Top chef reveals you should NEVER serve meatballs with spaghetti if you want to..

[wvwvw]

Top chef reveals you should NEVER serve meatballs with spaghetti if you want to cook authentic Italian cuisine (and it's actually an AMERICAN dish)
Italian chef Silvia Baldini revealed: 'Of course meatballs don't go on spaghetti'
Dish was actually an American invention and won't be found on menus in Italy
Italians serve their meatballs deep-fried as a snack or without pasta in a sauce
By Imogen Blake For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 10:33 BST, 31 May 2017 | UPDATED: 10:34 BST, 31 May 2017

Italian food is one of the most popular cuisines in the world, but some of the most well-known dishes may not be as authentic as we think.

Italian-American chef Silvia Baldini has revealed that one of the country's most famous dishes, spaghetti with meatballs, does not actually hail from Italy at all.

And the Connecticut chef, who won a series of Food Network's Chopped, says you should never serve the two together if you want to make authentic Italian food.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/05/31/10/40F5CD9100000578-4558078-image-a-1_1496222570882.jpg
American as apple pie: An Italian chef has revealed that meatballs and spaghetti should never be united if you want to serve authentic Italian food

Baldini, who trained in Michelin starred kitchens, made the revelation in an interview with the The Independent about the mistakes many people make when it comes to cooking Italian food.

As well as never having pasta as a side dish for meat, such as chicken with pasta, he said: 'And of course meatballs don’t go on spaghetti.'

This dish is well known the world over, and was perhaps most famously featured on Disney's 1955 film Lady and the Tramp.
But it doesn't appear on Italian menus, according to Baldini, except at restaurants which include it for tourists.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/05/31/10/40F5CD9800000578-4558078-image-a-2_1496222572998.jpg
The dish was famously featured as a typical Italian meal in this iconic scene from Disney's Lady and the Tramp (1955) - the song 'Bella Notte' was played in the background to emphasise the Italian connection
The dish is in fact an American invention, created by Italian-American immigrants.

However it is thought to have been inspired by Italian 'polpette' - small meatballs made from ground beef or veal.
These can be served in a way more familiar with UK and US diners, in tomato sauce, but always as a main dish and never with pasta. It's most commonly found in the south of Italy.

But the most common way of eating polpette in Italy is to eat them deep fried, much like croquettes, as a starter or snack without any sauce.

There are bigger meatballs in Italy, known as polpettone, and these are served in a rich tomato sauce as a main dish.
Italians are said to often use the leftover meat as a sandwich filling.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-4558078/Chef-says-NEVER-serve-meatballs-spaghetti.html#ixzz4iegSc9vY

[MissMischief]

Right on. No one eats that in Italy - it's pretty damn gross. Just like chicken Parmesan, garlic bread, fettuccine Alfredo, Italian salad dressing, spaghetti Bolognese, macaroni and cheese (yuck - nothing worse than overcooked, mushy pasta, drenched in a sea of cream and cheese) and all that crap that gets served in America.

[frankhammer]

Damn. My mind is blown. This means I've never tasted Italian food. You Americans, destroying everything, everywhere for everybody!

[SardiniaAtlantis]

Lmao it doesn't take a top chef to know this just ask literally any Italian alive. We eat spaghetti. We eat meatballs. But then together isn't a thing, meatballs are good by themselves. At most Calabrese people like to make tiny ones to put in a type of lasagna they call Sagne chine but that's a different thing.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

Right on. No one eats that in Italy - it's pretty damn gross. Just like chicken Parmesan, garlic bread, fettuccine Alfredo, Italian salad dressing, spaghetti Bolognese, macaroni and cheese (yuck - nothing worse than overcooked, mushy pasta, drenched in a sea of cream and cheese) and all that crap that gets served in America.
Schifezza totale. The worst thing is really all the short cuts and forozen/additives and not even salting the pasta water or melding it to what its going with they just slap crap on top of mushy unsalted pasta. The sad thing is Italian food is not rocket science its one of the most simple things. In all true beauty there is simplicity it's hard to fuck up if you know what you're doing but America has the thought process that says "If a little bit of cheese is good then a bunch of cheese is freat!!! If a little bit of pepper is good then MORE PEPPER!!!" "Why make it fresh when you can have it pre made?!"

