Genuine Italian Cooking

Gourmet Italian Food

Sometimes, you could be mislead into thinking that you know about Italian cuisine just because you eat at those Italian restaurants. Do you know that more than 90% of so-called Italian restaurants are not really authentic Italian restaurants? So all this time you could be eating at an Italian restaurant that does not really serve authentic Italian dishes. You have been eating so many Americanized Italian dishes that you do not really know how Italian spghetti really tastes like. But Italian cuisine is unique on its own, and you only need to know main qualities that make Italian dishes authentic to know if you are eating the real thing or not.

The first thing that you will need to evaluate is the flavor. Italian cuisine is famed for being simple. You can hardly find an Italian dish that explodes with too much flavor in your mouth. The American style of cooking is just too strong with too much spices and additives added to the dishes. However, Italian cuisine is all about the right balance of flavor and restraint. Even in the strong Italian dishes, there is still the element of balance that pervades in the entire flavor. Italian love to let the natural flavor of the ingredients just show through the entire dish and not hide them with different spices. The pasta sauce is always a great gauge of whether you are in a real Italian restaurant or not. For example when you order a dish like spaghettini ai frutti di mare, do you taste more of the the pasta sauce than the seafood? If so, you must be in the wrong place. Italians make sure that their tomato sauce is just there to complement the food and not to hide the original flavors of the pasta or the seafood. You should also try looking at the sauce and whether it sticks to the pasta since thta means that you're most likely eating homemade pasta. Homemade pastas are unlike dried pastas in that sauces stick to it a lot better. The wonderful thing about homemade pasta is that you do not get that heavy feeling after eating an entire dish and you do not feel bloated as well.

Even when baking cakes or other pastries, Italians always incorporate fruit zests and peels in the desserts. Sometimes they may add some fruit liquor but one thing that you will notice in Italian desserts is that they are taste light. The reason for the lightness is because Italians are not fans of adding to much sweeteners. Most of their recipes wont need heavy cream or margarine. The resulting dessert tastes uniquely that of its ingredients and isn't that sweet so that the flavor is retained.