In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Given the central question of the Herald Trib article, the competition cited at the beginning of the piece - a search to find the best carbonara sauce in Rome - is a amusing since the precise origins of that "classic" Italian recipe are open to question.
It seems clear that carbonara is actually a fairly recent invention. I've even heard it's possible it was a bit of "crisis cooking" thrown together by an Italian cook in the Rome area who was asked by US troops during WW II to make a meal based on eggs, cheese and bacon they'd appropriated from the cook-tent. The [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonara"]Wikipedia[/URL] article states that the dish was definitely obscure before WW II and only became popular when Italians had access to eggs and bacon provided the occupying American forces.
So it seems possible this bit of supposedly classic Italian cuisine is not all [B]that[/B] deeply rooted in [I]il bel paese[/I]. Which, it seems to me, just highlights the casual racism of the comment by the Italian restaurant proprietor quoted late in the article who says that foreign chefs "...drift toward what is in their DNA" if they are not closely supervised by "real" Italian cooks.
Al
there is way too much snobbery/protectionism about food in general (and not just in Italy). Many of the really good chefs are self taught - and therefore by definition they don't slavishly conform to traditions. By "good" I mean both in terms of technical execution of classic cuisine AND innovation.
Indigenous food - at its best - should of course be revered; its methods must be documented, embodied by great restaurants, and passed down faithfully by example from nonna to mamma (and papa too BTW!).
But it should be a positive thing for fresh blood to be brought into the traditional restaurant kitchens of Italy (or anywhere else). Immigrant chefs are as able to learn process, ingredients & tradition as the next man, and are more likely to be focused on consistantly doing a good job with what they've learned. For some, emulating great traditional Italian food will be their yardstick of success. Others will have that vital spark that will make them dabble in fusion - for me, this is a win/win situation.
IMO, The carbonara is safe in the hands of the gifted immigrant chef; the Italian culinary tradition is also alive and well in mamma's kitchen and shows no signs of succumbing to foreign influence as yet as yet.