indian food vs. italian food

i like indian food as much as the next person but i didn't even think about this for one second

"indian" food

"italian" food

j0rdan i submit you don't like indian food as much as the next person

"max" what do u mean

i think he prob means many of us have only experienced the american version of these cuisines. which are v good at their best. i do think my access to the "authentic" thing wrt indian food will influence my vote. would love to eat my way through italy one day.

I have never been to india but the italian food I had in italy did not seem like it had magical properties that the (good) italian food I've had in america didn't have

it was just served to me by total assholes

American versions: Only ever had American, but that was so piss poor I have to assume Indian is better.

UK versions: Italian arguably more authentic but I think I might weigh toward Indian.

National versions: Tuscan vs Rajastani FITE. Too close to call.

i intensely crave marinara sauce about a million times a week. marinara is a marvelous invention.

Sorry, that should read Italian American.

oh yeah possibly max also meant that there is a lot of diversity within these cuisines, but in the american version, one region tends to dominate.

Both cuisines have truly amazing breadth and even italians and indians are unlikely to be familar with the whole of them. The dietary restrictions practised by the great majority of indians have perhaps limited the indian cuisine in terms of fish and meat dishes, so that opens the door to italy staying in the competition. I must think.

"max" what do u mean

― 2191: celebrate the m bisontennial (m bison), Sunday, November 6, 2011 4:56 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i think he prob means many of us have only experienced the american version of these cuisines. which are v good at their best. i do think my access to the "authentic" thing wrt indian food will influence my vote. would love to eat my way through italy one day.

― horseshoe, Sunday, November 6, 2011 4:57 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oh tbrr i meant that there are dozens (hundreds?) of indian cuisines and dozens of italian cuisines and like probably there are specific regions of india whose food i like more than specific regions of italy and vice versa

but yeah also the 'authenticity' thing i guess, sure

xxp you know me!! you really know me!!!!

goans cook fish. bengalis too. kashmiri lamb dishes are the best meat dishes IN THE WORLD. /biased.

xp <3

I think max meant that there really is no true meaning behind the combination of letters that make up "italian" and "indian" and without any real meaning in language how can we even have polls

The dietary restrictions practised by the great majority of indians have perhaps limited the indian cuisine in terms of fish and meat dishes, so that opens the door to italy staying in the competition. I must think.

― Aimless, Sunday, November 6, 2011 5:03 PM (41 seconds ago) Bookmark

false, a cuisine can be completely delicious absent meat and fish dishes.

still I dunno which one to vote for

indian muslims cook a bunch of meat btw, and deliciously

ime the best american italian food can vie with the best italian italian food but theres just so much more good italian food, and so much cheaper, in italy

no matter what the result, ilx will affirm that mexican food is better than either Food Wars: Mexican Food v. Italian Food

hmm I wonder why there's so much good and cheap italian food in italy

it is a mystery

I think americans can do a lot of world cuisines super well, we can also set world records for food awfulness

we can also set world records for food awfulness

― iatee, Sunday, November 6, 2011 5:06 PM (40 seconds ago) Bookmark

no that's still england

all time classic quote:

have only really had the fast-foody burrito/taco/quesadilla/whatever stuff, from some pretty authentic and reputable joints, and sure it's nice, and sure if i had a goat's cheese tostada i might cream myself a little, but *sigh* O Italian food. O. O.

― One idiot even called me "redcoat" because I'm (country matters), Sunday, August 2, 2009 5:14 PM (2 years ago)

haha xp

just fyi to all both of these are good and u dont really have to choose or vote in the poll or actually even post to this thread

― max, Monday, August 3, 2009 11:20 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I'd vote Indian food over anything altho if you count "wine" as Italian food that makes it a little tougher

sure if i had a goat's cheese tostada i might cream myself

i can't eat dinner now, because of this

seriously don't count india out of the meat game until you've tried the kashmiri gushtaba:

http://pakistanifoodrecipies.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/gushtaba1.jpg

are those brains?

