I like the way this guy works:
Ben Reid, from England, recently spent a few weeks on holiday around Italy and learned that many locals were quite specific about their food.
The English man was constantly chastised for making ‘adjustments’ to his meals – such as dipping his croissant in coffee, and pouring water into his espresso.
Ben eventually started ‘trolling’ strangers with bizarre acts.
However, the act that evoked the most condemnation was cutting spaghetti with scissors.
Two waiters actually went up to Ben and told him he ‘wasn’t allowed’ to consume his food like that.
‘You have to roll the pasta with your fork, you cannot cut it with scissors. People will think you’re an idiot,’ the waiter said, and then confiscated the scissors.
Brilliant. I’m just surprised he wasn’t scolded for not having a glass of wine with his dinner.
I do the same kind of thing in Chinese restaurants by using a fork instead of chopsticks. Let ’em sneer or roll their eyes, I don’t care.
Life imitates Seinfeld…
Wait… you mean that all of life is about nothing?
Pretty much.
Such cynicism in one so young… tsk tsk.
Some people are incredibly precious about their food. Sorry, their “dining experience”. Italians, apparently, would be aghast when I break the spaghetti in half so it will fit in the darn pot.
I guess you’re supposed to use a much bigger pot. AND always eat with a crowd, so you can cook larger batches of spaghetti in that big pot.
I no longer break spaghetti in half since my daughter bought me a spaghetti microwave cooker – an oval plastic dish that holds dry spaghetti the long way. Measure the spaghetti quantity, cover it with water, microwave about 10 minutes, and use the slotted lid to pour off the water. It’s great for making spaghetti for one or two without boiling a sea of water.
Italian cooking has always struck me as intended for feeding a crowd well on a limited budget. My naval brother-in-law had a story about getting pizza while on shore leave in Italy. He and his buddy found a little shop with outdoor tables and a “PIZZA” sign. There was a list that they couldn’t read but assumed was sizes. So they converted Lira to dollars and decided that “El Supremo” was about the right price for pizza for two hungry swabbies. The owner goggled a little, but took their money. When it came out, it covered the table and was so thick in toppings that it was like a bowl. They were hollering at passers-by, “You speak English? Come over here and have some pizza” until there was a pretty big party.
The sailor in RN uniform’s response was, “Yes, _I_ speak English. What are you speaking?” But he still enjoyed some pizza.
fix your food and eat it how you like. you’ll be judged appropriately by those around you.
I’m glad this guy is trolling the Italians. They take their food far too seriously at times.
JQ
I do not enjoy Italian meals. I like a lot of Italian dishes, but they seem incapable of combining them into a reasonable meal. Every one of the multiple courses is too big and too slow arriving.
I did find one place in Florence that advertised “one plate meals”, or something similar, and in English too. You could order appetizers and deserts but the main course was a starch, a meat and vegetables or a salad.
While my family was stationed in Germany in the mid-’80s, my grandparents flew over from the States one summer and we all got on a bus headed to Italy for a tour. Had quite a bit of fun, other than the upstairs of the double-decker bus being a bit warm due to inadequate A/C, but the food started getting old a few days in. I think it was in Sorrento that we tracked down a joint with a German-tourist menu and ordered from that, just to have a break from pasta and red sauces.
I had a friend who had to go to Italy for a while for business. He was expecting a lot of pasta and whatnot but it was extreme north Italy and everyone spoke German and the food was all Wurst and Schnitzel and so forth, which he liked fine but he was not expecting. Kind of funny.
I liked the Italian food when I was there and don’t remember anyone being snooty about it. I was in Sicily though so maybe different.