9 ms·

Not quite the same, but earlier this year I was working in Italy for a few months. I went back to the UK last week and it really surprised me how poor the quali

Not quite the same, but earlier this year I was working in Italy for a few months. I went back to the UK last week and it really surprised me how poor the quality of food is there. I don't mean in restaurants, but the actual ingredients you get in supermarkets. In Italy you can go into even the cheapest supermarkets and get tomatoes that smell like actual tomatoes, where as in the UK they just have no smell. Even tomatoes supposedly grown in Italy were the same (I guess they keep the good ones for themselves).

kevindeasis 10y ago
I went to Italy once and it opened my eyes on how I should have higher standards on what I eat, when I come back home Edit: english
- collyw 10y ago
  Eating out in the UK is all about the location. if a restaurant is trendy people will go. In Spain people go for the food. There are often queues outside restaurants in which the surrounding look terrible (chairs that look like they are taken from a school 40 years ago). Spanish people understand food in a way that most Brits don't.
  - chadcmulligan 10y ago
    yes I always look for restaurants that look a bit crappy but full of people. You know the food must be worth it.
  - cylinder 10y ago
    Same situation in NYC. Great location, trendy expensive interior decor? Prepare to be disappointed unless the cost is $300pp.
bloaf 10y ago
Speaking of Italy, I was a little surprised the article mentioned olive oil, but not basalmic vinegar http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/balsamic-vinegar-fraud_n_5459425.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/balsamic-vinegar-fr...
- alxv 10y ago
  On the other hand, the bland stuff doesn't poison you as much with lead. http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/lead-in-vinegar http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/lead-in-vine...
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
misja111 10y ago
The problem with tomatoes and many other vegetables and fruits is, that they don't grow in the UK so they have to be imported. If they would be imported only when they were as ripe and tasty as the ones you saw in Italy, they would be rotten by the time they arrived in your supermarket in the UK. So, they are harvested when they are not quite ripe. They will ripen a bit more during transport but they will never have the same quality and freshness as the food in Italy. TL;DR; if you want to have really fresh vegetables, stick to local and seasonal products.
- blowski 10y ago
  > The problem with tomatoes and many other vegetables and fruits is, that they don't grow in the UK so they have to be imported. Tomatoes do grow in the UK (my Dad has lots of them in his garden) but only for a short season.
  - eatbitseveryday 10y ago
    > but only for a short season. I think that was the point being made, that for the majority of the year (if there are even any tomato farms), all are imported.
- Qantourisc 10y ago
  They could also come from greenhouses, where they are typically grown on something that resembles cotton balls and nutrients, no ground involved. When I see tomatoes grown like that, I always think of them as tomatoes on life support. Also there are different tomatoes species, I could certainly see one using faster and more water-holding tomatoes.
  - eru 10y ago
    I quite liked the Dutch tomatoes that we got in Germany. I understand they are grown in greenhouses?
    - Aaargh20318 10y ago
gambiting 10y ago
As someone who came from Poland to the UK, I was amazed by the quality of the ingredients in the UK. Tomatoes that smell like actual tomatoes, beautiful, tasty, sweet and crunchy carrots, onions, wealth and abundance of any fruit you can imagine. Cherries and watermelon in January?! What's this madness?! My point is - it all depends on your perspective. To me, quality and variety of ingredients available in the UK is just stunning. To you, it's poorer than italy. Depends how you look at it.
- AstralStorm 10y ago
  You must have bought your vegetables in a big supermarket. Much better quality off small grocers and open air markets.
Jerry2 10y ago
Another scam is extra virgin olive oil. Almost all of the ev-olive oils that you buy at supermarkets in the US are fake [0]. It's basically lower-grade olive or vegetable oil with some added green chlorophyl for color. UK supermarkets aren't faring much better [1]. It's all due to mafia control of the oil markets in Italy. 60 Minutes did a report on it recently and they even tested oils for fakes [2]. It's extremely difficult to tell if your ev-olive oil is fake without chromatography/spectroscopy equipment but some people try [3]. [0] http://time.com/money/4326354/fake-olive-oil-food-fraud/ http://time.com/money/4326354/fake-olive-oil-food-fraud/ [1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11988947/Italian-companies-investigated-for-passing-off-ordinary-olive-oil-as-extra-virgin.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11988... [2] http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/mafia-olive-oil-on-60-minutes/50203 http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/mafia-olive-oi... [3] http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-tell-if-your-olive-oil-fake/ http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-tell-if-your-olive-oil-fake/
