Sunday morning and my thoughts naturally turn to what I’m going to give the family for lunch.
Back in England, Sunday lunch was always roast meat, roast potatoes, and boiled vegetables, plus gravy of course, but whenever I’ve presented Italian friends or family members with a traditional English Sunday lunch, there has been a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
Pasta, especially fresh pasta bought locally, is a common choice, and equally normal would be to eat out or visit parents or relatives.
But for a hungry family, there’s nothing better than a hot carbonara, which thought reminds me of a video Stefi and I prepared last year when we were first experimenting with offering free content on the Internet…
So, if you’re stuck for ideas on your Sunday lunch, or are just curious to see what happens in our kitchen in Bologna on Sunday mornings, check out this video!
And then, why not leave a comment: it would be great to hear what you eat on Sundays in YOUR country, or about your favourite Italian Sunday lunch recipes (comments in Italian especially welcome!)
Daniel Resheter says
Ah, one of the many great things about Italy- the food! You would think that when the British had their empire they would have acquired some recipes. Perhaps a trip to France could have helped. But no, they just cook the same bland stuff they’ve eaten since the Magna Carta. When McDonald’s came to the U.K. it truly was a culinary improvement.
But the Italians- such variety. And every cook has their own special way of preparing the food. You can travel through Italy, have a great meal every time and never have the same meal twice. Io adoro Italia!
Marion Porreca says
Caro Daniel,
Voglio fare un commento sull’articolo “Sunday Lunch” … e cioé :-
quanto, tanto, mi é piaciuto guardare, seguire ed ascoltare tutto il contenuto del vostro video, compresa la bella musica jazz. É stato uno dei migliori “programmi” di cucinare e di ricette che abbia mai visto! Cosí chiaro, ben spiegato, conciso, preciso ed allo stesso tempo, tanto piacevole. Benfatto in tutti i sensi. Sto ancora sorridendo!!
Veramente mille grazie.
Sinceramente,
Marion Porreca.
Andy Miller says
Hmm. Perhaps if you’d told them you were serving a tagliata di manzo (or agnello) with contorni of fagioli, piselli and patate al forno.
Roast and grilled meat is a pretty fundamental part of Italian cuisine: think abbacchio scottaditto, porchetta, braciola di maiale or salsicce alla bracia, or arrosticini.
And as far as your comments on English cooking are concerned – I think you’ve been away from the UK too long – there’s been a revolution in the standard of food in pubs cafes and restaurants over the last 10 – 20 years.
Daniel says
Good point, Andy. Give it an Italian name, and they’ll eat it. Which says something about Italian attitudes to foreign food.
And also true that roast and grilled meat is a big part of Italian cusine, but I don’t recall being offered it at lunchtime on Sunday..
And as you say, I’ve been away from the UK for a long time, but perhaps you didn’t know that I return as a VISITOR each year (so the kids get some sense of being English) and eat in pubs, restaurants and so on.
It’s common for us to arrive, of an evening, in some small town, somewhere bewteen a major airport and our destination, unable to find even a fish and chip shop or a Chinese take away with anything decent to eat. Sometimes not just nothing decent to eat, but actually nothing to eat at all.
Get out of London or other major cities, the UK countryside is a culinary wasteland – supermarkets is where it’s at, other than that, you’d be fortunate to get a pasty from a petrol station, or a MacDonalds (well said, previous poster!)
And the Italian’s experience of UK cooking is just like mine – tinned or frozen food served by the “homestay mother”, over-priced pretentious rip-offs in any “quality” restaurant, or fast food, which is predictable but recognised for the crap that it is.
As Italian residents but UK citizens, we assure them that in English homes people actually cook and eat decent meals, and visitors to our homes appreciate the truth of that, but it’s a rare and lucky visitor who actually gets to experience quality home cooking.
Other than at my mum’s, I’ve barely had a decent meal in the UK for 15 years.
Carlo Romani says
Daniel,
The mini show for carbonara, was in my opinion, great!
I enjoyed it immensely. For others watching, it was not about pros and cons of Italian cooking or italian foods, it was a show on how to make a Sunday dinner. Do more I think others will enjoy them as much as I have.
SI Gordon says
Un’argomento interessante. Penso che la tradizione britannica di “Sunday Dinner” non sia molta diffusa come nel passato. Le abitudini di cenare nel Regno Unito hanno cambiato con gli anni.
A differenza del Regno Unito, L’Italia è ancora un paese delle regioni in cui le caratteristiche e tradizioni particolari continuano. Nel Regno Unito ci sono ancora le zone con le loro tradizioni particolari e i loro gusti locali. Però che sia l’eredità dell’impero, l’esperienza di viaggio estero o la natura diversa/multiculturale della società britannica, gli inglesi oggi hanno i gusti più diversi e cosmopoliti. Il pasto preferito nel Regno Unito è la pietanza al curry!
Ma in contrasto con la banalità dei ristoranti “fast food” e “pub grub”, c’è un ripristino di mercati dei contadini e il cibo delle vicinanze. Molti personi adesso si interessano di coltivare il loro cibo proprio. In molti posti c’è una lista d’attesa per i piccoli lotti di terreno.
La nostra cena della domenica ieri è un buono esempio di questa diversità. Abbiamo un pesce pescato in loco ma l’abbiamo cucinato nella una ricetta marocchina!
SI