not everyone appreciates these delicacies. But hardly anyone would vehemently object to an offer of a plate of well prepared Spaghetti Bolognese or a pizza.

And there is one more aspect which should contribute to the popularity of Italian cuisine: among all fine cuisines the Italian is likely to be the most affordable.

The first associations almost everyone in the world has with Italian cuisine are noodles and pizza. In both cases, it's somehow a misconception. In the case of noodles the misconception is that they are originally Italian. They indeed are an integral part of Italian cooking but they weren't invented by the Italians but adopted from Chinese cuisine and introduced to Italy only by Marco Polo (1254-1324) of Venice who lived in China from 1275 to 1292.

As far as pizza is concerned: this dish is much less important to Italian cuisine in Italy than to Italian cuisine overseas; actually, pizza was developed into a full meal only in the US and Northern Europe; for the Italians, it's rather a evening snack. Particularly many Americans wouldn't like the original Italian pizza which primarily consists of a bread crust and has only few toppings.

Because pizzas are prepared best in big, preheated ovens, it is always advisable to eat pizzas in restaurants that specialize in pizzas. Not only do they have a larger selection of different toppings but waiting time is also considerably shorter.

More on noodles: particularly American English has adopted the Italian term pasta for noodle dishes of Italian origin. However, in Italian pasta just means dough whereas the Italian term for noodle dishes is minestre.

There are many kinds of noodles in Italian cuisine, and they vary in color and shape. Yellow noodles are made of a mixture of flour with eggs, green (verdi) noodles with spinach, and red (rossi) noodles with carrots or beets. The weight watcher may be interested in knowing that noodles made with spinach and carrots have fewer calories.

There is a wider variety in shapes than there is in colors. Aside from spaghetti and macaroni there are fettuccine (flat and wide), tagliatelle (also flat and even wider than fettuccine), penne (short tubular), rigate (also short tubular), vermicelli (thin and short), capellini (thin long spaghetti), anelli (rings), spirali (corkscrew shaped noodles), fusilli (a wavy round spaghetti), ravioli (envelopes of dough with meat inside), cannelloni (tubular noodles with a filling of meat and spinach), etc.

The curious reader and gourmet may question what the advantage is of all these different shapes, and in how far they vary in taste. An honest answer is that if they do not have a filling, all these different kinds of noodles do not taste differently - it's always the same dough (except in the case of spinach or carrot and beet noodles). The gain is just in eye appeal and for the playful Italian temper. Why should noodles look the same every day if they can look different?

The most common Italian noodles of course are spaghetti. As a dish they are prepared in many different ways. The most well-known way is as Bolognese (with a sauce of minced meat and tomatoes). Another popular way is carbonara (with beaten egg, cream, and small slices of bacon). They may also come al frutti di mare (with seafood in a tomato sauce), alla vongole (with clams), or al formaggi (with a light cheese sauce, made of milk and commonly up to four different cheeses). There are many more variations in the preparation of spaghetti, and many chefs have their own recipes. And of course all the spaghetti recipes apply to all the other differently shaped noodles as well - there are no such rules as that macaroni originally have to be prepared with cheese sauce, and fettuccine with seafood.

A unique Italian noodle dish is lasagne. These are wide stripes of pasta baked with a sauce of tomato, cheese, and meat.

In Italian cuisine, noodles are normally not a meal by themselves. In the order of a fine dinner, they are served in between the hors d'oeuvre and the main course. Because hors d'oeuvres come before the pasta dishes, the Italian name for hors d'oeuvre is antipasta, literally meaning nothing but "what comes before the pasta".

There is a wide variety of antipasta; but there are also two types of standard mixed plates of antipasta, the ordinary one that includes cold cuts, salami and slightly marinated vegetables in olive oil and vinegar, and the antipasta di mare that mainly consists of cold seafood with a few vegetables added.

Beyond these appetizers Italian cuisine is rich in exclusive hors d'oeuvres. Among them are many kinds of thinly sliced meats, often served in a marinate containing olive oil. The most famous of these thinly sliced meat dishes are Parma ham and carpaccio.

Parma ham is an air-dried ham originating in the region around the Northern Italian city of Parma. It's much milder in taste than most kinds of ham, and therefore it's suited to be eaten without bread. Actually, Parma ham is most commonly served with fruit - mostly with melon, but in tropical countries also with mango. For those who want to become experts in matters of Parma ham: the best is said to come from the town of San Daniele.

Carpaccio are thin slices of rare beef tenderloin marinated in olive oil, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. This dish is so popular in overseas Italian restaurants that it almost can be considered a fashion food.

Soup and salad are served after the antipasta but before the main course. They may come before or after the noodle dish. The most typical Italian soup is minestrone. It's a not-thickened soup with plenty of vegetables and noodles, mostly macaroni.

Salads are served with an Italian dressing, consisting of oil, vinegar, and herbs. Insalata cabrese is a tomato salad topped with Mozzarella cheese.

Italian main courses are generally meats. Among the meats, veal (vitello) is the most popular, followed by beef (bue), pork (maiale), chicken (pollo), and lamb (agnello). Meats are often spiced with two herbs with a strong flavor, rosemary and basil. A number of meat dishes use wine.