- derefr 10y ago
  What's the cheapest way to get guaranteed-real EV olive oil? Are there known-good brands (perhaps ones produced entirely outside of Italy?) Or, if you cared about "authentic Italian" olive oil, perhaps for personal or restaurant use (i.e. not for resale): how much would it cost (in the US) to just buy bulk Italian olives, and then press them yourself?
  - kbart 10y ago
    I buy Greek olive oil. I didn't do any serious research, but it tastes much better than Italian or Spanish counterparts bought locally. I've been to Greece and what I tasted there, wasn't much different from what I buy back home, so I suppose it's a real deal. EDIT: I live in Europe, so it might be different in USA.
    - pfranz 10y ago
      Greece grows a lot of olives, but lacks the infrastructure to process and bottle it into oil (on a large scale)[1]. They end up selling much of it to Italy. Maybe Italy uses different techniques than Greece does? I've tried to check the bottles of Italian olive oil and have had a hard time figuring out where exactly the olives were sourced. [1] http://www.npr.org/2015/07/16/423605233/greeces-lost-olive-oil-how-export-barriers-stifle-economic-growth http://www.npr.org/2015/07/16/423605233/greeces-lost-olive-o...
marak830 10y ago
I had the same effect, moving to japan. It's insane how much better the food is here, compared to Australia.
- chadcmulligan 10y ago
  what food is better in Japan (part form sushi)? curious ozzy.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - vlod 10y ago
    As a pizza wannabe-snob, I thought their Neapolitan pizza was outstanding (ingredients, dough, charring) pretty much everywhere I went. (Similar to fancy pizza in the US). Also their croissants were fabulous (almost on par to the ones I got in Paris) and compared to the mostly crap (unless you go to a passionate bakery) you get in the US.
  - marak830 10y ago
    Sorry I've been busy, havnt had a chance to respond. In general I find it much easier to access fresh, healthy food here (711 has fresh sandwiches and onigiri every day, as do all convenience stores). I find the culture is more to healthy food, we will go out and more often than not eat thinks like claybpot or shabushabu (both have lots of vegetables, and very few additives or flavour enhancers). Soft drink isn't as popular, ill more often see someone drinking brown or green tea fr a vending machine, than a coke or other sugary drink. As for specific foods. . . I wouldn't know where to start, aside from a certain fermented bean(sorry the name escapes me at the moment), I'm in love with everything food wise here. The summer festivals have some amazing noodles, chicken skewers and more. I find as an ex chef the flavours are a lot more subtle(when it comes to overpowering the natural flavour of the ingredient), so the focus there is a nice surprise for me.
rukuu001 10y ago
I was shocked by the food in UK supermarkets. Pricey and poor quality. But in the country greengrocers had great fresh produce much cheaper than the supermarkets. Bewildering.
- emp_zealoth 10y ago
  Issue of scaling - if you pick completely green tomatoes, you can transport and abuse them how you want - they are hard and unlikely to be damaged. Somebody has to pay off all the managers too, the transport costs etc. The market is pretty locked down too - in some countries you have market stalls that sell produce - usually those are very good at driving the quality up - but usually highly restricted/regulated :(
  - guard-of-terra 10y ago
    It's funny if you think if it. Economy of scale used to be delivering better product for cheaper. Now it delivers worse product for more money, but in such fashion that you can't escape. It seems that here, some regulations should put an end to their fairy tale.
CaptainZapp 10y ago
During the 45 weeks of the year in which fresh tomatos taste like water I actually very much prefer canned, Italian tomatos (Pelati), which taste much better than out of season tomatos and can be had for a song.
dwc 10y ago
About 10 years ago I was in Italy. Stopped for a quick meal at a kiosk set up in the middle of the airport. The caprese sandwich I got was totally amazing. The flavors! From a kiosk in an airport! Such a simple thing but so, so good. The other meals I had over the week were also very good. There's something to be said for food purity laws: when you can't add all sorts of crap you have to focus on the quality of what you have, and it makes a huge difference.

