Is Italy's Food Overrated?

[Anonymous No.9891973]

I've been travelling to Italy for work more and more. Florence mostly, a bit outside also. Also Rome a few times.

The locals I do business with take me to some restaurants and they are okay but not great.
>homemade pasta's are good, but, nothing I can't find back home
>meats and game aren't spectacular
>soups aren't as good as the french, I realize it's different but I think soup is best in France.
>bread sucks
>sometimes the pasta is over salted

Service oscillates between being downright inattentive to pushy and wanting you to order immediately.

I hear the Emilia area is the best? Maybe it's just my concentration of time in Florence and Rome?

[Anonymous No.9892554]

You'll find better food when you're further from the big cities, especially when you find a place where they speak little to no English. Stay away from the touristy restaurants too, most of the workers are actually pakis/indians/refugees.. not Italians.

[Anonymous No.9892584]

When I went to Florence (~6 years ago) we bought some nice olive oil and vinegrette and the store owner directed us to a nice bistro down the street. The special was a seafood (crab) pasta and I think that may have been the best pasta dish I've ever had.

Sorry you didn't have much luck finding one, but I only have good things to say about Northern Italy.

Southern Italy is a giant shithole. That's when I learned that the idea of pizza being Italian is a meme and that Sicilians are in fact not White.

[Anonymous No.9892789]

>>9891973
yes it is your concentration of time in florence and rome.
their bread is salt-less and it really fucking sucks.
their pizzas do too. the only thing that's good over there is the meat and it's usually over salted (to compensate the salt less bread i guess). so yeah come to southern italy because we don't suck major dick at cooking

[Anonymous No.9892864]

>>9892554
Ah okay, maybe that's it. I mean they take me to the places that "aren't touristy" (they live there), but I think the whole city is so full of tourists that basically every place is a tourist place.

>>9892584
Great, yes no luck yet. I was told Southern Italy is bad by other Italians, but it was more with respect to crime and their poor taste in fashion.

>>9892789
Okay. I was explained the reason for the saltless bread, which has something to do with the Medici family or some pope taxing the salt so they stopped using it for bread. Seems a bit dated of a reason, tradition just for the sake of tradition I guess. I haven't tried the pizzas.

The best thing I've had is riboletta.

pic unrelated.

[Anonymous No.9892875]

>>9892864
You can find great food in big cities, but it's just harder and more costly. It's a big city so the same cost-cutting, time-saving measures that every other restaurant with a huge customer base is taken.
Also the southern italy vs north italy shit is literally the same as east coast vs west coast in the US. It's just civil hatred.

[Anonymous No.9892890]

>>9892554

This. I've been to Rome and the food there is pretty mediocre and they treat you like a piece of shit tourist. Smaller towns and the country is where the food really shines.

[Anonymous No.9892896]

>too lazy to make bread
>boil raw flatbread and mix it with sauces

[Anonymous No.9892897]

>>9892875
>>9892890
I'll have to try the country more. Sometimes I have a few days off when working and could travel out.

I guess in other cities I've never had a problem finding great food though. I mean even London it's easy mode to find something fantastic, despite it's shit reputation.

[Anonymous No.9892906]

It is precisely because it is so good that is it so common place everywhere that you don't find it all that special.

What other country can you go to and sample all the contents on the menu and love every single one of them?

[Anonymous No.9892913]

>>9892890
rome is full of good places but they get outnumbered 10:1 by tourist traps, which usually are set into better positions so it's hard to get it right
checking the pics on their sites usually helps
if the place is full of nordics it's usually bad

[Anonymous No.9892926]

>>9892906
That's what I expected to get when I started coming here, but, I actually don't find that the case. I find overcooked pasta pretty often, uninspiring sauces, the famous "games" aren't tender or flavorful, the famous florentine steak just isn't good (tough).

When I eat with the locals they take me places where I only hear Italian and the staff doesn't speak english or is excited I do speak English so they can practice (hence they don't get many tourists), but even those haven't been spectacular meals. Some are good.

I think maybe my expectations were too high. Using the London example, my expectations were very low so its easy to please. Same with Germany, where I've had some unexpected great meals.

[Anonymous No.9892970]

>>9892926
italian food isnt overrated
italian cooks are very overrated, especially by themselves

[Anonymous No.9893053]

>>9892789
first of all unsalted bread is the best bread. secondly, you're a terrone di merda.

>>9891973
don't eat italian food abroad. it's terrible. also we don't have a great soup culture. avoiding tourist traps is difficult for us italians as well so always be wary but to be completely honest you sound like a little whiny puss because there are plenty of good restaurants in florence and rome.

[Anonymous No.9893067]

Everyone's food is overrated at /ck/

[Anonymous No.9893214]

>>9893053
>unsalted bread is the best bread
It's bland and the texture is terrible from it spreading too much and having no structure.

[Anonymous No.9893231]

>>9893214
Their answer to this is that you are just supposed to use it for lapping up their oversalted sauces.