Genuine Italian Cooking

Gourmet Italian Food

Dining in restaurants with Italian names does not immediately make you an expert in Italian cuisine. This is because more than 90% of Italian restaurants really do not pass as genuine. You may be eating at an Italian restaurant but reality is that you are not eating real Italian dishes. You may not even be able to tell gourmet Italian food from plain fast food spaghetti. But if you have a discerning palette that is attuned to the inherent flavors of Italian cuisine, then you will be able to taste which really is which.

You will have to take note of the flavor first. Italian cuisine is famed for being simple. Don't expect to try an Italian dish that overpowers your palette. The American style of cooking is just too strong with too much spices and additives added to the dishes. But you should know that Italian cuisine is striking the right balance between flavor and restraint. Of course there are some Italian dishes that are quite robust but they never have unnecessary flavor added to them. Italian cuisine is all about letting the delicate and subtle flavors of the ingredients just shine through and not hide them at all. You can always know if you are really in an original Italian restaurant by sampling their pasta sauce. 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. And if you notice that the sauce sticks to the pasta a lot better, you are likely to be eating homemade pasta. Homemade pastas are unlike dried pastas in that sauces stick to it a lot better. Eating homemade pasta is also a lot lighter on the stomach so you won't have that heavy feeling after finishing your meal.

You should also know how gourmet Italian desserts taste like since they are still a part of the menu. Italians are famed for mixing in different fruit zests and peels in their cakes and pastries. They may even add some fruit liquor in their desserts yet the taste will still be particularly 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. Like their savory counterparts, Italian desserts show the flavors of the ingredients and not just simple sweetening thing up.