kevindeasis 10y ago

I went to Italy once and it opened my eyes on how I should have higher standards on what I eat, when I come back home Edit: english

collyw 10y ago
Eating out in the UK is all about the location. if a restaurant is trendy people will go. In Spain people go for the food. There are often queues outside restaurants in which the surrounding look terrible (chairs that look like they are taken from a school 40 years ago). Spanish people understand food in a way that most Brits don't.
- chadcmulligan 10y ago
  yes I always look for restaurants that look a bit crappy but full of people. You know the food must be worth it.
- cylinder 10y ago
  Same situation in NYC. Great location, trendy expensive interior decor? Prepare to be disappointed unless the cost is $300pp.

bloaf 10y ago

Speaking of Italy, I was a little surprised the article mentioned olive oil, but not basalmic vinegar http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/balsamic-vinegar-fraud_n_5459425.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/balsamic-vinegar-fr...

alxv 10y ago
On the other hand, the bland stuff doesn't poison you as much with lead. http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/lead-in-vinegar http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/lead-in-vine...

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

misja111 10y ago

The problem with tomatoes and many other vegetables and fruits is, that they don't grow in the UK so they have to be imported. If they would be imported only when they were as ripe and tasty as the ones you saw in Italy, they would be rotten by the time they arrived in your supermarket in the UK. So, they are harvested when they are not quite ripe. They will ripen a bit more during transport but they will never have the same quality and freshness as the food in Italy. TL;DR; if you want to have really fresh vegetables, stick to local and seasonal products.

blowski 10y ago
> The problem with tomatoes and many other vegetables and fruits is, that they don't grow in the UK so they have to be imported. Tomatoes do grow in the UK (my Dad has lots of them in his garden) but only for a short season.
- eatbitseveryday 10y ago
  > but only for a short season. I think that was the point being made, that for the majority of the year (if there are even any tomato farms), all are imported.
Qantourisc 10y ago
They could also come from greenhouses, where they are typically grown on something that resembles cotton balls and nutrients, no ground involved. When I see tomatoes grown like that, I always think of them as tomatoes on life support. Also there are different tomatoes species, I could certainly see one using faster and more water-holding tomatoes.
- eru 10y ago
  I quite liked the Dutch tomatoes that we got in Germany. I understand they are grown in greenhouses?
  - Aaargh20318 10y ago

gambiting 10y ago

As someone who came from Poland to the UK, I was amazed by the quality of the ingredients in the UK. Tomatoes that smell like actual tomatoes, beautiful, tasty, sweet and crunchy carrots, onions, wealth and abundance of any fruit you can imagine. Cherries and watermelon in January?! What's this madness?! My point is - it all depends on your perspective. To me, quality and variety of ingredients available in the UK is just stunning. To you, it's poorer than italy. Depends how you look at it.

AstralStorm 10y ago
You must have bought your vegetables in a big supermarket. Much better quality off small grocers and open air markets.

Jerry2 10y ago

Another scam is extra virgin olive oil. Almost all of the ev-olive oils that you buy at supermarkets in the US are fake [0]. It's basically lower-grade olive or vegetable oil with some added green chlorophyl for color. UK supermarkets aren't faring much better [1]. It's all due to mafia control of the oil markets in Italy. 60 Minutes did a report on it recently and they even tested oils for fakes [2]. It's extremely difficult to tell if your ev-olive oil is fake without chromatography/spectroscopy equipment but some people try [3]. [0] http://time.com/money/4326354/fake-olive-oil-food-fraud/ http://time.com/money/4326354/fake-olive-oil-food-fraud/ [1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11988947/Italian-companies-investigated-for-passing-off-ordinary-olive-oil-as-extra-virgin.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11988... [2] http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/mafia-olive-oil-on-60-minutes/50203 http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/mafia-olive-oi... [3] http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-tell-if-your-olive-oil-fake/ http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-tell-if-your-olive-oil-fake/

