Dear Americans🇺🇸! When/if you visit Italy, does it hurt you if we Italians express our love and admiration for our foods?

[astrophelle]

Just yesterday a American member on GaG exhibited hate talks to the me for no reason. This dude said that we Italians were overly arrogant and vindictive for we tell our foods (and fashion) are best. (yeah someone who share hateful paragraphs criticizes vindictiveness😹😹😹)

Whereas we Italians are not arrogant and rude. We are so friendly, cheerful nation plus we hospitable to tourists. But yeah it's true that we Italians hold a deep appreciation for our foods but our quotes "our foods are the best!" isn't arrogance or attempt to belittle other societies tbh. Its just a our desire to celebrate our foods in enjoyable way so I think that American weirdo friend confused a friendly conversation about food with a vendetta against their taste buds🤦‍♀️😹😹.

Anyway I didn't argue with this guy but in any case I want ponder essence of this curious incident. I've always believed that Americans are outgoing and open minded individuals, unafraid to interact with people from different cultures without taking offense and hurt easily. Perhaps have I misunderstood this aspect until now🤨?

Includi una didascalia per la tua immagine...

[DaveJord]

So, I am American, and I am Italian. My grandfather was 100% 3rd generation Italian, my father was 50% 4th generation. And according to my geology test I am 43% 5th generation American Italian. 18% Sicilian, and mix of Portugues and South French, with a splash of Swiss / German.

I lived 12 years in Italy as an American in Italy, with the US Military in Vicenza Italy.

I adored the foods and eating out in Italy. It was the most amazing years of my life. I wish all could have been so lucking to have similar experiences. The people, the culture was just so specular.

But it ruined me on all Italian food in America, what I mean by that is I have not been to a single Italian restaurant since returning to American in 2014. There just is no substitute for real authentic Italian food in America. And that made me strive to become a better cook myself!!!

Being Italian myself, living in America... I mean I am passionate person; I use my hands when I talk, I get loud when I get excited... Americans can find that as being aggressive, overbearing or excessive. But its honestly not, we Italians have a passion about living life, and we bring that passion into everything we do. Sure, I guess I can see how it can come off as being overbearing or assertive... but when we are happy, we are really happy, and when we are sad, we embrace the sandiness... but that is what it means to live a passionate emotionally fulfilling life. We are not going to hide how we feel, or repress our emotions, we turn that passion into fuel and allow ourselves to really and truly experience the frustration, anger, love and joy... because all things will pass in time, and we will still be Italians.

That is what it means to be a true Latin. We put great value on the little things, and embrace those joys, and live those joys by the moment and through the experiences.

[BCA6010]

I've said many times that Venice is the single most overrated tourist destination in Europe that I've been to, and I stand by that. The Italians in that area were a far cry from basically every other European demographic I've ever dealt with in terms of general friendliness, with the sole exception of Greece- even then, that was more because of the rampant drug problems at least at the time.

Now that said, I haven't been there yet, but I've unanimously heard that Florence and Rome as well as the Tuscan countryside are much better in that respect. The Italian populations I've talked to in Switzerland, Germany, and the US have all been much more friendly than the Venetians too.

[KostasKouvalis]

That's funny because I actually had a completely different impression of Venice. It was ROME I found to be extremely trashy, rude and overrated. So many liars, robbers and con artists. I've felt bad things about Florance.

Greeks were absolutely wonderful, but I only went to the north and this was back in 2011.

[DaveJord]

@KostasKouvalis Naples is trashy.

@BCA6010 Venice is just largely over crowed, and local people that have lived there for generations are facing some serious challenges. Global warming to economic pressures... the best time to go to Venezia is October to November or February to March... tour traffic is significantly reduced. Go and actually explore the city and avoid some of the most popular locations and you will find lots of small and quaint shops, restaurants and bars. But if you stick to the main areas, yeah, they get slammed with tourist and they want you to keep moving. Do not waste their time looking, if you are not there to buy then keep moving, because the shops are small, and their time is money.

