Italian cuisine is one of the most renowned in the world, and its dishes are the guilty pleasure of many of them. The only problem is that we do not master the recipe for the most famous dishes as well as we think, and it is expatriate Italian chefs who say so. “Pizza, pasta, bread and salad dressing are the most poorly prepared dishes abroad says Sylvia Baldini, a chef who gained experience in Michelin-starred kitchens and now resides in the United States. She explains that the mistake made in general is to make the kitchen too complex, either by combining too many flavors, or by integrating a surplus of chemical products, and this is particularly the case for industrialists. It's these little details that help give Italian food a bad name, even though the Mediterranean diet is indeed one of the healthiest. Let’s start with the pasta:“I find that this is the dish where the most mistakes are made. They are either overcooked or undercooked, poorly seasoned and served with too many ingredients “, tells the chef to The Independent . We keep a light hand, therefore! And the same observation is made on the side of the pizza:the advice is not to overload it with meatballs or chicken; it is therefore necessary to carefully choose a light filling, favor a very thin dough and leave out the pineapple. That's clear!
The salad dressing should consist of good quality olive oil, vinegar, lemon for acidity, and coarse salt and pepper (forget vegetable oil and ready-made sauce at all costs) . Pesto should also be made homemade according to the cook, by crushing pine nuts, then adding basil leaves, salt and olive oil ("stores sell a stuffed version of garlic that I wouldn't serve to my worst enemy ", she says). Finally, regarding the dessert touch, “nobody should finish a meal with a cappuccino reserved for breakfast or a coffee break in the afternoon. An espresso is a better choice ". Marco Scire, a chef who has settled in the UK, shares his tips for another iconic dish from his home country, pasta Bolognese. “Although every Italian nonna and mamma has their own recipe, the bolo sauce should contain two types of meat, 75% beef and 25% pork, tomato puree, good quality red wine, fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme, and garlic and onion ". We are happy to know that! He recommends swapping the traditional spaghetti for pappardelle or tagliatelle, which retain the sauce better.
Last habit to break:put the pasta in cold water, because it removes the gluten, which is essential to give its taste to the sauce. Instead, we think of adding 2-3 spoons of boiled water to the concoction of the bolognese sauce, which will give it even more flavor. We hope that these opinions from experts who grew up in the pure Italian culinary tradition are useful to you (yes to us!), and above all buon appetito!