derefr 10y ago
What's the cheapest way to get guaranteed-real EV olive oil? Are there known-good brands (perhaps ones produced entirely outside of Italy?) Or, if you cared about "authentic Italian" olive oil, perhaps for personal or restaurant use (i.e. not for resale): how much would it cost (in the US) to just buy bulk Italian olives, and then press them yourself?
- kbart 10y ago
  I buy Greek olive oil. I didn't do any serious research, but it tastes much better than Italian or Spanish counterparts bought locally. I've been to Greece and what I tasted there, wasn't much different from what I buy back home, so I suppose it's a real deal. EDIT: I live in Europe, so it might be different in USA.
  - pfranz 10y ago
    Greece grows a lot of olives, but lacks the infrastructure to process and bottle it into oil (on a large scale)[1]. They end up selling much of it to Italy. Maybe Italy uses different techniques than Greece does? I've tried to check the bottles of Italian olive oil and have had a hard time figuring out where exactly the olives were sourced. [1] http://www.npr.org/2015/07/16/423605233/greeces-lost-olive-oil-how-export-barriers-stifle-economic-growth http://www.npr.org/2015/07/16/423605233/greeces-lost-olive-o...

marak830 10y ago

I had the same effect, moving to japan. It's insane how much better the food is here, compared to Australia.

chadcmulligan 10y ago
what food is better in Japan (part form sushi)? curious ozzy.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- vlod 10y ago
  As a pizza wannabe-snob, I thought their Neapolitan pizza was outstanding (ingredients, dough, charring) pretty much everywhere I went. (Similar to fancy pizza in the US). Also their croissants were fabulous (almost on par to the ones I got in Paris) and compared to the mostly crap (unless you go to a passionate bakery) you get in the US.
- marak830 10y ago
  Sorry I've been busy, havnt had a chance to respond. In general I find it much easier to access fresh, healthy food here (711 has fresh sandwiches and onigiri every day, as do all convenience stores). I find the culture is more to healthy food, we will go out and more often than not eat thinks like claybpot or shabushabu (both have lots of vegetables, and very few additives or flavour enhancers). Soft drink isn't as popular, ill more often see someone drinking brown or green tea fr a vending machine, than a coke or other sugary drink. As for specific foods. . . I wouldn't know where to start, aside from a certain fermented bean(sorry the name escapes me at the moment), I'm in love with everything food wise here. The summer festivals have some amazing noodles, chicken skewers and more. I find as an ex chef the flavours are a lot more subtle(when it comes to overpowering the natural flavour of the ingredient), so the focus there is a nice surprise for me.

rukuu001 10y ago

I was shocked by the food in UK supermarkets. Pricey and poor quality. But in the country greengrocers had great fresh produce much cheaper than the supermarkets. Bewildering.

emp_zealoth 10y ago
Issue of scaling - if you pick completely green tomatoes, you can transport and abuse them how you want - they are hard and unlikely to be damaged. Somebody has to pay off all the managers too, the transport costs etc. The market is pretty locked down too - in some countries you have market stalls that sell produce - usually those are very good at driving the quality up - but usually highly restricted/regulated :(
- guard-of-terra 10y ago
  It's funny if you think if it. Economy of scale used to be delivering better product for cheaper. Now it delivers worse product for more money, but in such fashion that you can't escape. It seems that here, some regulations should put an end to their fairy tale.

CaptainZapp 10y ago

During the 45 weeks of the year in which fresh tomatos taste like water I actually very much prefer canned, Italian tomatos (Pelati), which taste much better than out of season tomatos and can be had for a song.

dwc 10y ago

About 10 years ago I was in Italy. Stopped for a quick meal at a kiosk set up in the middle of the airport. The caprese sandwich I got was totally amazing. The flavors! From a kiosk in an airport! Such a simple thing but so, so good. The other meals I had over the week were also very good. There's something to be said for food purity laws: when you can't add all sorts of crap you have to focus on the quality of what you have, and it makes a huge difference.