Food: didn't know Italians were so picky about their carbonara!

[pinger]

Which pasta shapes taste the best?

 

[Esprit]

Barilla's production is not the same all over the world: pasta made in Italy is good, unfortunately pasta made abroad has worse quality wheat than Italy

Source?

 

[recycle]

Source?

Source from official website:
https://www.barilla.com/en-us/help/business-or-company-related-questions/where-is-barilla-pasta-made

The pricetag of Barilla pasta made in USA is half that of a Rummo, De Cecco or Molisana and the quality is really bad. Barilla was sued for that:
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money...lla-lawsuit-pasta-not-made-italy/10544234002/

They also produce in France, Germany, Turkey, Mexico, Russia... info here:
https://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/comp...aly-for-the-world---a-profile-of-barilla.html

 

[Esprit]

I don't work for Barilla and Barilla is my last choice (I make fresh pasta at home...) but the link on the complaint does not concern the quality of the product but rather misleading advertising...

 

[recycle]

I don't work for Barilla and Barilla is my last choice (I make fresh pasta at home...) but the link on the complaint does not concern the quality of the product but rather misleading advertising...

Respect for your homemade pasta.
I'm Italian living in the US: I can testify that Barilla pasta in the US is bad, totally different from the Italian one. Good Italian pasta in the states (and all over the world) is De Cecco, Rummo, Molsana, with a price around $3.50 /1Lbs. Looking for the absolute best, I can find Felicetti here ($12 / 1lbs), yes: it is really expensive.

 

[cavedriver]

Source from official website:
https://www.barilla.com/en-us/help/business-or-company-related-questions/where-is-barilla-pasta-made

The pricetag of Barilla pasta made in USA is half that of a Rummo, De Cecco or Molisana and the quality is really bad. Barilla was sued for that:
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money...lla-lawsuit-pasta-not-made-italy/10544234002/

They also produce in France, Germany, Turkey, Mexico, Russia... info here:
https://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/comp...aly-for-the-world---a-profile-of-barilla.html

Wow, that's pathetic. Even the local Safeway grocery store house brand "premium" pasta is made in Italy. I haven't seen Felicetti in any of the import stores around DC - I will have to be on the lookout for it now.

 

[Mikig]

classic Italian dishes are based on simple combinations, few ingredients, few spices, we have always had quality raw materials and a lot of genius.

When I watch videos from around the world on Italian dishes I usually notice some classic setup errors;
- use a multitude of ingredients in the preparation compared to classic recipes
- add spices and flavours, which are often not used
- use packaged products that we normally make at home
- complicate conceptually very simple dishes
- use unexpected fats: northern dishes tend to require butter those from the south oil
- incorporate non-Italian ingredients into recipes... I remember a famous chef who on TV added chorizo to a dish he said was Italian,

 

[Digby]

incorporate non-Italian ingredients into recipes... I remember a famous chef who on TV added chorizo to a dish he said was Italian,

Jamie Oliver?

 

[Keith_W]

So I found out that there are a few types of Pecorino. Cow milk Pecorino, young sheep milk Pecorino, and aged sheep milk Pecorino. The Italians would never call anything made with cow's milk "Pecorino" - so this is something you can only find outside Italy. Italy only produces young and aged sheep milk Pecorino. Or so i'm told.

It's like Parmesan cheese - there is no such thing in Italy. Italians make Parmigiano-Reggiano. America, USA, Australia, and the rest of the world where regulations are not so strict make Parmesan.

The aged stuff is almost twice the price of the young stuff. So at a considerable expense, I bought some to try. When you taste the cheese on its own, it is vastly superior to the younger cheese. It's more funky, and it has that mature flavour. But once made into a Carbonara, I would be hard pressed to tell the difference. The story is the same with cow milk Pecorino vs. young Italian sheep milk Pecorino.

Conclusion (for me at least): both types of imported Pecorino are nice table cheeses. Don't waste money by using it to make Carbonara. In fact, you can save a lot of money by using Australian cow milk Pecorino.

The rest of this Carbonara was made the traditional way. Guanciale, eggs, and spaghetti alla chitarra from Abruzzo. I used Sarawak black pepper. I consider this pepper the best in the world, it is so fragrant. I bought a couple of kilos of it the last time I was in Malaysia. It's so cheap there.