A proposito se qualcuno mi vuole offrire salsa di "Alfredo" io lo spacco in culo! Non so chi sarebbe sto deficiente Alfredo ma non ho bisogno della sua "salsa speciale".

[frankhammer]

There are no Italians here in NZ or at least so few, that I'll never meet one. Sadly, everything listed in MM's post has been portrayed as Italian cuisine and still is today.


Lmao it doesn't take a top chef to know this just ask literally any Italian alive. We eat spaghetti. We eat meatballs. But then together isn't a thing, meatballs are good by themselves. At most Calabrese people like to make tiny ones to put in a type of lasagna they call Sagne chine but that's a different thing.

[crazyladybutterfly]

how are you supposed to eat meatballs with freaking spaghetti?

[Dandelion]

Italians have the misfortune of having their culinary traditions messed with in unsavoury ways.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

There are no Italians here in NZ or at least so few, that I'll never meet one. Sadly, everything listed in MM's post has been portrayed as Italian cuisine and still is today.

The other crap is Carbonara with creme in it. Carbonara is simple pancetta , egg, cheese, pepper that's it. Toast garlic in the oil first then cook the pancetta in fine but creme added it's not carbonara anymore. Other things are Cesar salad that was invented by an Italian Mexican in Mexico so not Italian actually but it's not a bad dish. Also the tomato sauce is often way too much just like the cheese and also way too sweet to an hnpleasant degree. Btw this thing of calling tomato sauce "marinara" it's nonsense it's 'sugo' or if your from Naples 'pummarol' but marinara is a specific type like arrabbiata is.

[Oneeye]

This is a travesty. Keep pasta and meat and sauce segregated.

[Shah-Jehan]

Lot of this Americanized foreign cuisine is often hated, but its still really damn good most of the time.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

This is a travesty. Keep pasta and meat and sauce segregated.

The only time for pasta with meat other is ragù. And ragù is not something you buy premade at the store in a jar like in the US that's another disgusting defamation to Italian food.

[zhaoyun]

Spaghetti and Meatballs are fucking great. IDK what you guys are going on about. It was about damn time the two were introduced.

[crazyladybutterfly]

The only time for pasta with meat other is ragù. And ragù is not something you buy premade at the store in a jar like in the US that's another disgusting defamation to Italian food.

you find premade ragù in italy too

[SardiniaAtlantis]

Lot of this Americanized foreign cuisine is often hated, but its still really damn good most of the time.

Believe me you have a real simple spaghetti al pomodoro the right way not over cooked salted water, sauce made simple with good tomatoes and fresh basil some garlic and pecorino because I prefer it to parmigiano being Sardinian, and the pasta finished off tossed in the sauce so it can combine perfectly you will enjoy it far more than the mushy no salt oiled pasta that is slapped with sauce on top there is no way that technically unsound way of doing it can give you as much flavor and as good a flavor as the right way. Italian food in all its regions has been perfected for centuries Americanization doesn't make it better.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

you find premade ragù in italy too

Yes I know but believe me it is t what they call Ragù here in the US.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51tMICJ0YKL.jpg this is what Americans think of when you say ragù. Non contiene carne di qualsiasi forma, e ti assicuro che fa schifo.

[Dandelion]

Italians are purists though. Only their way is correct, whereas in actuality ideas got adapted and altered.

Here is an Italian about pizzas.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWDwAuO-CdI

And he's saying Italians to calm down because he sees Italian comments on every video on American pizzas. He carefully avoided the dreaded Hawaiian pizza, however. Making me wonder (I haven't checked) without Italians freaking out on any other pizza than the pineapple pizza is a myth. Probably is.

