Italian food means only pizza, pasta and risotto

That was true 10 years ago. Now it’s changed. Don’t forget that pizza is not part of the main food in Italy. It’s something they (Italians) eat on Sunday night for dinner, or it’s a snack. They will go for a pizza lunch. But they won’t combine pizza with anything else. Risotto is part of the first course. So pasta and risotto are never a main course. They’re always eaten in small portions.

What an Italian meal has

Italians are very clever. Their meal is very well-designed. Antipasti is something small just to get the appetite going. Then they have a dish of carbohydrates, which is either a pasta or a risotto or even a soup. And it’s followed by a protein, which is a fish or a chicken or any other meat. They are not very big on desserts. It’s normally fruits. So the whole meal is planned.

But for us, what we do is — because we are so used to American movies — their pizzas and pastas and risottos have become the soul of Italian food for us, though it’s actually a very small part of the Italian kitchen.

Why the pasta comes in so many shapes

Every pasta has a different cooking time and pasta shapes are basically made depending on the sauce. If it’s a light tomato sauce, it will be a long pasta. If it’s a thick sauce, then it would be something tubular which can take the sauce. If it’s a stuffed pasta, the sauce will be definitely lighter than the filling. So it’s not about the shape looking nice or pretty, it is about the sauce you are using and depending on that you will decide on what pasta to use. 

Cheese and Italian are synonymous — true or false?

Again, not true. Cheese is used in very few things. But because Indians love cheese, most of the restaurants in India put only the cheesy things on their menu. As I said, the second main course is always a meat, chicken or a fish and it’s got no cheese, more or less. So it’s a myth.

Of course, in the north of Italy you will find cheese because it’s a cold part of the country. Again, the food differs for various reasons. Every region also has a different cheese based on the climate. You go to Apulia, the cheese that they use is stracciatella, which is a fresh cheese like your paneer, and Primo Sale. And there’s burrata in Puglia.