When I was living in (Southern) Italy, something else that worried the local Italian population was any food that wasn't Italian. People wrote to their local pa

When I was living in (Southern) Italy, something else that worried the local Italian population was any food that wasn't Italian. People wrote to their local papers congratulating the local council for refusing to allow a non-Italian restaurant to open. Tradition is fine as a starting point, but I got so sick of (often mediocre through lack of competition) pizza and pasta. Sometimes, Italians take offence at what I'm saying and then list Italian dishes. Which often turn out to be different kinds of ways of arranging pasta, and different kinds of sauces for pasta. Tradition isn't meant to be a prison; it seemed to me that the tradition of the food had become more important than the actual food.