 

[Esprit]

Use Google Translate.
Good day to you.

Pecorino - Wikipedia

it.m.wikipedia.org

Formaggi italiani - Wikipedia

it.m.wikipedia.org

 

[napfkuchen]

Italian Chef Gets Offended By Morning Show Host

I'm late for this, but the wheel-thing will cause other problems, too:

 

[theREALdotnet]

I used Sarawak black pepper. I consider this pepper the best in the world, it is so fragrant. I bought a couple of kilos of it the last time I was in Malaysia. It's so cheap there.

How did you manage to smuggle that into Australia?

 

[cavedriver]

I seem to remember one chef saying to use pecorino romano specifically since carbonara originated around Rome, although today's pecorino romano is made on Sardinia.

As a side note, people are often surprised when I say I bring cheeses into the US with me. As Americans we have all learned to fear the USDA's limits on imported plant and animal products that could disrupt our food chain and environment, but the USDA considers cheeses, even moldy and unpasteurized cheeses, relatively safe. I think the last time I came through customs I had ~21 samples, a record for me.

 

[Keith_W]

How did you manage to smuggle that into Australia?

I didn't think it would be a problem? I bought it, declared it at customs, they waved me on without even looking at it. I mean, you can buy this stuff in Australia at vastly inflated prices in fancy packaging. It's like goji berries - go to an Asian market, and you can buy it by the kilo for a few dollars. Go to a health food store, and you pay $10 for 100g.

 

[cavedriver]

I didn't think it would be a problem? I bought it, declared it at customs, they waved me on without even looking at it. I mean, you can buy this stuff in Australia at vastly inflated prices in fancy packaging. It's like goji berries - go to an Asian market, and you can buy it by the kilo for a few dollars. Go to a health food store, and you pay $10 for 100g.

I assume Australia blocks the private import of meat products though, just like the US? I have to buy imported guanciale from dealers in the US but there are a lot of rarer Italian cured meat products I would import if I could. If anyone wants to know how far down the Italian rabbit hole of cured meat products you can go, just visit Sapori Stellari in Milan.

 

[Keith_W]

I assume Australia blocks the private import of meat products though, just like the US? I have to buy imported guanciale from dealers in the US but there are a lot of rarer Italian cured meat products I would import if I could. If anyone wants to know how far down the Italian rabbit hole of cured meat products you can go, just visit Sapori Stellari in Milan.

Yeah they block some meat products. Canned meat is OK. I managed to mail myself a vast quantity of canned seafood when I was in Spain and Portugal. Fresh and frozen meat is a definite no-no. I am not sure about preserved meat (e.g. biltong, beef jerky, bacalao, etc). I have never tried to import it. But you can get prosciutto from Italy and jamon from Spain, even the best stuff (Iberico di Bellota) in the shops.

In general I hate spending too much time in customs. I am tired, grumpy, and just want to get out into the fresh air. So I only bring in stuff that I know won't give me trouble.

 

[JP]

The cured meats we had in Barcelona were amazing.

 

[DMill]

I didn't think it would be a problem? I bought it, declared it at customs, they waved me on without even looking at it. I mean, you can buy this stuff in Australia at vastly inflated prices in fancy packaging. It's like goji berries - go to an Asian market, and you can buy it by the kilo for a few dollars. Go to a health food store, and you pay $10 for 100g.

US customs is usually pretty decent too if you’re honest. I recently came back from Mexico with three $40 Cuban cigars I bought in the duty free store. The officer just waved me on. That said, if I had a suitcase full, or if he was just having a bad day. He could have confiscated them. So that’s the risk you take. They weren’t any better than Dominican or Nico’s btw. Wont be spending $40 each for a Cuban cigar anytime soon.

 

[Mikig]

I have the problem with my cigars… I only find them in Italy and in December when I go to Sydney I can only bring a few. The last time it was 45 per person….. I don't know what to do because this time we're staying almost a month….
I'll have to make up for it by buying something there...but the ones I got last time were really bad!!

 

[Winemaker]

Yep. They really don't use much garlic, not the way Italian American food does.

In Italy, garlic in carbonara is heresy. Carbonara is made with guanciale (absolutely not pancetta), eggs, pasta cooking water (just enough to make a cream), pecorino romano, and black pepper. NEVER garlic!!!( )