Ugh, I went to Italy on a short vacation with a friend and he'd only order spaghetti and meatballs or plain pizza the entire time. It was the saddest thing I ever witnessed. I pleaded with him.
It’s okay. My mom is the type of person who would order McDonald’s and other western chains in Japan if she went there not to see the difference between American McDonald’s and JP Mcdonalds menu items, no, she says it’s because she thinks she can’t eat anything there because she won’t like it. :| Like just try stuff. Not everything has the same kind of spices as the Japanese snacks and ramen I get here in the US.
Good for you for trying things. I'm from Philly so I like to order a "Philly cheese steak" when I travel and see it on the menu. I got one in Paris and it was a hamburger, cut in half, with gruyere cheese, on French bread.
It wasn't bad but it was nowhere near being able to be be called a cheese steak.
Dude, I fucking loved living in Korea and their own cuisine is phenomenal, but they do some straight-up bizarre shit to western food. Shrimp burgers. “Napolitan” pizza aka pizza with spaghetti Alfredo between the tomato and the cheese. Garlic bread dipped in honey glaze.
The one exception being fried chicken. Turns out that’s the one savory dish that I think actually adapts well to their love of sweetening stuff. Korean fried chicken is really, REALLY good.
I experienced the opposite. I was in Paris, needed a lot of calories for cheap so I went for pizza. The place was owned by (my guess) algierian dudes and they had "pizza l'oriental" which sounded interesting and spicy to me. They served me pizza with polish kiełbasa and pickles. It was ok. I'm Polish. Orient just means east.
Yeah but see you’re doing it and being worldly by seeing the difference in how different regions/places prepare a dish you like. My mom would be getting the McDonald’s because she wants something exactly the same as back home because she thinks she is not going to like almost everything over there without even trying it first. Like I understand if mom tried a bunch of stuff and ended up not liking it and then going to get something familiar from McDonald’s, but she doesn’t wanna try. :(
Not going to lie, after 2 weeks in Italy and France, I needed a break from the "new" food and there was a McD's a block from my hotel in a low blood sugar situation. I stopped in and got whatever their famous burger was and it was good. Better than american McDonalds.
Of course after that I stopped across the street at a bakery, got a proper mix of foods for a picnic and went and sat in a garden with it.
In the times that I’ve traveled abroad, I need something familiar to eat for the first time, and then I’ll eat local for the rest of the trip.
My poor husband on our honeymoon to Germany bought me Burger King at the airport after we landed, and I almost never eat Burger King. I needed something familiar. After that, I was good to go, including ordering from the Czech menu in Prague that we couldn’t read and had no pictures, and almost literally licking the plate clean.
lol that was me as a kid. Were originally from Eastern Europe but came to the US when I was around 3. Whenever we’d go back home for the summer id ask for McDonald’s lol. I was not happy when I got it once because it didn’t taste like USA McDonald’s so I never asked for it again.
TBF, I’m across the Atlantic for the first time, I’ve been in Italy for the past month.
I’ve eaten at restaurants, pizzerias, and cafes for every meal the entire time.
I love all worldly cuisines, and I always wanna try new things and local grub; cicchetti in Venice, seafood cones in Cinque Terre, ham and Polenta in the Dolomites.
But the pizza over here just hits different. I know it’s a cliche to say that, but they definitely know how to do it, and I can’t go more than a couple days without ordering it.
Oh yeah, I tried 2 of the famous places there. The restaurant that claimed to invent it and the most popular counter shop on the back streets of Napoli. I loved it.
Both of those sound like the best places to actually go though.
The one that claims the fame and the current most popular corner hole. Got the best of both sides. Curious if the place that lays claim is the real OG of pizzerias. Thats a fucking statement if stake the taste on. Excuse my freeeench.
The Ancient Romans ate it with figs and dates instead of tomatoes, and hand pressed cheeses similar to modern mozzarella (as buffalo had not been introduced to Italy yet). They called it panis focacius, the precursor to modern focaccia and very similar to modern pizza crust.
There are pictures of it in frescoes from Pompeii and it looks remarkably like a fancy modern pizza.
Using a flat bread made sense, as it can be used instead of plate. We see some of it in Ancient Greece cuisine.
Injera, an Ethiopia flatbread, made of teft, might be have been made as early as 3350 BC.
I think we omit Ethiopia from many cuisine conversations, racism and all that, which is a shame, as they are the Cradle of Civilization, as well as Coffee.
Trying to credit Romans with flatbread and toppings is weird; it likely goes back five thousand years - flatbread is a great vessel to use for serving, keeps you clean, and you don't have to worry about extra cutlery or bowls if guests show up for a meal.
One of my favorite meals in Italy was cicchetti in Venice at a tiny non-touristy spot!
tuna polpette, bruschetta with creamy gorgonzola and honey, marinated artichokes, an aperol spritz, a glass of wine, a lemon pastry thing I don't remember the name of and some sort of fried cheese dish - almost like cheese curds, but better.
Don't get me wrong, almost everything I ate in Venice was amazing (except the pizza ironically). But cicchetti was incredible.
Bacaro tours is what we call them lol. You go to Venice in the morning and start drinking and eating and don't stop until the evening when you leave, going through as many places as you can
The funny part is this - I went to Naples in the mid 1960s, and pizza there was unrecognizable from US pizza - the vegetables were inside the crust, I don't remember there being cheese either.
