Why does American Italian food have so much garlic?

How did garlic became such a central element in Italian-American food, while so many Italians shun it? “When Italian immigrants came to this country, they were penniless and may have used garlic to mask the poor quality of their food,” says Robin Cherry.

Do Italians cook with a lot of garlic?

This vision of garlic as a poor ingredient for poor people had a powerful influence on Italian cooking, and even today, many Italians look at garlic—an allium that is cheap, abundant, and thus available to anyone—with suspicion. But for the average American, garlic couldn’t be more inextricable from Italian cuisine.

Do Italians Remove garlic?

Italian food has become synonymous with garlic, but has it become too much of a good thing? Unfortunately, here in the States, many Italian restaurants have gone overboard with garlic, to the point where it’s flavor dominates the entire dish.

Do real Italians use oregano?

Oregano. Ironically, oregano is not as commonly used in Italian cooking as other herbs, such as parsley or basil. Oregano is more flavorful in its dried form and is used more commonly in southern Italian and Sicilian dishes.

Who eats the most garlic?

China was the leading country in terms of per capita consumption, among the main consumers of garlic, followed by the Republic of Korea (X kg/year), Bangladesh (X kg/year), Indonesia (X kg/year) and India (X kg/year).

Do Italians use garlic and onions together?

I had an Italian flatmate once who was on the brink of lynching me when he saw I used garlic and onion in one dish. He said that – at least in Italian cuisine – thats an absolute no-no. You can use both, but never together.

Is garlic an Italian food staple?

Garlic, you see, is not quite the staple of Italian cuisine Americans think it is. Depending on who you speak to, onions are a controversial ingredient too – and don’t even think of ever combining the two in a single dish.

Are Italian chefs still afraid of garlic?

Sarah Cicolini, chef at SantoPalato in Rome, known for its updated takes on traditional Roman cuisine, notes that “garlic isn’t demonized here like it once was, and luckily we’re no longer in a moment in which avoiding garlic is something to brag about, but Italian chefs are still very cautious with it.”

Is there an authentic answer to Italian cooking in the US?

Perhaps, then, the most authentic answer to Italian cooking in the US would be not cooking Italian at all, but simply making a trip to your local farmer’s market and thinking how you might use a northern spy apple in a salad.

What is the highest form of Italian cooking?

The irony, of course, is that the highest form of Italian cooking is now considered to be supreme simplicity, as in the iconic spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino, which, without garlic, is hardly worth fighting over.