On Sat, 25 Feb 2006 10:45:24 -0800, sf >
wrote:

>On 25 Feb 2006 07:40:37 -0800, stitcher wrote:
>
>> A friend who lives in Italy explained to me that when most Italians go
>> out to eat, they
>> are looking for mostly the same kind of food they might make at home,
>> perhaps more "refined" in ingredients, but basically familiar foods.
>> They might go out for Chinese food once a year or so just for a lark,
>> but do not think, as we often do, "what shall we eat tonight, Thai,
>> Mexican, Japanese, French, Italian?" That being said, Italian food is
>> much more varied that most Americans know. The cuisine of the north,
>> for instance, uses butter, not ollive oil, with a definite French
>> influence, to the northeast, it's German-influenced, not the
>> tomato-based Sicilian cuisine found in most American Italian
>> restaurants. I would say that your impression of dedication to their
>> own cuisine is fairly accurate, but their own cuisine will vary from
>> one region of Italy to another.
>
>So, are they stuck with the cooking of their own region or do Italians
>decide if they want to go out for Tuscan, Sicilian or Venezian?

Speaking of which - where's Pandora lately? She'd be the one to ask
about all of this!