Italy or France: Which has the better cuisine?

Steve 41oo wrote:

kickycan wrote:
Steve 41oo wrote:
Why just France and Italy?

I'm sorry, I was unaware that every question on A2K had to be all-inclusive. Where does it say that in the TOS?
It doesnt. Just being argumentative. But what about Germany?

Oh good. I thought you were actually getting upset about this. I'm glad to see that you are just in an argumentative mood. I almost had you pegged as a loon there for a minute.

I've never been to Germany, so I can't say much about the food, but I hear they do magic when it comes to beer.

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So what am, chopped liverwurst?

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I like poutine.

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Steve 41oo wrote:

cjhsa wrote:
...The best cuisine in the world is cajun/creole...

no it isnt

The best cuisine in the world is what my mother used to cook

You never knew your mother was a Cajun?

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Mame wrote:

Having been to both countries and eaten & cooked both cuisines, I'd have to say they are equal for different reasons. One of the things the French do best is sauces, and to me, a great sauce can retrieve an otherwise bland meal (not that I've ever had a bland French meal). But their sauces are a work of art.

On the other hand, Veal Marsala, Osso Bucco, Italian pizzas (sans cheese!), and espresso are to die for. I love Italian, except for the pasta, which I find feh However, some of their pasta sauces are wonderful, redeeming the pasty dishes.

I don't like heavy food, so if you eat French food, you won't get that, as a rule. With Italian, I just order or eat less as I find their food to be extremely filling.

But they're both delicious.

Okay, that's my 2 cents' worth.

Yeah, but what about the cheese? The French cheeses can't possibly compare to the cheeses in Italy, eh? In that area, there can be no question...it's Italia all the way!

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Steve 41oo wrote:

Quote:
It is a frequent boast that London is the restaurant capital of the world. Today that is demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt. According to a panel of international experts more than one in five of the best restaurants in the world are in London. The jury of more than 500 chefs, critics and journalists voted for the 50 best restaurants in the world - and chose 11 from London. That is an increase of two on last year - even though this year's panel includes far more restaurateurs from abroad. Fourteen British restaurants made the top 50, one more than last year. Evening Standard - London

Yes, but they were all Indian restaurants!

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Setanta wrote:

I like poutine.

Is that some kind of Canadian thing? Do Canadians even have they're own cuisine?

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Italian food is just good everyday food - French cuisine is more refined,
more for Saturday nights and Sundays. German food is defty, and
best washed down with lots of beer. British food is best taken with Pepto Bismol and Mexican food might have a built in revenge...

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Defty? What the Hell is defty?

German cuisine is a painfully obvious oxymoron.

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Sorry typo - I meant hefty. German food is rather good, if you know
what to eat.

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I hate poutine and CJ's right about German food. You just have to take some time to figure out what's good and what's not.

I like the Pepto Bismal remark Smile

The only good food I ate in the UK was foreign! Laughing

As far as cheeses go, French have fantastic ones to eat with baguettes and whatnot, while Italians seem to have better cooking or grating ones. That's an over-simplification and I'm willing to be educated Smile

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I love poutine, and i don't have to rummage in a German larder to find anything edible. Italian cheese sucks.

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okay then! Smile

I just hate fattening, messy, sloppy food, which Poutine is to me. Plus, the whole combo - uh, fries & cheese and gravy?? ick Some cretins even add mayo to that mess.

Yeah, you like those squirty sausages? ick.

I once ordered a meatball and it turned out to be made out of liver. Yeah, nice.

You don't like Asagio, Fontina, Provolone, Gorgonzola?? Wow.

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That's right, i don't.

Hmmm . . . poutine and mayo [/i]and[/i] bangers . . . sounds like a winner to me.

Hey . . . i'm tryin' to pick a fight here . . . do you mind ? ! ? ! ?

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I figured as much and was just about to clout you on the side of the head with a hockey stick. Good thing you warned me.

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Mame wrote:

You don't like Asagio, Fontina, Provolone, Gorgonzola?? Wow.

Italian cheese is good, but you have to realize, Mame, that most
Americans eat US processed cheese that's called "Italian", and it's not
good.

Anyone whose gone to Italy, tasted Italian cheese, and doesn't like
it, doesn't know what's good. No need to talk further Wink

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I like both cuisines (oh, and many others, don't get me going). True, I've never been to France, but I follow food a bit and chefs a bit, Italian, French, or otherwise, and ordinary country food a bit. It would be hard for me to pick just one of these cuisines and stay away from the other.

I've read from time to time that sauces were made to cover the affect of meats of some questionable freshness. I certainly don't know if that is true.

Food in both countries can be elegant. I'm not very interested in manifest elegance for itself (so someone like Thomas Keller - American - loses me in the reading thereof). Italians have - it seems to me - freshness and deliciousness of the food materials as a primary consideration. Or did.

Both countries have wide regional variations.

I think I need to spend some months in France..

Meantime, I'll vote italian, it feeds my heart..

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I think this debate has been going on for centuries. In fact, I think it started back in the 16th century -- when Catherine de Medici left her native Italy to go France, where she married the heir to the French throne.

Catherine brought her Italian chefs along with her. Of course, the French royal family had their own chefs. It was "Italian chefs -- meet French chefs."

Since then, it's been:

Italians: Hey, we taught you French people how to cook!

French: Excuse me? We already knew how to cook, thank you very much. If anything, you learned a few tricks from us!

But I think there was a certain marriage of the two cuisines that took place then. Both the French and Italians love some meats that we Americans don't eat enough of (like veal and lamb), and both like seafood. Both can create some incredible sauces.

I think there is a misconception that Italians eat pasta morning, noon and night, when Italian cuisine is really so much more than that. But frankly, I'd have to agree that the French are probably better when it comes to technique.

I agree with this too:

Quote:

As far as cheeses go, French have fantastic ones to eat with baguettes and whatnot, while Italians seem to have better cooking or grating ones.

Oui! J'adore brie! Smile

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CalamityJane wrote:

Anyone whose gone to Italy, tasted Italian cheese, and doesn't like
it, doesn't know what's good. No need to talk further

Agree with that - delicioso. Some beautiful cheeses there.

And SC - I know Italian isn't all about pasta, but that is one of their main courses, so it's offered everywhere, alla time. I just don't like eating paste, which is what pasta is to me, so I go lightly with it. However, I have had beautiful pasta there with innovative toppings (sage and pecorino, for example) that I tried to recreate when I got home.

Every Italian I know scoffs and snorts at our Little Italy not offering 'real' Italian food. One in particular, a Sardinian, is especially sneering. Smile

It makes me laugh. Ah, what do we poor little itinerant Canadians know? We, who eat cheddar from Armstrong, BC? (and just where is this Armstrong, BC, they ask??) Laughing

We don't know the depths of the depravity we've sunk to, apparently!

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I love poutine, I love pasta, i love asiago and brie even more (though the smellier the better and them french are superior to anyone in this except for czechs of all nations - "Olomouc" cheese), i love veal, i love lamb, i love pinot grigio, i love chardonnay, i love it all. I wish i was a little more picky.

that said, pasta is just easiest to whip up at home, and it's such a comfort food. and comfort can be real important.

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Italy or France: Which has the better cuisine?

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