[Shah-Jehan]

Believe me you have a real simple spaghetti al pomodoro the right way not over cooked salted water, sauce made simple with good tomatoes and fresh basil some garlic and pecorino because I prefer it to parmigiano being Sardinian, and the pasta finished off tossed in the sauce so it can combine perfectly you will enjoy it far more than the mushy no salt oiled pasta that is slapped with sauce on top there is no way that technically unsound way of doing it can give you as much flavor and as good a flavor as the right way. Italian food in all its regions has been perfected for centuries Americanization doesn't make it better.

Obviously, both the authentic and localized versions have their own kind of tastes and are both good in their own ways, but the authentic version is probably more expensive and harder to prepare, while the localized versions are cheap and rather simple to make. You need specialty chefs to make that kind of Italian gourmet cuisine.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

Americans once again improving on foreign dishes.

#America#1

[Desperado]

lol eat what you want

[Dandelion]

Americans once again improving on foreign dishes.

#America#1

Yep. Your people tasted the Italian cuisine and thought by yourselves 'not bad, but what a pity' and then added your own flavours. ;)

[crazyladybutterfly]

Yes I know but believe me it is t what they call Ragù here in the US.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51tMICJ0YKL.jpg this is what Americans think of when you say ragù. Non contiene carne di qualsiasi forma, e ti assicuro che fa schifo.

looooooooooooooooooooooool che truffa

[Oneeye]

Spaghetti and Meatballs are fucking great. IDK what you guys are going on about. It was about damn time the two were introduced.


They bitch about American pizza too.


Is nothing sacred? What's the next "nope" on the table, lasagna?

[Kamal900]

They bitch about American pizza too.


Is nothing sacred? What's the next "nope" on the table, lasagna?

I actually like the American Pizza than the Italian one. The Italian Pizza looks and tastes like Manakesh to me.

[TenaciousTopologist]

mainstream italian american cuisine is like the lunchables edition of italian cuisine.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

Obviously, both the authentic and localized versions have their own kind of tastes and are both good in their own ways, but the authentic version is probably more expensive and harder to prepare, while the localized versions are cheap and rather simple to make. You need specialty chefs to make that kind of Italian gourmet cuisine.
Incorrect again Italian food is simple. good ingredients, good balance, good method that's it. It's actually Most of the time cheaper, and faster.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

I actually like the American Pizza than the Italian one. The Italian Pizza looks and tastes like Manakesh to me.

Manaeesh is a form of pizza it's a Mediterranean product.

[Oneeye]

Make Pasta Great Again

[Kamal900]

Manaeesh is a form of pizza it's a Mediterranean product.

I know, but my taste buds wanted something different, you know.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

looooooooooooooooooooooool che truffa

È un po' frustrante vivere qua ma almeno sappiamo cucinare ! ;)

[SardiniaAtlantis]

[QUOTE=Gilgamesh900;4442722]I know, but my taste buds wanted something different, you know

There is a good form of American pizza the New York/Connecticut style. Other than that that Dominos kind of crap is garbage.

[crazyladybutterfly]

È un po' frustrante vivere qua ma almeno sappiamo cucinare ! ;)

per mangiar bene il cibo lo devo ordinare , e costa un bel pò
nè io nè mia madre sappiamo cucinare :(

[zhaoyun]

[QUOTE=Gilgamesh900;4442722]I know, but my taste buds wanted something different, you know

There is a good form of American pizza the New York/Connecticut style. Other than that that Dominos kind of crap is garbage.

NY Pizza is the best. Although I like the fast food pizzas too.

[crazyladybutterfly]

[QUOTE=Gilgamesh900;4442722]I know, but my taste buds wanted something different, you know

There is a good form of American pizza the New York/Connecticut style. Other than that that Dominos kind of crap is garbage.

the good thing about dominos is that the "pasta" of the pizza is "croccante" , here it s too thin and "floscia" most of the time

[crazyladybutterfly]

marinara is the best pizza
what s your favorite?

