Should you wish to be the judge of Italian food, the Italian restaurants that are located all over the United States are not a good place to start. They mainly serve pasta, indeed with various types of sauces and pizza with an addition of toppings, but this is not all there is when it comes to Italian food.
Yes, pasta an pizza are very popular among people all over the world and have made Italian cuisine very well known and appreciated, but there are so many other ingredients that it consists of. Vegetables like cardoons and salsify, which are said to be exotic in the United States, all types of meat both fresh and cured, a large variety of foods from the sea, and a sampling of different grains are the first thing to come into my mind.
But why is it that the Italian restaurants only offer few of the dishes that are consumed by everyone in Italy. An answer to this question can be found just by looking at the history of immigration from Italy to the United States. In the late 19th century, many refugees arrived from Southern Italy and from Sicily, bringing with them their culinary traditions. The cooking of the Southern regions of Italy consists indeed of a great number of pasta dishes, many tomato based sauces, and the use of significant quantities of olive oil and that is why Americans started to think Italian food is all about. Learning how the dishes of the different regions of Italy are being prepared can be a very interesting thing to do, especially with all these Italian ingredients that are being imported in the United States.
Italy is a country made up of many different geographies and climates, that are being carved out by mountains like the Apennines and the Alps. The sees that surround Italy also have a great influence on the culinary customs. The result of all this is that the cooking of each region differs from that of the other ones. So, the cuisine of Lombardy includes dairy and meats such as veal and pork, while the one of Apulia is made up of dishes made with octopus, mussels, and shrimp.
In conclusion, cooking Italian food can be never get boring, as there are so many things that can be tried out. The only thing that matters is to take the time and explore the culinary traditions of Italy and marvelous dishes will come out of your hands.