the ONE really hard thing to believe is
that they always eat pasta WITHOUT parmesan cheese, no way in hell would that happen with Italians or in Italy.
apart from that it's an absolutely amazing tv serie!! to which I gave 10/10 on imdb.
When I was a kid, I ate at a couple of houses of Italian guys, and I watched their mothers cook pasta. Both of them drained the pasta in a colander, put the pasta in the serving bowl, added a big handful of grated Romano* cheese to the hot drained pasta, mixed, and then added the sauce over the top. They also served some grated cheese on the table, but it didn't need it. It took a little bit of time to get used to the pungent hard Italian cheeses, but now I love it.
*Pecorino Romano: it's like Parmesan but stronger. I found that ethnic Italians use imported sheep milk Romano and Italian-Americans use Parmesan. Better Italian restaurants use Romano in some of their dishes but cheaper restaurants only use Parmesan. Over time, I've become a big fan of hard Italian cheeses and only use Romano in my Italian dishes and home made pizza. Another thing I've learned is to not cheap out on cheese on these recipes. If you live in an area with a real Italian or Jewish deli, get your provisions there. Otherwise, Costco has a respectable pre-grated Romano cheese in a bag. It's not bad...
Not to rain on your parade but you've sampled only a tiny bit of habits.
shareI don't like pecorino romano, but i do like parmesan. parmagiano-reggiano is what we use.
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A lot of people find Romano very pungent and overpowering (I did when I first tried it). In any case, using a good quality imported cheese for Italian dishes like you're doing is the right plan. Mangia..
Oh that is an understatement if I ever heard one! My ex-husband was part Italian and he loved his Romano. He used to buy it and grate it at home. I hated washing out the food processor, what an "aroma".
One time he sprinkled it on something and put it in the microwave for a minute. I was standing near him and I caught a whiff of it.
My son was a baby at the time and I thought that he had spit up while his dad was holding him.
I asked my husband, "Did the baby barf on you?" LOL Never could develop a liking for it.
LOL, you're not the first to describe hard Italian cheeses as smelling like a combination of barf and feet...
I use a lot of it and even sprinkle it on French fries!
When you think about it, a lot cheese smelsl totally differently than they taste. I've never had Limburger (sp?) but I do know it smells like hell's septic backed up.
Your poor French fries! lol
Limburger! I smelled that once! It brings back pungent memories. I went to Germany after college and worked in a Youth Hostel. Germans had a number of unusual food preferences but they didn't smell bad. But one guy brought Limburger to the breakfast table.
The staff ate together and he took out Limburger and sliced it on his breakfast roll.
At first I thought, "Oh my goodness, somebody died under the dining room table." None of the Germans seemed to notice it at all.
My roommate (also an American) and I could barely get through breakfast. We were trying so hard not to laugh. We excused ourselves really fast and could barely contain ourselves until we got to our room. We were laughing hysterically.
We couldn't figure out how anybody could eat that!
I've had Limburger. It's good, I love the taste of stinky cheeses.
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