[Vyasa]

Sardiniaatlantis likes butter chicken pizza

[SardiniaAtlantis]

per mangiar bene il cibo lo devo ordinare , e costa un bel pò
nè io nè mia madre sappiamo cucinare :(

Sa venite di qua vi preparo io qualcosa di bello oppure se passo dalle tue parti :) adoro il melanzane alla parmigiana e la pizza le faccio spesso. Grazie al mio suocero che è un pizzaiolo napoletano DOC direi che ho imparato bene :)

[SardiniaAtlantis]

[QUOTE=SardiniaAtlantis;4442732]

the good thing about dominos is that the "pasta" of the pizza is "croccante" , here it s too thin and "floscia" most of the time
That's why a good NY/Connecticut kind of pizza is best American pizza it's crispy and also has many of the qualities of a neapolitan pizza.

[crazyladybutterfly]

Sa venite di qua vi preparo io qualcosa di bello oppure se passo dalle tue parti :) adoro il melanzane alla parmigiana e la pizza le faccio spesso. Grazie al mio suocero che è un pizzaiolo napoletano DOC direi che ho imparato bene :)

vengo subito iun america , anzi mi ci trasferisco :D

[TenaciousTopologist]

[QUOTE=crazyladybutterfly;4442739]
That's why a good NY/Connecticut kind of pizza is best American pizza it's crispy and also has many of the qualities of a neapolitan pizza.

yee new haven (white clam) and brooklyn pizza.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

Sardiniaatlantis likes butter chicken pizza

Lol! ;)
https://preview.ibb.co/ihko0v/IMG_0528.jpg (https://ibb.co/ngxe7a)
where to post images (https://imgbb.com/)

https://preview.ibb.co/iSeFfv/IMG_0057.jpg (https://ibb.co/neYK7a)
image hosting website free (https://imgbb.com/)

These are my favorites made by me of course the classic Margherita and one I came up with sage asparagus and mushroom with pecorino and mozzarella. I also like rosemary potato pizza a lot.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

vengo subito iun america , anzi mi ci trasferisco :D

La mia moglie forse non accetterebbe...ma forse la posso convincere. :)

[Dandelion]

It was only when I started looking up about accurate Italian pizzas that I learned how uncomplicated they are. They still take skill to make, I'm sure, but Italian cuisine doesn't seem like French cuisine what complexity is concerned. At least Italian pizza isn't. That surprised me.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

It was only when I started looking up about accurate Italian pizzas that I learned how uncomplicated they are. They still take skill to make, I'm sure, but Italian cuisine doesn't seem like French cuisine what complexity is concerned. At least Italian pizza isn't. That surprised me.

The important thing is technique, and balance and quality of ingredients like all Italian food. Also for the dough you need to rest it at least a day.

[Kamal900]

Lol! ;)
https://preview.ibb.co/ihko0v/IMG_0528.jpg (https://ibb.co/ngxe7a)
where to post images (https://imgbb.com/)

https://preview.ibb.co/iSeFfv/IMG_0057.jpg (https://ibb.co/neYK7a)
image hosting website free (https://imgbb.com/)

These are my favorites made by me of course the classic Margherita and one I came up with sage asparagus and mushroom with pecorino and mozzarella. I also like rosemary potato pizza a lot.

It does look very similar to the Manakesh, especially the Levantine variety. In Palestine, we have our own "Pizza" as well. It's called Musakhan:
http://onionin.com/sites/default/files/recipes/musakhan.jpg

[SardiniaAtlantis]

It does look very similar to the Manakesh, especially the Levantine variety. In Palestine, we have our own "Pizza" as well. It's called Musakhan:
http://onionin.com/sites/default/files/recipes/musakhan.jpg

Without the whole bone in chicken the. It would be a form of pizza. Pizza Margherita was invented in Naples and a specific for of neapolitan pizza was established but Pizza itself is a very old very Mediterranean thing that has been around as long as wood fires ovens have been.

[Kamal900]

Without the whole bone in chicken the. It would be a form of pizza. Pizza Margherita was invented in Naples and a specific for of neapolitan pizza was established but Pizza itself is a very old very Mediterranean thing that has been around as long as wood fires ovens have been.