also division between pakistan and india is arbitrary and colonial so i'm including pakistan and pakistanis eat meat all day and all night

xp lol shut up

lol "don't count India out until you feast your eyes on this appalling thing"

those are called "meatballs"

also division between pakistan and india is arbitrary and colonial so i'm including pakistan and pakistanis eat meat all day and all night

xp lol shut up

― horseshoe, Sunday, November 6, 2011 5:10 PM (16 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

welllllll so is the divide between france and italy so im including it too. and greece also.

and spain i guess

nehari is a really good pakistani beef dish but pictures of it are gross. you have to take my word for it.

xp but really. india and pakistan.

butter VS olive oil (is what it comes down to)

Italian food is one of those unchallenging comfort things that it's stupid to say you like because EVERYONE LIKES IT EXCEPT VEGANS AND WEIRDOS. It's way cooler to say you like I don't know one specific kind of kimchee, or unagi sushi or something. You know what? I fcuking love Italian food, Americanized or otherwise. To me, there's no greater flavor range in the world than garlic + tomato + lemon + rosemary, and 100 variations on that theme.

haha the picture is funny because i can't tell what the scale is. i'm imagining they are like 8 inches in diameter and that is a huge pot
anyway i pick india

gushtabas are meatballs. the meat is pulverized for hours. cooked kashmiri style in a yogurt sauce.

gushtabas are huge!

i can't believe i am posting about kashmiri food on the internet i need to stop.

yeah meatballs in yogurt, cool dish kashmir

i will seriously kill you you're insulting my mom right now max

false, a cuisine can be completely delicious absent meat and fish dishes

show me where I said any such falsehood.

also, yes, I do know that not everyone in india is hindu and that meat and fish are incorporated into indian cuisine, but I was thinking that perhaps the full creative power of the tradition had not been brought to bear, as opposed to the effloresence of their vegetarian dishes.

what vegans say they don't like Italian food? I will sic the ghost of my great-grandmother on them, she'll be rattlin ghost chains and yelling mangia

mughal dynasty cooking is very meat and cream heavy (korma, for example) and is represented well in indian restaurants in the u.s.

i have an indian coworker and his family is from gujarat and he is a vegetarian. he loves subway and candy!

well american restaurant korma is inauthentic but still tasty

m bison: Because in "Italian" restaurants EVERYTHIGN HAS CHEESE except a plain dish of pasta with tomatoes diced on top of it, which the kitchen will grudgingly make for vegetarians and small food-intolerant children.

xp KORMA IS MY FAVORITE.

aimless, there are lots of foods in the world not incorporated into italian food - 'perhaps the full creative power of the tradition' is not complete until they discover, idk, curry powder and twinkies. that argument is pretty nonsensical to me, unless there's some proof that meat is inherently some next-level sensation.

this is so embarrassing i'm repping for muslim influence on indian culture it's like i've become my dad

still might vote italian tbh

another reason to vote Indian is that the Vaisnava cuisine of west Bengal makes do without onion & garlic and I guarantee even the most exacting insufferable foodie here would, having chowed on a good Vaisnava feast, declare it delicious and lacking nothing, whereas if you take onion & garlic away from Italian cuisine it's game over for Italian cuisine

I'm voting india, I can't trust a nation who changed their entire cuisine because of a conquistador

oh well that's fucking every restaurant in America tho, we are talking about cuisines, not olive gardens/carrabas/macaroni grill

making vegan Italian food at home is hella easy

xp

another reason to vote Indian is that the Vaisnava cuisine of west Bengal makes do without onion & garlic and I guarantee even the most exacting insufferable foodie here would, having chowed on a good Vaisnava feast, declare it delicious and lacking nothing, whereas if you take onion & garlic away from Italian cuisine it's game over for Italian cuisine

― unlistenable in philly (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Sunday, November 6, 2011 5:17 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i see we are undertaking a rhetorical sleight-of-hand that allows us to divide "indian food" into region-specific cuisines but regards "italian food" as a monolith. i will not take part.

in conclusion, shakespeare was likely a kashmiri muslim. /my dad

is a national cuisine more than the sum of its parts?