[ShellyB]

I didn't see the conversation you are talking about, is it possible he was joking or just trying to take up for his country in a playful way? I don't think Americans in general think of Italians as being too proud of their food, most Americans would agree that Italy has great food. I have been to Italy and I def. agree with that! As for general politeness tho, I will say that there is a very different concept of how to talk with women in Italy than in the U. S., meaning, cat calls are super common in Italy, at least where I was. In the U. S. while that is possible, it is rare and would mainly be associated with bad neighborhoods vs in Italy it seems v. common. However I think that's just a cultural difference, I don't think it's because people are more rude across the board. JMO!

[KostasKouvalis]

I wasn't joking. She completely twisted the whole context on the conversation. Though I meant everything I said, I told her I would've kept my mouth shut had she not posted ignorant shit about French people. She even asked me if I had a bad experience with Italians, and I told her I did with Romans.

I just felt she shouldn't be talking shit about the French, when no one is more arrogant than Italians.

[astrophelle]

@KostasKouvalis My grandfather runs a restaurant that tourists often visit & French tourists stubbornly speak French when ordering and when a new customer comes they start speaking French louder, they do same thing in subway where they should be quiet. They're constantly trying to make it everyone know they're French and I said doing so made them look cringe and ignorant🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️. Then you wrote insults and instead of apologizing you said I shouldn't talk about French like that lmao wow dude French are not a noble race anyone can criticize them and you can't just insult those who are not in love with the French like you. Anyway I didn't ask question for you I just was wondering if most Americans are like that cuz I very love American tourist in general.

[saffoler]

Nope, Italian food is delicious. If I ever visit Italy it would be for the food.

[KostasKouvalis]

Am I the only one who thinks authentic Italian food in Italy is garbage? ↗

[saffoler]

Don't know, I have never been to Italy; but I imagine that it probably depends upon the restaurants you go to.

[Friendlybro79]

I'm American with Italian heritage. My grandfather came here when he was a young adult. I've been to Italy only a few times, but I would agree Italians aren't rude. It's not arrogant to love and take pride in your culture. I'll say it because I'm American. Half of Americans don't know how to eat properly lol. I can't speak for the person you are referring to but if he thinks McDonalds is the best food ever... I wouldn't be surprised. The reality is Italians should be proud of their food because they take care of their land and sea better, eat with locally grown foods, understand nutrition and digestion better than most. What's our life expectancy against Italians? 77 in US and 82 in Italy. That's a huge difference and I bet a lot has to do with diet. It's not being arrogant or cocky if you can back it up! Don't sweat the angry American. Fyi we're not all like that.

[KostasKouvalis]

You think THIS is good?
Am I the only one who thinks authentic Italian food in Italy is garbage? ↗

[Friendlybro79]

@KostasKouvalis I suppose you can find bad food anywhere but that's not anything like I've seen in Italy. That's not authentic lol. Chicken Alfredo isn't an Italian dish. Italian American created things you wouldn't see in Italy. You don't have to like Italian food but what kind of food do you like? I love a lot of other cuisines as well.

[astrophelle]

@KostasKouvalis You super insulted us in my opinion that I called the French arrogant but you are posting insulting posts about Italians lmaoo dude you are incredibly two faced🤷‍♀️

[monorprise]

If Italians didn't like their food and country they wouldn't have it. And those visiting wouldn't be advised to take it either.

Americans are loud, rude, and outspoken by nature for competitive reasons, you should remember such comments come from a place of trying to out compete you, and respond in kind that your food is wonderful.

This is how Americans sell themselfs and their ideas, and on the internet even trash talk.

Most of the world knows Italy has some of the best food there is.

[KostasKouvalis]

Does THIS look the "best food" to you?

Am I the only one who thinks authentic Italian food in Italy is garbage? ↗

[KostasKouvalis]

*sigh

I literally told you the reason was because you were saying ignorant shit about French people.

And there was no "friendly conversation" about food. You completely twisted everything I said.

And it's not love and admiration, it's pure boastfulness. Eric Ripert could cook you a juicy steak and Mario Batali could cook you a piece of shit, and you'd say the shit tastes better just because an ITALIAN cooked it.

