People who are not sure of their facts often dismiss it
contemptuously as being "all garlic and oil," whereas very little oil is
used except at Genoa, where oil, and very good oil as a rule, takes the
place of butter, and no more garlic than is necessary to give a slight
flavour to the dishes in which it plays a part. An Italian cook frys
better than one of any other nationality. In the north very good meat is
obtainable, the boiled beef of Turin being almost equal to our own
Silverside. Farther and farther south, as the climate becomes hotter,
the meat becomes less and less the food of the people, various dishes of
paste and fish taking its place, and as a compensation the fruit and the
wine become more delicious. The fowls and figs of Tuscany, the white
truffles of Piedmont, the artichokes of Rome, the walnuts and grapes of
Sorrento, might well stir a gourmet to poetic flights. The Italians are
very fond of their _Risotto_, the rice which they eat with various
seasonings,--with sauce, with butter, and with more elaborate
preparations. They also eat their _Paste asciutte_ in various forms. It
is _Maccheroni_ generally in Naples, _Spagetti_ in Rome, _Trinetti_ in
Genoa. _Alla Siciliana_ and _con Vongole_ are but two of the many ways
of seasoning the _Spagetti_.
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