only if it's the creamofsumyungguy

in conclusion, shakespeare was likely a kashmiri muslim. /my dad

― horseshoe, Sunday, November 6, 2011 5:20 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i like this theory

my dad has a lot of theories 4 u

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9287652/images/kashmiri.jpg

haha

horsehoe's dad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjWd9a8Ck8U

i see we are undertaking a rhetorical sleight-of-hand that allows us to divide "indian food" into region-specific cuisines but regards "italian food" as a monolith. i will not take part.

is there any region of Italy where the cuisine doesn't involve onions or garlic and is still flavorful? there's no question northern italian vs. southern italian is a whole range of tastes but the vaisnavas seriously elevate the game when they do their "take away our onion and garlic and we can still make stuff that will make you slap yourself" deal

omg ledge! that skit otm.

i see we are undertaking a rhetorical sleight-of-hand that allows us to divide "indian food" into region-specific cuisines but regards "italian food" as a monolith. i will not take part.

In fairness India is like 10 times the size of Italy at the very least.

I really love all the Italian staples obviously but when you go to one of the more authentic Italian restaurants in London the main fish/meat courses, while usually really great, aren't exactly anything you don't get in other cuisines.

Indian food > British Indian food > US Indian food >>>>>>> French Indian food. By contrast I don't think there such a variance in the quality of Italian food outside Italy.

I'm going to vote Indian here but the playing field is considerably levelled here when you factor in all the awesome Italian desserts. Indian desserts are basically just a load of different uses for condensed milk.

yeah not a fan of indian desserts beyond rasmalai. indian sweets are an abomination.

Kulfi is great but Italy invented ice-cream so that's an automatic point in its favour.

I don't understand gelato, can somebody explain gelato to me

- tastes good

every time I've thought, I would rather be eating ice cream

overall indian much tastier to me but yeah dessert is a total victory for italy. what does one eat for breakfast in india???

cheerios

or w/e you want to call early morning meal/snack

aloo paratha
harissa
an omelet
cheerios

Masala Dosa. Breakfast of Kings.

paratha is a perfect food all by itself

gonna open up an indian breakfast shop called harissa dalloway

Had breakfast at an Indian wedding (in the uk), was sooo good. It was... curried stuff, y'know? Thank you, my incredible memory.

Breakfasts I had in India basically revolved around eggs, bread and fruit. Nothing to write home about.

every time I've thought, I would rather be eating ice cream

I'm the total opposite, I realized recently that 'regular ice cream' is basically my least favorite types of frozen dairy dessert...prefer gelato, frozen yogurt, sherbert, custard

least favorite type

another day another poll

Haggis pakora vs pizza crunch.

in the most one-note, reductionist, misguided, ignorant reading of this poll: curry w/ rice >>>>>>>>>>> pasta w/ tomato sauce.

Because of this thread I am totally sauteeing some garlic in butter and dumping in a can of tomatoes. Thank you, all.

^ occams razor

xp

i am eating a tuna sandwich and its the first thing ive gotten to eat since about 8 am because i didnt get a lunch break and i kind of hate this poll and anyone who has the option to eat either of these cuisines right now (or really anything better than a soggy tuna sandwich at this moment in time). (though in the future whrn im hungry or trying to lose weight i might just look up old loujag posts about food and creaming.)

also : indian.

every time I've thought, I would rather be eating ice cream

man I am often with you on food-related issues but what are you even on about here. gelato is a thing, is what. anybody who gets all "gelato is vastly superior to ice cream" is posing but it certainly isn't ice cream's inferior.

come with me to a state where they allow ice cream to be made with >20% milkfat, you'll change your tune

I concede that I am not familiar with the local ice cream milkfat laws

is that really a thing? tbf i cant even remember the last time i had ice cream.