I told one of our tour guides our pizzas are better, and her demeanour changed so quickly.

Italian food is so boring

"Whereas we Italians are not arrogant and rude. "

LMFAO! You literally did not read a word I said, did you?

[KostasKouvalis]

Here: THIS is what she said about French people

"Frenchs; I have never seen them as real Europeans and they are very arrogant which makes them seem ignorant. Plus when they go to other countries, it is very cringe that they try to show that they are French by speaking French loudly."

Funny thing is, she's describing ITALIANS

[KostasKouvalis]

Okay, maybe not the part about going to other countries. Italians are too poor for that, and why travel when they live in the greatest country on earth according to them.

[KostasKouvalis]

That "friendly conversation about food" consisted of our guide scolding people who put pineapple on a pizza, when they put FRENCH FRIES on pizzas!

And no it doesn't "hurt". It's just annoying as fuck.

[alice55]

She hate French but when she described Italian I was like wow sound exactly like French people, French are also extremely proud of their food and culture.
Too the speak loudly must be a joke considering Italian are literally the loudest European and they put Italian words every two words they talk (when they speak in French) making them extremely hard to understand.
Too I find American bolognese ways tastier than the Italian version. Some italian food are extremely good but most consist of boring food because Italy has an history of being an extremely poor countries (unlike France who has always been a rich one).
I mean most of their dishes consist of pasta with vegetable and nearly no meat in the south. There's even one that is just olive oil and garlic...

[KostasKouvalis]

@alice55 French people don't boast about it though or rub it in other people's faces.
Yes, EXACTLY! Everyone in the U. S. always jokes about how loud Italians are, and the Italian New Yorkers are always so loud.
LOL
Yeah, a lot of foreign versions of food taste better then the originals.
Yes, EXACTLY! Thank you! It IS boring! Their dishes have almost no meat and they act like that's a good thing. You're right that it's "poor man's food". I don't know what they're so proud of, and why people praise Italian food so much

[alice55]

They don't, they just talk about it.
True, they're more interesting and there's also a twist to it making original.
People love Italians cause they love the foreign version of it, the fattier one and they only love the dishes with meat like bolognese, carbonara and milanese veal. All the others they mostly don't know about. The traditional pizza is just tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese with some basil or anchois. Literally nobody eat those version in France they all just eat the French version of pizza with load of cheese and meat.

[KostasKouvalis]

@alice55 They love Italian food in Italy though. But the funny thing is that none of the people I'VE talked to, loved it.
But it's about much more than just the food.
I didn't even see such dishes there.
EXACTLY! Cheap poor man's food. And that's something to be proud of?
EXACTLY! Here too. If someone went to a pizzeria in the States and was served a true Italian pizza, they would throw it out the window and demand a refund.
Have you seen those Napoli folded pizza? 🤮

I liked the pizzas in Venice, because they were closer to American pizzas, and you could find American style meat dishes in Venice.

Maybe some vegetarian would like it, but true Americans want meat. Italian food is vegetarian food.
But I don't buy that they're too poor to afford meat either, because Africans are poor and eat a ton of meat. I think they're just too lazy to prepare it.
But I know on Sardinia they eat lamb

[alice55]

It's food that is ok to eat but not something you particularly enjoy
Those dishes exist in Italy but they're dishes from the north of Italy and not often eaten cause they're rich people food, in France though those dishes are very popular (the French version of them only).
That's called Calzone, nothing special about it pretty annoying. Not popular in France.
For sure because there's nothing on it, it's mostly just tomato sauce and dough.

Venice is the north of Italy so richer area, there's also lots of polenta there instead of the pasta commonly used in the south.
Mostly yes if you want meat you need to go to the north.
There's a trends in Europe since many years ago that say that meat is unhealthy so it could be why.

[KostasKouvalis]

@alice55 Yeah. Yeah, I've noticed they eat more meat in the north and in Emilia Romana and a little bit on Sicily and Sardinia.
Yeah, I wanted to try a calzone, but I saw them in person and was like, "What the hell is this?"
EXACTLY.