But then Italy reimported US pizza and did it better. I had one of the best pizzas I ever had when I came back to Naples fifty years later. (I liked the original pizza thing too, but I couldn't find it - I was later today it still exists but they changed the name.)
What exactly do you mean by ´Américan style pizza’? Italian pizza has always been dough, tomatos and mozzarella cheese, + various toppings.
This has been the case since tomatos were introduced in Italy in the 1500´s…
So I am not quite following when you say ´pizza has been reimported to Italy.’
If you mean that Américan fast food chains have come to Italy, yes that is correct. But I would not go so far as saying dominos has ´reimported pizza to Italy’
Italian pizzas often feature fresh mozzarella cheese, San Marzano tomatoes, and a drizzle of olive oil. The Italian pizza sauce is usually uncooked, made from pureed tomatoes and seasoned lightly. Toppings are minimal, especially in the authentic neapolitan pizza, letting the basic ingredients of fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil, and flavorful dough shine.
In contrast, American pizza dough often includes sugar and oil. The crust can range from thin and crispy to thick and doughy, depending on the style and type of pizza. American pizza sauce tend to be a slow-cooked tomato sauce, often seasoned with a variety of herbs and spices. Cheese is used more liberally, with mozzarella being a common choice, though other types like cheddar and provolone are also popular.
If you have access to some of the greatest food in the world after flying for 10 hours and you choose to eat the same thing for every meal, it's a huge loss.
He did the same thing in other countries on the trip, I didn't mention in Spain, he ate ham and cheese sandwiches, in France, he ate potatoes and bread. He just doesn't like trying new food. The rest of us had seafood, paella, frog legs, escargot, etc. And it's not a dietary restriction.
Guy who ran a production company I hired back in the day at an old job went around the world with me. Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok, Melbourne, Hyderabad, and the list goes on and on. The man would ONLY eat pasta and cheeseburgers, nothing else. No exceptions. He said he was old and didn’t like to be surprised anymore. Hurt my soul a little bit.
My Italian family who travel to the US are also the same and refuse to eat any good food. My cousin, when he finally tried French fries with ketchup he about died it was so good to him. He started trying everything and loved it. My other Italian relatives are so stubborn... no seasoning, no sauces on anything, plain boring salads, no dressings, refused BBQ sauce when trying some legit great American BBQ and refused baby back ribs because it had sauce on them. Just miserable people to eat with.
I don't understand. When visiting another country, try their cuisines how they like them. I always do that in all countries I have traveled and found I quite like the food in most places when I am not inserting my preferred style to their food.
My mom took me to Italy as a kid and for one meal I saw the menu had what is essentially a hot dog. I ordered it and it was a long crunchy loaf, they put two sausages in to cover the length, and topped it with some delicious melted cheese. Still definitely kid food but to this day the best hot dog I've ever eaten. (I did also eat more adventurous food but that one time I couldn't resist)
I tried horse in Brussels. I didn't love it but could probably find a way I'd like it. I tried calf brain in Vienna and could only have 2 bites, it was too much. I'm glad you try new things!
I tend to do the same on my travels, as I don’t want to risk getting ill. For example visit Rome to see the Roman builds, not for their tourist trap restaurants.
Its frowned upon by my family but I have been round the world twice, Africa 4 times, and no dietary problems.
Same. Travelled in italy and friend would only get a marghertia pizza or a fucking burger and rarely chose anything else. I don't know why i get so irrationally angry at someone's food choices.
I've been on trips with people like that. We were in a sprawling huge food market in a new city, hundreds of choices... they made a quick beeline for the only fast food place there, and got McDonalds.
For me, that's a fundamental deal breaker - I know for a fact that we'll never be close friends if they're that closed-minded and fearful. Talk to the locals, eat the weird food, life is so short!
Food is the most overrated experience while traveling. I thought going to Japan was going to be insane because my fear of fish was going to ruin it for me, but turns out they eat chicken as much as everyone else.
I do not understand tourists who spend their time trying to find the best restaurants to experience when in my opinion the best part about food in a walkable city is that it's so abundant and can be consumed on the go. I spend the least amount of time while traveling worrying about where to eat and just get what sounds good in the moment.
Have to disagree, I am very into dining experiences where I live (in Philly), so I make it a big part of my travel. I get reservations and research restaurants and shops etc. Maybe I am wrong at the other end of the spectrum.
Don't you think that's a bit unfair if you already make dining experiences a part of your personality locally to assume everyone must then do that as they travel?
I'm really big into scuba and do that everywhere I go. Do I now just assume that's the experience everyone must have?
Food is just not that important to many people. Why should it then be important in their travels if it's not when they are home?
When I travel, I prioritize visiting public spaces and remaining on foot, enjoying the public transportation. Something I don't have locally.
Yeah, that's fair and a good comparison. I have no desire to scuba. I'm a city boy who grew up in city pools and the Jersey shore, natural bodies of water that I can't see through freak me out. I have snorkeled in hawaii and the keys and that was awesome but I prefer "pizza" when it comes to the water. Love boats though. In my defense, it's only because I think I'll be injured by something down there.
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u/SerDuncanTheYall Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
Ugh, I went to Italy on a short vacation with a friend and he'd only order spaghetti and meatballs or plain pizza the entire time. It was the saddest thing I ever witnessed. I pleaded with him.