I spent a summer up at penn state, I think because of county laws you could make ice cream with 20% milkfat, it was glorious

unfortunately since penn state is actually located at the gates to the entrance of hell you only had about .5 seconds before the intense searing demonfire vaporized your ice cream

& every time I've thought, I would rather be in pennsylvania eating ice cream

ASPIE Rocky (dayo), Sunday, November 6, 2011 5:56 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

i have plenty of other ways to get fat that arent subject to antiquated laws or driving more than 40 miles outside philly city limits.

a.k.a. the part of pennsylvania we pretend doesnt exist.

lancaster?

well these i prefer to pretend none of it exists and i actually live beachside in the keys

I spent a summer up at penn state, I think because of county laws you could make ice cream with 20% milkfat, it was glorious

lol actually yeah, I think I had some ice cream at swarthmore once and noticed it was really rich

swarthmore is higher on us news I think that means the ice cream is better than penn state ice cream

Italian food is one of those unchallenging comfort things that it's stupid to say you like because EVERYONE LIKES IT EXCEPT VEGANS AND WEIRDOS. It's way cooler to say you like I don't know one specific kind of kimchee, or unagi sushi or something. You know what? I fcuking love Italian food, Americanized or otherwise. To me, there's no greater flavor range in the world than garlic + tomato + lemon + rosemary, and 100 variations on that theme.

― WE DO NOT HAVE "SECRET" "MEETINGS." I DO NOT HAVE A SECOND (Laurel), Sunday, November 6, 2011 10:11 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Laurel OTM. Though for me it's more about the magic TOMATO AND CHEESE combination. Also, pasta is approximately a billion times nicer than rice.

swarthmore is higher on us news I think that means the ice cream is better than penn state ice cream

lol'd really hard at this

Also, pasta is approximately a billion times nicer than rice.

we had this discussion I think and rice destroyed pasta and pasta was all cowering in a corner goin ok yeah I concede that I am not as good but can I still exist? and rice showed mercy because rice slays, that's how I remember it anyway

I would like to have fresh made pasta one day instead of the hard stuff that comes in plastic bags

Rice is just about the only base carb foodstuff that I don't like. Potatoes = nom, bread = nom nom nom, pasta = om nom nom nom nom nom.

would eat the hell out of: tandoori pizza

http://writinghappiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/tandoori-pizza.jpg

let me be clear, I love all carbs, but rice...rice is life!

You can have the rice! I don't want it! Actually, I think in a carb poll I would probably vote bread over pasta. Actually, have we done that yet?

Gah, I hate it when I do that. Actually.

the best indian food i've had is probably more delicious and exciting and wondrous than the best italian food i've had but i couldn't have indian much more than twice a month or so. italian i could eat 3-4 times a week.

I just want to remind everyone that if you agree with Aerosmith on this thread you are agreeing with a guy who thinks now and laters are the pinnacle of human culinary achievement, standing above only bit O honey--I mean frankly the guy is an embarrassment to the good Tyler name and to ilx in general

he's right about rice though, pasta is just italian for flour glue strings

basmati rice is the best form of rice, too

lol max feelin the heat...the heat of delicious indian food

voted indian. i've probably gotten more enjoyment from italian in my life overall, but recently the takeout/delivery italian place around here always delivers soggy/greasy gross food that i'm never in the mood however. however the local indian place is always delicious and recently we've actually been ordering indian more often than italian. so indian it is.

however. however i do love both

i eat some kind of italian food ridiculously often, like probably 3-4 days a week, but if i could afford it/knew enough places to eat or things to make, i'd gladly eat indian that often instead or additionally. so i think i'll vote for indian.

...yes...yes...my campaign of giving out free now and laters to the voters is bearing fruit...cherry, banana, apple, and "tropical"

indian food is super easy to make fwiw

Italian food is one of those unchallenging comfort things that it's stupid to say you like because EVERYONE LIKES IT EXCEPT VEGANS AND WEIRDOS.

This is utter madness, I became more vegetarian than I ever used to be thanks to proper homemade Italian food. Lentil soup with garlic, ceci (chickpeas) with tomato and chilli over pasta, fennel salad, salad in general. All vegan. I dont think Ive ever been to a decent Italian restaurant that has put cheese all over a dish without asking, either, except for obvious things like a pizza, or a green salad if it incs shavings of parmesan.

for fuck's sake what an awful poll, the priest wouldn't ask you this.

