Mike Tommasi wrote in
:


My Pet Peeves about the French Rearranging Italian Recipes

Risotto - italian rice (the japonica type, also found spain, egypt,
japan) has a definite cooking time, you need not taste for "doneness"
as the french recommend, only for taste and salt, as vialone rice
cooks to perfection in 15 minutes, carnaroli and arborio in 17. Plus
or minus 1 minute according to how "al dente" you like it. The french
tend to like it not al dente at all, so they cook it beyond
recognition for 20 or more minutes. In italian this is referred to as
soup, or gelatin.

Will confess to being a little bit of a criminal here, I like mine done
at 20 (or occassionally 21 as I find that adding things sometimes cools
the risssotto during cooking and produces the need for longer cooking)
but would as soon pour in coffee as some cream.

Spaghetti carbonara -

Thank you for reaffirming what I "always" knew but have scant evidence
in the food business to prove! Throw out the cream.

My particular peeve is the insistence on deep frying eggpant when making
any dish called eggplant parmesan or the like. eggplant bakes very well
thank you. the deep fried eith sauce pouted on is easy to make quickly
in a restaurant but it has nothing of the flavour of a baked eggplant
which has had a chance to meld with the sauce.


Cappuccino - in France, short of being in a real hip place, you will
get a coffee with a pile of whipped cream on top. Definitely not
cappuccino, which is made by foaming milk under a steam jet and adding
it to the coffee.

The Australians always add a dose of chocolate to a Cappuccino, lovely
result





--
Joseph Coulter, cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com

877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell