No canoli in italy!!!!?

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Pinguino

OK, I'm Italian, I live in Italy and have realtives and friends from North to South :)

Garlic bread: nobody in Italy eat garlic bread. The closer is a bruschetta with some garlic over it.
Parmesan cheese: well, actually you can easily find Parmigiano (Parmigiano Reggiano) and/or Grana (Grana Padano) at your table, in restaurants and in private homes, but it's not mandatory :) Just ask for it.

Cannoli: somebody else correctly said you about regional traditions; so it's easier to find them in Sicily, but not so difficult to find them in other Regions; simply, since there are literally hundreds of different kinds of food, local recipes are easier to find. Of course a restaurants can only offer a limited range of desserts at a time.

But after all you're absolutely right: true Italian cookery and Italian-American cookery *are* different! Italian is more simple, a lot less garlic (if any!) and just some recipes from some Southern Regions are actually spicy.
And I don't even want to talk about a *real* pizza... :)

Genius Cook

This is a very good question... and with more time on hand I could go on forever. I grew up in Italian neighborhoods in the NY metro area.... and I've had hands on relations with Italy for nearly half my life.

* You will find cannoli in Italy... generally during the cooler months. In the cooler months because it's made with ricotta cheese.... and ricotta spoils in the heat. Furthermore - cannoli is a southern desert and mainly Sicilian. This means that you're not going to find good (and genuine) ones in Milan or Pisa or Venice.
* Grated cheese on the table - if you ask for it (at any restaurant) they'll bring it to the table. They'll also bring the hot pepper and some even the red hot oil.
* Garlic bread - and I love the one my mom used to prepare growing up the NY metro area. I've been in and out and around Italy for nearly 30 years and have never seen it served / offered in the restaurants.
* Finally - YES, your observation is very correct. Italo-American food is different than what is made and served in the "old country". To begin with the restaurant portions are smaller in Italy. The pasta sauces are lighter - not as thick and lesss complicated - than the ones made by the Italo-American grandmas and moms.

conley39

There is not only one Italian cuisine; Italian food is regional - each area, and in some cases individual towns, have their own specialties. Cannoli are Sicilian. You can commonly find them during festivals when there's a booth set up with Sicilian foods or year round in some pasticerrias - for example, there are a couple of places along the Grand Canal in Venezia. In the town where I live, the super market always has the shells and sometimes has prepared canoli.

Martha Y

In Italy they give you bread only if you ask for it and no they don't have the bread like In the States- and in the only city In Italy I have the pleasure of eating Cannoli was in
Sicilia and the were super good

Mari76

WTF!?! Cannoli are typical Sicialian desserts....you'll find plenty in Sicily. Actually, you can even find them in other Italian cities...all you have to do is go to the Sicilian stores. Parmesan cheese is called "parmigiano reggiano" and is a typical cheese of Reggio Emilia-Parma-Modena and parts of Bologna. It's very famous in Italy. Where have you been in Italy???? I've been living here 8 years and have eaten them plenty of times.

itcowboy2001

Am italian, live in Florence.. i was in the USA 7 times.. In Usa the italians recipes are not the original many times.. An example: fettuccine alfredo DO NOT EXIST, was an american that invent it.. IN Italy u never meet the alfredos fettuccine ... Cannoli (2 N) are more tipical of the south, Sicicly, but u can find it in some bars of the peninsula . If u want parmesan, ask to the waiters, simple. When i was there the parmes (many times) wasn t original parmes..The parmesan is ONLY "parmigiano reggiano", in NY have seen it (the original) in the Dean & De Luca shop.. In Florida in a Wal Mart. But if u read: parmesan don t buy it.. Buy and eat only the original. Am from Florence, and here a lots of TRATTORIAs sell lasagne, cannelloni, ecc ecc.Garlic bread do NOT exist.. But in Italy are 234 different tipes of bread..Am from Tuscany and here the bread is without salt... Hope to see u here in a trattoria or a restaurant to join the genuine italian cusine. PS sorry for my english.

ontheroadagainwithoutyou

Yes, the food in Italia is different from what Americans pass off as Italian food. Also, in Italy each region has its own foods and ways of preparation, so a lot depends on where in Italy you are as to what kind of food you will find. As for Cannoli-that is a Sicilian food. Garlic Bread is American. Ask for the cheese. In general, open yourself up to Italy and do not look for America food there. The food in Italy makes your mouth and taste buds want to dance with joy!

Anita C

History of Italy has been complex: until 1600 and beyond it has been uniform city for city. Conquered from north and south, therefore that every city has its dialect, its dishes, its lifestyle. I think that is beautiful here for this, also to little kilometers finds always new things !
Cannoli are from Sicily. Parmesan is from north Italy. Advice: if it buys a piece of Parmesan, watches the crust. If he is much thin one, means that not seasoned but it is cooked. For having an optimal Parmesan the crust must be large!
Ciao! ( I'm italian)

smilies1998

They have canolis all over Italy i live here I eat them all the time but they are a special desert so you dont always have them and they are a little different from the USA ones. Some places have garlic bread but not many thats an american thing like Italian beef, Italian sauage, etc. They have parmesaan cheese but you have to ask for it they dont just leave it on the table because its always freshly grated.

Alex CJ

I only had garlic bread in the states (never had it in italy)

Cannoli are a typical from sicily, in any other regions will be hard to find it (at least good ones).
Parmesan cheese on the table: ony if the type of pasta need it (only some souces need parmigiano).

Yes italian-american food is diffrent. I'm italian and when I travel to the states I found very intresting what italin/american restourants invented over there and served to you as Italian dish.

ciao
Alessandro

M U N C H

What is Canoli? i'm italian, and in italian vocabulary doesn't exist that word THEY ARE CANNOLI, with 2 N

Italian-American food aren't italian food, mediterranean diet has never arrived in America, you can see the differences about italian people that lives in italy and italian americans,
the second ones are generally fat, instead in italy obesity is not spread, due to the health italian cuisine, that in America doesn't exist, except in some fine expensive restaurant, where work italian chefs

ang4786

absolutely! tomato sauce really originated in Greece or somewhere like that. Americans have altered all types of foods from a lot of other countries.

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