Italian - American Style

[Grits Burgh]

[kehaulani]

Well, I had a funny experience that might partially answer your question.

I had a band tour of Italy. We got in late and every restaurant within walking distance was closing. Right across the street from the hotel was a restaurant that agreed to stay open, if we ordered at once and only ordered pizza. I ordered a pepperoni pizza expecting your basic Dominos clone.

When it came, it was covered with these green veggie things." There must be some mistake", I said. "No mistake, you ordered a pepperoni pizza" he said. The girl next to me leaned over and said, "You want a salami pizza. Pepperoni are green peppers."
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[anrapa]

Exactly: peperoni (not pepperoni) is like saying big peppers which is the green, yellow or red giant veggie we eat very often in Italy.
What you call pepperoni is instead what we call salame piccante (spicy salame, your red colored salame) opposed to the normal salame that I've never seen in the US. You probably only prefer the spicy version?

A fun one regarding non written rules: a couple of weeks ago I was in Brooklyn with Andy Gravish and Marquis Hill.
Andy lived in Italy for a few years and is married with an Italian (very fun and nice person) wife. He speaks very good Italian and knows our culture very well.
Anyway, he brought us to this Italian restaurant where most of the guys spoke better Italian than English.
We ordered a few things an Marquis got pasta with scampi (sea food).
I was almost petrified when he put parmigiano cheese on it: in many restaurants waiters refuse to bring you parmigiano when sea food is mixed with pasta. They just don't mix in our culture!

Another one: pizza with pineapple or chicken! Pork meat (sausage) on pizza, ok. Cow meat... maybe. Chicken on pizza??? No!
Still, when Andy Taylor made me eat it in Ohio two years ago I actually enjoyed it very much so... who is right?
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[kehaulani]

I've gotten to the point where I just don't consider much "foreign" food in America as authentic, rather just accept it for what it is.

BTW, the terminology of Salami and Peperoni is also the same in Germany as in Italy.
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"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

[anrapa]

Another thing that is often mistaken is the pronunciation of words ending with E like salamE, linguine, fettuccine and so on. We say "E" like the first vowel of the word "end" while it's normal in America to say and write "I" pronounced like the first vowel of "even".

Another fun one: in Italy (and I think this is the same all accross Europe) you yield to the car coming from your right, unless you are getting into a round about or street signs say differently.
While going from L.A. to Las Vegas I stopped at Peggy Sue on the Route 66. There's a crossroad where I arrived a few seconds before another car, I stopped waiting for the guy to cross as he was coming from my right but he stayed there for a good 20-30 seconds without honking until I realized I had to go first.
In Italy you could be crucified for that...
Also, if the rule was "first to come, first to be served" you would see cars dashing at light speed trying to get first at the crossing!
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AR Resonance Trumpets and Mouthpieces

Trumpets and mouthpieces: the ones I make

[Grits Burgh]

kehaulani, anrapa,

Thanks for the posts.

Stories about the differences in cultures always entertain me.

I have to say that I am with the Italians on the "no parmigiano cheese on seafood" rule.

I'm not big on pineapple and ham pizza, but it beats the Japanese preferred toppings: squid, corn, potato and mayonnaise (among others).

Warm regards,
Grits
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[LittleRusty]