Most Americans have eaten spaghetti growing up, its not a
new dish to talk about, or is it ? Most people eat the
American version of spaghetti, a thick heavy sauce with
tomatoes, usually containing tomato paste. We thinks of
Italian cooking as pasta, tomatoes, and vegetables. Many
Authentic Italian dishes do not use tomatoes as the main
ingredient. Authentic Italian dishes vary greatly from one
region of Italy to the other. In Italian cooking meat plays a
big part in the meal. Pasta with light sauces accompany meat
dishes for the main course. Many of the spaghetti dishes we
think of are served as a first course or a side dish at meal
time.
Use of fresh tomatoes and herbs is a big difference from
the quick style of sauces we make today. When fresh
tomatoes are used, you usually do not add canned tomato
paste. In different regions of Italy sauces that contain a lot
of tomatoes, are cooked for several hours, even up to a day.
On the other hand, dishes with a small amount of tomatoes
or no tomatoes are prepared fairly quickly. I didn’t talk
about pasta today. Look for “ Pasta-Pasta which pasta” in an
up coming issue. Don’t forget the fresh herbs!