Italian "Ambassadors" abroad 

Pasta and meatballs, fettuccine Alfredo, pizza with pineapple and ham, carbonara with scrambled egg and cream. Today I talk about fashions, mystifications, real crimes against one of the most admired, renowned and copied cuisines in the world: the Italian one.

How did these incredible recipes come about? Between 1880 and 1915 almost four million Italians arrived in the United States, about 70% from the South, although at first most came from Piedmont and Veneto. And in fact this can be found in most of the "Italian-American" recipes: the famous and ubiquitous meatballs, meatballs cooked for a long time in a heavy tomato-based sauce, become sublime decoration of pasta dishes, iconic figure of the Disney animated film Lady and the tramp. Even the chops, crippled in "Braciole" overseas, have almost nothing to do with our pork steaks, but instead become meat rolls stuffed with every possible leftover, in the first line garlic and bread. A certain concern is also generated by the Parmesan Chicken, chicken cooked in the usual, very powerful sauce and garnished with a generous amount of cheese. More Italian than that?

Maybe only the recipes had suffered their unfair dose of distortion, but the attack on Italian cuisine is more radical, so much so as to subvert even the order and the very concept of food or preparations. A classic example is cappuccino after lunch. No. Some things hurt more than an uncovered wound. And pasta or rice interpreted as a side dish? Ask a German, he will answer that he does not conceive in any other way than an accompaniment to other dishes, perhaps adding a little Ketchup on top, which is always tomato. How many restaurants do you know, in Italy, that set the table on top of a red and white checkered tablecloth? Yet abroad, when they see that kind of table, with the flask of wine partially covered with fake woven wicker used as a candle holder, then you can breathe the air of the Bel Paese.

Yet the panorama of Italian cuisine abroad is certainly not still, on the contrary, it is very lively and ready to renew itself, for better or for worse. It is heartening that worse than this on certain preparations could not be done, so the only road that can be traced is towards a timid but tenacious improvement. In an article taken from the website thrillist.com, journalist Kristin Hunt interviewed many American chefs who cook Italian dishes, trying to investigate which preparations are overrated and which are still able to surprise. Mike Isabella, chef and owner of the "Graffiato" in Washington DC, says that now the arancini have made history: there are many who prepare them even if they present many difficulties, and the result is very often disappointing; The classic pasta with sauce instead, if done well, manages to enhance every component of the dish, a result that is anything but trivial. Joel Hough, chef of "Il Buco" (luckily they are New Yorkers) is instead fed up with veal with tuna sauce, which he finds overrated, as "spreading a mayonnaise sauce on a slice of cold meat is not for me", will be... While the spaghetti garlic and oil are on the crest of the wave, probably dragged by the rediscovery of simple flavors. Not even fried pizza is saved, which for pizza maker Jordan Wallace, in Denver, turns out to be a bomb ready to burn his mouth and ruin T-shirts and pants. Honor and glory instead to the chicory salad (they consider it a dish there) that, choice of a variety not too bitter, seasoned with oil and vinegar and served with ingredients such as "nuts" (hazelnuts) becomes stunning. There are those who consider lasagna outdated, such as the executive chef of the "Acquerello", which in fact have become like a stale refrain repeated in every "Italian sounding" menu; on the other hand, however, the timballo, which she considers a favorite dish throughout Italy (but really all of it?) prepared, slavishly quoting "In particular, timballo al 'termano has 16 layers of paper thin crepes (crepes). Each layer is dressed with a fresh tomato-vegetable sugo, fresh mozzarella, grated Parmesan cheese, and painfully small meatballs made of veal and pork."

In fact, it is better to continue hoping for a miracle.

Timballo

The timballo of scrippelle is the main dish of the feast days in Teramo. Inevitable at Christmas, and New Year's Eve. The "scrippelle" are very thin omelettes of water, flour and eggs, prepared on a very hot pan, similar, if not identical, to the French "crepe".

Origin There are those who claim that the French discovered it in Teramo, in the years of their Italian passage, the existence of the "scrippella", but the opposite is certainly true. The timballo alla teramana, therefore, would be a distant relative of the "crepes", but its preparation and its conception make it a unique first course among the dishes.

Wine pairing Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC 2020

Wine experts think this Italian Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine would be a match made in heaven with this dish. 

Bon appétit!

Grape variety Montepulciano 100 %

Degree of alcohol 13 %

Sugar content 6.6 g/L 

Nose: jam, plum, black currant, cherry, raspberry, leather. Deep ruby color. Medium acidity, pleasant expressive tannins. Blueberry, cherry, oak and some earthy notes. The structure is a bit lacking, but in it's price range it is perfect as an everyday, casual wine. Very decent table wine. Highly decent for the price. Wouldn't be embarrassed bringing it to most parties. A fine drink during the week.