Indian btw, tho pasta indeed > rice

In fact Italian is easier to be vegan than indian, because they use olive oil, whereas a lot of indian places use ghee.

how to make super easy indian food

Wishing I'd brought in my chickpea/tofu/cauliflower curry I made, now. Hungry.

i actually work with a number of indian folks. maybe if i offer to do odd jobs for them they'll take pity on me and bring me food.

I gotta say Italian would stand a better chance against Indian with me if you had to do more to make an Italian dish "alla diavolo" than add a damn teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. I like Indian food, I like Mexican food, I like Thai food, I like Szechuan food. crushed red pepper flakes do not make the grade fire-wise you italians

i think the hardest part of indian cooking is finding high-quality spices. after that it's just frying onions, garlic and ginger and getting the spice blend right.

i am bad at paneer though

yeah tbh to make any range of indian food i think you'd need a pretty loaded cupboard of spices etc but you can make six classic italian dishes using only a leaf of basil and a hymn to our lady

obv this depends where you live but in most parts of london you can get all the indian spices you need in any local corner shop (usually not saffron, but all the others)

yes london seems wonderful

my wife's gotten pretty good at making a few homemade indian dishes (or at least some very delicious bastardizations thereof) and has a lot of the necessary spices but still it's just an every now and again thing

true story, the first time i ever had indian food as a teenager was IN london, so pretty good introduction for me there

granted, i have many of them myself, but there's a lot more of them needed for you to be able to claim even a reasonably basic indian kit, imo

surely cumin, coriander, ginger and turmeric aren't hard to get most places? That's all you need for your basic stuff. Which will still be delicious

madhur jaffrey complains that what gets sold as garam masala is often subpar so every time a recipe calls for it i have to hunt down green and black cardomom pods and half a nutmeg and grind them with peppercorns and cloves. i've misplaced half a dozen little homemade garam masalas. sometimes i think madhur jaffrey just likes complications, though.

vs a leaf of basil, tho

yeah cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric and cayenne are the only super-essential ones. though it can be hard to get the right chilies. jalapenos are not quite right.

nothing very hot in that group, number none

italian needs maybe five basic herbs, not inc.salt and pepper? i'd say indian needs maybe 10 basic spices (that's a guess based on my memory of my spiceshelf back in london) (haha if geeta is in my flat at the moment she can go look! tho she probbly knows them w/o looking and will spot something really obvious i don't have)

I didn't include chillis cos they're a staple surely?

can't wait to post in this thread

you know what can be hard to find? asafoetida

i found it at the indian store but i didn't get it

well, like i say, all the others are a staple in my neighbourhood!

i'd add cardamom cz i love it, amchoor and tamarind cz i like sourness and horseshoe's list doesn't really cover sour, cinnamon, though that's obvious a staple also, and maybe mustard seeds? also useful to have cardamoms and cumin as seeds as well as powder

i voted on the basis of which one i wd miss the most so indian it is

also lol @ jaggery
i needed it for something but then nothing else, so i had this block of sugar sitting in the cabinet forever

lol go to any indian store

cardamom is totally essential, you're right, and it can be hard to find the whole black cardamom pods.

when i lived in chicago the indian stores were far away from where i lived! life was so hard!

protip vegetables are cheaper in indian stores too

but like then again I just go to korean supermarkets to buy everything because they're the best I think

my indian store has not-so-fresh vegetables :(

indian food and italian food are kind of the only two cuisines I specialize in besides "breakfast" which is like 80% of the meals I make, but I like both I guess

bah it's the middle of the night here and now i want to go and make a curry even though i'm in the wrong house and have none of the above

anyway I am indian and have eaten food all over lil villages and big cities in india but I feel like there's really nothing interesting to say about this, they're both good things

uh oh i'm having curry

uh oh i'm having a puri

ilx food threads aren't really about interesting discussion they're fights to the deeath

I am a youngish indian male so old ladies behind the register in indian stores always feel pity for me or something whenever I show up to the counter w/ things to buy, like they figure out what I'm making by looking at the ingredients and bark out orders at me to pick the shit I'm forgetting up off the shelf back there, no to the right, above the yellow thing, the yellow thing to the left, and then they finally walk over and take it off and walk back to the register and ring me up with a big sigh

aero makes a v good point about the spiciness of italian food, but alas

I generally make my italian food kind of spicy anyway

i haven't been able to find fenugreek at the regular supermarkets, but i may break down and order some from the net.