You can find meat in the markets, but it's rare in the restaurants
Italiana always complain that Americans think Italian food is just pizza and pasta, but aside from sea food, I literally saw nothing but pizza and pasta in the restaurants.

Really? I don't know what bozo came up with that

[astrophelle]

WOW you are still defending yourself even though you are 100% wrong, you are incredible. Anyway if I wanted to argue with you, I would have discussed it that day but I'm sharing it again for those who are curious about the truth.

“ My grandfather runs a restaurant that tourists often visit & French tourists stubbornly speak French when ordering and when a new customer comes they start speaking French louder, they do same thing in subway where they should be quiet. They're constantly trying to make it everyone know they're French and I said doing so made them look cringe and ignorant. Then you wrote insults and instead of apologizing you said I shouldn't talk about French like that lmao wow dude French are not a noble race anyone can criticize them and you can't just insult those who are not in love with the French like you. Anyway I didn't ask question for you I just was wondering if most Americans are like that cuz I very love American tourist in general”

[loveslongnails]

Italy has so many regions with such a wide variety of foods and preparations. I've been all over the country except to the coastal islands, and everywhere I went, there was fantastic food to be found at a great price.

That said, they do a lot of things differently than wherever you come from. Sandwiches for instance, are very different from those in the USA, France, England, Scandinavia or Australia. They're different, but they're not bad.

Once you've had really good Italian food in Italy, you can't find it anywhere else. It's the ingredients, the freshness, the terra. You can bring the recipes with you, but you can't bring the fresh ingredients grown regionally that embody all the taste.

As for hospitality, big cities are the same everywhere. The deeper you go into the Italian countryside, the friendlier the people are. They even like Americans, and the Brits, and will tolerate the Germans and Austrians!

[Jersey2]

I have been to 50 countries or so and all 7 continents… Italy is my favorite, my wife’s as well. I love the food, the culture the fashion. I know the best tanned leather comes from Italy. We love Rome and much more. So people will like other things but Italy is very popular with Americans and many others.

[abc3643]

No, it hurts me when I go there and become a victim of identity theft like what happened to me in the summer of 2007.

[astrophelle]

Aww this is very bad🤦‍♀️

[Andres77]

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being proud of who you are and where you come from and your culture and foods. I apologize on behalf of the Baffoon. He makes the rest of us look bad.

[Andres77]

And you don’t deserve to be treated like that

[Andres77]

Each of my daughters wants to take an “epic trip” with me. Younger daughter picked Italy. After she’s out of high school or the next year. Very excited about it. She’s doing research now.

[astrophelle]

Thanks and I dont have problem with him I was just wondering if I've been getting the Americans wrong all this time😹

[Andres77]

It’s just him (and a few others). Most of us are not jerks.

[AviatorTom]

I love Italian food. A while back, my SO and I were in Rome and found a restaurant that has the best carbonara we've ever tasted.

Feel free to love and admire Italian food... I'll do the same.

[MementoMori777]

Nope I can totally understand it 🍕🍝

[Avicenna]

Uh, you are aware that Italian cuisine is very popular in the US, right? Now, people in the US don't fully realize how much sausage Italians eat.

[KostasKouvalis]

LOL. You're incredibly ignorant if you believe American Italian food is the same as real Italian food.
My Cape Town friend said the Italian food there is better too.

Am I the only one who thinks authentic Italian food in Italy is garbage? ↗

[Avicenna]

@KostasKouvalis: Kind of missing the point with that strawman, aren't you? Having had an Italian girlfriend and spending a lot of time there, I'm pretty well aware that it's better there (unsurprisingly).
But that obviously isn't the crux of the matter, is it? The issue is whether or not Americans have a problem with Italians having pride in their cuisine (s). My point was that they don't.

[Grond21]

No, you understand our attitudes correctly. You just found the exception unfortunately

[Dargil]

I am Irish and we have no food culture at all. I love Italian Food.

[Snakeyes7]

Unless they are morons, I don't know why anyone would behave like that.

[BLP11520]

No why would it?

[Iron_Man]

No lol