Yeah, like this:
http://yumgoggle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Palestinian-musakhan-taboon-bread-onions-sumac-chicken-whatsonthelist-494x740.jpg

Btw, which Mediterranean cuisine from the Arab world do you like the most?

[SardiniaAtlantis]

Yeah, like this:
http://yumgoggle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Palestinian-musakhan-taboon-bread-onions-sumac-chicken-whatsonthelist-494x740.jpg

Btw, which Mediterranean cuisine from the Arab world do you like the most?

Palestinian and from North Africa I love Moroccan food. As for Palestinian I love Kunnafah, mansaf, makloubah, and musakahn as you posted also of course hummus bi tahini and hummus bi lahme, and tabouleh.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

Btw this thread took a pizza dive but I must say I love focaccia probably as much as pizza.

[Svipdag]

How VERY true. Although the Italians have long had polpetti (meatballs) they have never combined them with pasta. This combination is as American as most forms of pizza except for the original tri-color Pizza Margarita. Also, most Americans are startled to learn that there is Italian cookery without tomatoes. The "Italian" cooking which most Americans know is that of the Bay of Naples, from which most Italian immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries came.

[Myanthropologies]

I don't care whether it's authentic or not, it tastes better lol.

[Oneeye]

I lole meatvalls and spaghetti without sauces

[MissMischief]

How VERY true. Although the Italians have long had polpetti (meatballs) they have never combined them with pasta. This combination is as American as most forms of pizza except for the original tri-color Pizza Margarita. Also, most Americans are startled to learn that there is Italian cookery without tomatoes. The "Italian" cooking which most Americans know is that of the Bay of Naples, from which most Italian immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries came.

POLPETTE

Bet no Yank can actually pronounce that word :p

[Dandelion]

POLPETTE

Bet no Yank can actually pronounce that word :p

Anglophones are linguistically retarded. Their incidence of dyslexia also seems a lot higher than ours (hence the inability of pronouncing phonetically spelled words). That being said, Longbowman (more a Briton than a Yank) is an exception. There always are exceptions. Well, as a Jew he probably studied Hebrew since his childhood, which does help. :p

[Sekarotuinen]

It does look very similar to the Manakesh, especially the Levantine variety. In Palestine, we have our own "Pizza" as well. It's called Musakhan:
http://onionin.com/sites/default/files/recipes/musakhan.jpg
Musakhan isnt just Levantine, it's probably the only dish popular outside Palestine that is totally Palestinian in origin.

Also, American Pizza is so much better than that Italian junk.

[Svipdag]

POLPETTE

Bet no Yank can actually pronounce that word :p

Paul-PET-Ay, and i'm a Connectiut Yankee

[Dick]

I lole meatvalls and spaghetti without sauces

I love the sauce that cums out of your meatballs.

[Svipdag]

POLPETTE

Bet no Yank can actually pronounce that word :p

YIPE ! I got the gender wrong. Una colpa grande, perdona, per favore.

[Atvend]

Two hands two utensils so a dish should never require more than that to eat. In which case, good luck swallowing those meatballs whole without something to cut. Or you can be an absolute barbarian and just bite on it (cringe). That's why they don't belong there, but of course, fucking Americans and their fetish for dumb food! The German engineering of foods except without the quality.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

POLPETTE

Bet no Yank can actually pronounce that word :p

Depends if I count as Yank or not. Non lo so neanch'io sono una persona che non si può classificare, definire, o duplicare. :)

[SardiniaAtlantis]

Musakhan isnt just Levantine, it's probably the only dish popular outside Palestine that is totally Palestinian in origin.

Also, American Pizza is so much better than that Italian junk.

Most popular Palestinian dish is Kunnafa.

[Sekarotuinen]

Most popular Palestinian dish is Kunnafa.
That's just general Levantine, not specifically Palestinian.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

That's just general Levantine, not specifically Palestinian.

It originated from Nablus in Palestine.