Grew up with an Italian mom. Had my fill. Indian.

I am a youngish indian male so old ladies behind the register in indian stores always feel pity for me or something whenever I show up to the counter w/ things to buy, like they figure out what I'm making by looking at the ingredients and bark out orders at me to pick the shit I'm forgetting up off the shelf back there, no to the right, above the yellow thing, the yellow thing to the left, and then they finally walk over and take it off and walk back to the register and ring me up with a big sigh

this story made me laugh hard

a friend of mine was a dishwasher at an Italian place in California when he was sixteen and his boss was Mama D., aka the owner's wife who'd put her in charge of the kitchen. She was from Italy and made the dishwashers sweep the parking lot and the part of Foothill Boulevard in front of the restaurant before closing.

The speed limit on that part of Foothill then was, iirc, 50 miles per hour.

I recently got a mild infestation of those moths that come in on bags of rice from Indian markets. Any open spices or grains in the cupboard... ruined. Dead moths and larvae in the bags. I just discovered my fenugreek has moth larvae in it. I'm so pissed off because I didn't realize it and I have to make masoor dal later.

Italian, only because I'm pissed off.

I have always made masoor dal without fenugreek but that's because I never have fenugreek, is it mind-blowing essential and I am impure for not using it?

I am a youngish indian male so old ladies behind the register in indian stores always feel pity for me or something whenever I show up to the counter w/ things to buy, like they figure out what I'm making by looking at the ingredients and bark out orders at me to pick the shit I'm forgetting up off the shelf back there, no to the right, above the yellow thing, the yellow thing to the left, and then they finally walk over and take it off and walk back to the register and ring me up with a big sigh

LOL <3 damn xposts

I risked a Proper Indian Grocer the other day and bought some readymeals and some boxed "chana masala" powder which turned out to be SO FUCKING HOT I COULD SEE THRU TIME and I basically darent use it. I liked the idea it had powdered dried fruit, it made it seem different.

So I stick to the basic spices/masala mix. Though I'd like to try using powdered mango, that seems to come up a fair bit.

do indian grocers sell ghost peppers

M Bison, fenugreek is the secret to really good dal, but not essential. Put some... 1/4 tsp?... in the water w/ginger as you boil your lentils.

Yeah, Italian food doesn't have the constant ingredient and ingredient-sourcing problems that Indian food has for me.

This is utter madness, I became more vegetarian than I ever used to be thanks to proper homemade Italian food.

OKAY TO CLARIFY. I'm not vegetarian, nor do I care about even attempting to cook vegetarian, so the only time I think about it in connection w Italian food is when I'm eating out w a vegetarian, at which point it will be "a thing" that if we go to an Italian restaurant, everything will be about meat and/or cheese and it's not very nice for them.

Home cooking a difft story, as several people have said.

I'm still not sure how italian food can be more flavorful than indian food when indian food contains every single spice under the sun

italians were at their shit for just a few hundred years, indians have been at it since the dinosaurs grew feathers

indian, no contest

fuck this poll

i mean, come on

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gv3EvBgEeuo/TVUgPBvY26I/AAAAAAAAAGc/6J3GIS_S_gM/s1600/3-004_chef-boyardee_15_0Z_24_CT___22_90.jpg

(I could subsist entirely on either & not want for more, basically)

xp

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Was_chef_boyardee_gay

best whiney arrival ever

•How many calories in chef boyardee?
500 calories

•Is chef boyardee good for you?
as long as its mini ravioli its probably one of the best foods you can eat trust me im a ravioli aficiando

•Is chef boyardee real meat?
Yes, it's real meat, what does it look like a bananna? Open your senses, they can help you answer simple questions such as these!

•When did Chef Boyardee die?
'Chef Boyardee' is a brand name and corporate mascot. The man it was based on, Ettore Boiardi, died on June 21st 1985.

