Hi everyone, from Rome

[siduri]

Hi everyone.
I think i started posting in the wrong place, just found where it says to post your first post here.
I come from the states, but i live in rome, italy. Been here over 30 years. I do alot of cooking, make everything from scratch, and have learned both a lot of italian cooking since i got here, but also how to make many things i miss from the states that most people don;t make at home - lots of bread (i like sweetish whole grain breads to toast for breakfast), and stuff like bread and butter pickles, not to mention the usual baking stuff.,
I also learned a lot about italian food, which is quite different from italian american food (I'm italian american, so i know the difference).
Looking forward to getting and exchanging some recipes.
Oh, and i'm not a professional cook, i'm actually a psychologist, but i did make cakes once for a restaurant.

[Mezzaluna]

Ciao, Siduri. Dare il benvenuto al Discorso di Chef- uh, Welcome to Chef Talk!

Your story is fascinating. I know a chef who moved to Firenze over 20 years ago and started a cooking school there. Apparently there are many ex-pat Americans in Italy; I've "met" several at SlowTalk.com.

My husband and I visited Italy a few years ago and loved Rome. We spent only six days, but it was enough to whet our appetites for the city and its cuisine.

We hope you'll enjoy all the forums, cooking articles, recipes and cookbook reviews, too. Visit often to learn and share!

Regards,
Mezzaluna

[siduri]

grazie, Mezzaluna,
I could engage you in a long discourse on the cooking of Italy, or at least of rome. For twenty years here every single restaurant i ever went into had exactly the same menu - a good menu, good basic food, good everyday home cooking based on healthy, fresh ingredients, but with no individual creativity or initiative. This is changing a little, but for a long time most italians i knew would not eat or even try something that wasn't something they grew up eating. I still know people who go to London and take a suitcase full of food, but not, as you would imagine, the things you can;t find there, like fresh locally -grown produce, but stuff like pasta and cans of tuna fish.
I also was always depressed by the presentation. And thoguh i never could afford the higher level restaurants, i think it's really unacceptable for even a moderately-priced restaurant that when you order a piece of meat - whether abbacchio scottadito or coda alla vaccinara - you get just that, a piece of meat, on a plate, with nothing, nto even a piece of parsley, next to it, so that no matter how good it is, it seems like there is something missing.
So my experience of italian cooking has been mixed, a good, even excellent, basic cuisine, healthy, fresh, and tasty, but a big lack of creativity.
Most expats i know, no matter the background, cook italian. It's easy to cook well here, just take any tomatoes, cut a piece of garlic, toss it in oil and fry a minute, throw the tomatoes in, and you have excellent sauce. I was amazed that that's how most people make their everyday tomato sauce. The ingredients are so good, you don;t have to do any extra work to make them taste good. But when i eat out, i want something i can;t make at home, or don;t feel like making. I don;t want the same simple stuff i can make in five minutes.

And let's not get into the sandwiches...

anyway, i have a large repertory of good recipes i've gathered over the years, and hope to contribute some here.
grazie del benvenuto,
a presto
siduri