TASTE COMES FROM MORE THAN A NAME: FOOD THAT SOUNDS ITALIAN, BUT IS NOT 

ITALIAN SOUNDING-you may not be familiar with this term. I randomly asked people from the US, and learned the term is virtually unknown. In the food industry, however, it references the phenomena of food products entirely produced outside Italy and sold all over the world with label descriptions, trade-marks, illustrations, and recipes that allude to Italian origins. For many consumers, Italian Sounding creates expectations of good taste and connections to one of the world’s best culinary cultures – expectations that many times go unfulfilled. Having noticed, in my six months in the US and Canada as an exchange student, that hundreds of such products are being marketed and millions of consumers are missing out on true Italian taste, it became my mission to spread the word about TRUE ITALIAN: Taste Beyond Words. 

The easiest way to identify truly Italian food products is to look for country-of-origin information on the label. Although USDA regulations require country-of-origin labeling of commodities such as meats, vegetables, and nuts, those regulations do not apply to packaged foods such as processed meats, cheeses, and sauces sold in grocery stores. European Union and Italian regulations differ, however, resulting in country-of-origin being properly displayed on package labels (even for imported ones). If you are considering Italian-sounding packaged foods at the store and cannot find country-of-origin information, it is likely that the product does not come from Italy. And if you want to be 100% sure, Google it. 

Packaging and descriptions also help. Mozzarella cheese, for example, is never sold grated, sliced or in sticks. True Mozzarella is too delicate for such treatment, and is displayed as soft white balls, braids or knots floating in water. Similarly, consider the processed meats sold as “pepperoni” in many stores. We have many kinds of processed meats in Italy, but none are called pepperoni. Pepperoni means peppers in Italian. The name we use for the processed meat often used on pizzas “salame”. Which reminds me, in Italy there is nothing that resembles Alfredo sauce and “carbonara” does not have cream in its ingredients. I could go on, but you get the picture. It is wise to check the labels, and to learn about Italian food traditions. 

Italian institutions want foreign consumers to be informed, and it pays to check on the Internet. An example is a video called “The extraordinary Italian taste,” launched by the Italian Trade Agency (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MCjHBa57OY&feature=youtu.be). In addition, retailers such as EATALY (www.eataly.com/) have been the pioneers in this sector, with stores in most major US cities and selling only real Italian products. And if you do not live in a major city, you can still buy real Italian food on websites such as CAPRIFLAVOURS (www.capriflavors.com) and EATTIAMO (http://www.Eattiamo.biz) EATTIAMO is particularly exciting, It is a young startup arrived few weeks ago directly from Italy (5 Terre) to New York, with the purpose to sell only top quality products from small-size artisanal producers that are otherwise not able to market their products outside Italy. The EATTIAMO web site tells the story of each product and producer, because Italian food is not just about production and ingredients, It is about people, stories, effort, families, passion, and LOVE.