[Journeyman26]

There are no Italians here in NZ or at least so few, that I'll never meet one. Sadly, everything listed in MM's post has been portrayed as Italian cuisine and still is today.

agreed.. I mean mac and cheese i can see.. but I am pretty sure both Alfredo and bolognese sauce originated in Italy. Maybe served a little different in the US, but still. Though alfredo is pretty much just fettuccine al burro.

[Óttar]

POLPETTE

Bet no Yank can actually pronounce that word :p
Nonsense. Latinate pronunciation is not hard for anyone who has studied a Romance language. :coffee:

[Sekarotuinen]

It originated from Nablus in Palestine.
I have not heard of that before, but that's cool if it's true.

[Longbowman]

Synchs up with my experiences. My roommates in Italy used to make lots of polpetties and I would make a big batch of spaghetties al morbido to be helpful and try to pour it on top of the polpetteroes but they would try to stop me and push me away. Now I see where I was going wrong.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

agreed.. I mean mac and cheese i can see.. but I am pretty sure both Alfredo and bolognese sauce originated in Italy. Maybe served a little different in the US, but still. Though alfredo is pretty much just fettuccine al burro.

Ragù bolognese is very Italian but most regions have a typical ragu. "Alfredo sauce" is just based on pasta in bianco, which is like putting butter on toast something nobody goes crazy about but when some Americans tried it they went nuts over it and called it Alfredo then later added creme to it and the rest is history.

[SardiniaAtlantis]

Synchs up with my experiences. My roommates in Italy used to make lots of polpetties and I would make a big batch of spaghetties al morbido to be helpful and try to pour it on top of the polpetteroes but they would try to stop me and push me away. Now I see where I was going wrong.

Polpetties? Spaghetties? Ma dai tu parli l'italiano molto meglio di così. :D

[Longbowman]

Polpetties? Ma dai tu parli l'italiano molto meglio di così. :D

https://media.giphy.com/media/xUPGcvdelgloOjwuFG/giphy.gif

[eye45]

well, I mean it's true that spaghetti and meatballs is not a thing in Italy, but in Puglia where I lived for a long time when I was young, we often eat polpette/meatballs with tomato sauce and pasta grossa. really not that different from american spaghetti and meatballs. But anyway I still find spaghetti and meatballs amazing, no matter what any of my Italian friends say. I mean there are areas in Italy, where pasta grossa is eaten with meatballs and tomato sauce, like in Puglia. I also know in Calabria (told me by a few friends from there) they do occasionally eat pasta with polpette and tomato sauce. But I think it was a local thing only of certain areas in the south, certainly not a common thing.

And no, i'm not tlaking about pastal al forno, but actual pasta with polpette and tomato sauce:

http://www.piucucina.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/09467.jpg

Or even just orecchiette con le polpette; in puglia we generally fry first the meatballs, then mix them with tomato sauce and use it on pasta; this is a typical and common dish in Puglia:


http://cdn.cook.stbm.it/thumbnails/ricette/1/1606/hd750x421.jpg

http://blog.giallozafferano.it/incucinaconipazia/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/orecchiette-con-polpette-al-sugo.png

Is it really that different? For me not really.

[PixieDust]

I never eat meatballs with spaghetti. That just ruins the flavor.

[Wadaad]

am I the only one who thinks authentic Italian food sucks and I prefer NY style pizzas, creamy fettucine alfredo, etc?

[Drawing-slim]

Italian food is just so out of "style" for my taste right now.

[Vyasa]

am I the only one who thinks authentic Italian food sucks and I prefer NY style pizzas, creamy fettucine alfredo, etc?

Authentic food is probably healthier though.

[Isleño]

Lot of this Americanized foreign cuisine is often hated, but its still really damn good most of the time.

I agree. I've had some really good spaghetti and meatballs. I had an Italian-American friend and his grandmother made the best meatballs and spaghetti I've ever tasted. You literally had to get seconds it was so good. There's just lots of hate going on here because it's not actual Italian, but Italian-American, but that doesn't mean it's not good when you get some from someone that can cook it well. Italian immigrants in the US used whatever was on hand and whatever they had access to, and an Italian-American cuisine developed out of this.

