Giusi wrote:

> What you may be missing is that neither of those two is actually Italian
> or living here, although Lidia did until she was 8 and Mario did for a
> while.. an extended trip. My DD refused to let me watch the cooking shows
> on TV when they were "Italian" because I was yelling at the screen when I
> was supposed to be taking care of her sickly self.
>
> Things are offered up as "real Italian" that may be just one person's idea
> or only an interpretation of a tradition.
>
> Is it important? Probably not to many people, but I believe tradition is
> taught as tradition and embroideries or modernizations are taught as that
> and I also believe that you don't teach those without showing the
> variation. Without some feeling for reality and history you end up with
> terrible messes passing themselves off as good food. There goes the
> neighborhood.

I can't speak for Lidia Bastianich, but Mario Batali appears to be a
stickler for authenticity: When asked, "Why do you make ___ that way?" his
response is invariably, "Because that's the way it's made by the little old
Italian lady who showed me how to make it."

Bob