[Isleño]

am I the only one who thinks authentic Italian food sucks and I prefer NY style pizzas, creamy fettucine alfredo, etc?

I actually like Italian-American food. There's some really good stuff out there.

[Wanderer]

Yeah, I recognize that spaghetti and meatball is Italian-American. What's wrong with that? What everyone seems to fail to understand is that Italian-American cuisine is not intended to be an imitation of what they eat in Italy. Italian-American cuisine is its own thing, and our foods are obviously widely popular among American society at large.

This guy can shove his "authentic Italian food" where the sun don't shine.

[Isleño]

Yeah, I recognize that spaghetti and meatball is Italian-American. What's wrong with that? What everyone seems to fail to understand is that Italian-American cuisine is not intended to be an imitation of what they eat in Italy. Italian-American cuisine is its own thing, and our foods are obviously widely popular among American society at large.

This guy can shove his "authentic Italian food" where the sun don't shine.Amen!

[Isleño]

well, I mean it's true that spaghetti and meatballs is not a thing in Italy, but in Puglia where I lived for a long time when I was young, we often eat polpette/meatballs with tomato sauce and pasta grossa. really not that different from american spaghetti and meatballs. But anyway I still find spaghetti and meatballs amazing, no matter what any of my Italian friends say. I mean there are areas in Italy, where pasta grossa is eaten with meatballs and tomato sauce, like in Puglia. I also know in Calabria (told me by a few friends from there) they do occasionally eat pasta with polpette and tomato sauce. But I think it was a local thing only of certain areas in the south, certainly not a common thing.

And no, i'm not tlaking about pastal al forno, but actual pasta with polpette and tomato sauce:

http://www.piucucina.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/09467.jpg

Or even just orecchiette con le polpette; in puglia we generally fry first the meatballs, then mix them with tomato sauce and use it on pasta; this is a typical and common dish in Puglia:


http://cdn.cook.stbm.it/thumbnails/ricette/1/1606/hd750x421.jpg

http://blog.giallozafferano.it/incucinaconipazia/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/orecchiette-con-polpette-al-sugo.png

Is it really that different? For me not really.
I was reading a food blog once about this subject and I came across someone from Sicily that said in a particular village in Sicily, they eat pasta with meatballs and marinara, very similar to the US version. I'm trying to find the name of the dish he called it.

[Isleño]

well, I mean it's true that spaghetti and meatballs is not a thing in Italy, but in Puglia where I lived for a long time when I was young, we often eat polpette/meatballs with tomato sauce and pasta grossa. really not that different from american spaghetti and meatballs. But anyway I still find spaghetti and meatballs amazing, no matter what any of my Italian friends say. I mean there are areas in Italy, where pasta grossa is eaten with meatballs and tomato sauce, like in Puglia. I also know in Calabria (told me by a few friends from there) they do occasionally eat pasta with polpette and tomato sauce. But I think it was a local thing only of certain areas in the south, certainly not a common thing.

And no, i'm not tlaking about pastal al forno, but actual pasta with polpette and tomato sauce:

http://www.piucucina.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/09467.jpg

Or even just orecchiette con le polpette; in puglia we generally fry first the meatballs, then mix them with tomato sauce and use it on pasta; this is a typical and common dish in Puglia:


http://cdn.cook.stbm.it/thumbnails/ricette/1/1606/hd750x421.jpg

http://blog.giallozafferano.it/incucinaconipazia/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/orecchiette-con-polpette-al-sugo.png

Is it really that different? For me not really.ok, I see it's called maccheroni della sposa in Sicily and there is another version called pasta seduta and maccheroni azzesse in Abruzzo and Puglia. These are the dishes a Sicilian guy commented on a food blog that resemble American spaghetti and meatballs.

[Svipdag]

Yes I know but believe me it is t what they call Ragù here in the US.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51tMICJ0YKL.jpg this is what Americans think of when you say ragù. Non contiene carne di qualsiasi forma, e ti assicuro che fa schifo.

Unfortunately, I don't think that the real thing is to be had here in the US. If it is, I've never seen it.