•Is Chef Boyardee dead?
Yes, he died on June 21, 1985 at age 87

didn't read the thread not b/c of lack of love but rather lack of time but I voted for the BUNGA BUNGAS

yes he was gay, they say he had 3 boy friends in his early childhood and then grew up to marry his dad.

RIP chef boyardee ;_; *pours out a can of mini ravioli*

Once I was in a pizza place in Connecticut. There was this really hot waitress working the pies like no tomorrow. Something about the way she said sausage that made me horny. "Sauseeg". Man did my sauseeg get hard when she talked. We flirted through must of our interactions. At the end of the night I asked her for her number and waht time she got off work. She said she was hanging out late tonight to close up. It was her parents shop. She asked if I wanted to stay and help. I did. We stayed late and we were so attracted to each other that we started going at it right there on the counter. We pushed the Jimmy Fund Donation can aside and layed out some flour on the counter top. We stripped butt naked and I told her to get the meatballs and sauseeg. She proceeded to shove two meatballs inside my rectum. It was hot. I rubbed her all over with capicola and mortadell. I made her my little italian sub and ate the shit out of her.

― captainmeatballs, Wednesday, July 28, 2004 7:38 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the chef boyardee mini "meatballs" are something i have enjoyed in my darkest moments

Laurel do you mean a vegan person because as a cheese loving vegetarian good Italian food is one of my favorite things on Earth.

italian food all inside my rectum

I can imagine Indian food being to 'Merkins what Mexican food is to Britishers.

yeah, i could see that

isn't there a relatively huge number of indian people in the US though, at least compared to the proportion of mexicans in the UK?

But curry in the UK is an institution in itself. It may be far removed from "authentic" Indian cooking, but like Italian food in the US, it's found its feet and in many cases is bloody delicious! (like blood sausage)

there are more indian ppl in london than there are in india, i read somewhere

yes but balti is invented in the UK and nobody from UK lives in america

oh xxpost

it's a shambles

i eat a lot more indian food than i do italian food so maybe voting indian

it certainly brings back more memories of joyous nights out. but then that is more to do with the beer that's consumed. plus italian food is very tasty and doesn't give me flaming diarrhoea

wait.. does dominoes count as italian food?

sorry domino's

as that does tick the diarrhoea box

I voted Indian food. Unless you go somewhere particularly special in the UK, Italian food is basically pizza OR pasta, which is nice enough I guess. I mean, I ADORE pizza, it's amazing, but Indian food is so much more flavoursome and varied when you go to a restaurant, and everyone's got a favourite and you can really tell the difference between restaurants etc.

I voted Indian food. Unless you go somewhere particularly special in the UK, Italian food is basically pizza OR pasta, which is nice enough I guess. I mean, I ADORE pizza, it's amazing, but Indian food is so much more flavoursome and varied when you go to a restaurant, and everyone's got a favourite and you can really tell the difference between restaurants etc.

but surely you can say "Unless you go somewhere particularly special in the UK, Indian food is basically gooey slop with rice OR bread"

jesus, really?

I live in a town of maybe 7k people and we've got two pretty good italian places

I mean, I ADORE vindaloo, it's amazing, but Italian food is so much more flavoursome and varied when you go to a restaurant, and everyone's got a favourite and you can really tell the difference between restaurants etc.

but i mean the eu basically covers us for these little luxuries tbf

I guess it's different in London. We have maybe five Italians and 5 Indian restaurants in our town. The Italian restaurants are mostly chains: Prezzo, Pizza Express, Strada etc. I can't really tell the difference other than minor changes in decor. The Indian restaurants are all independently run, offer very different menus, have their own style in general.

but even prezzo offers more than just pizzas and pasta...

http://www.prezzorestaurants.co.uk/menus

Yeah, but only wiseacres buy that.

http://www.strada.co.uk/menus/hitchin/main-menu

mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

I'm not slagging off Italian food in the UK - it's nice, I can't fault it - but for me, Indian food is just more interesting.

And yeah, stuff like that is great, Ken.

Hmm, I have to say almost all Italian Food in England is mediocre, bog standard pasta and sauces you could easily whip up at home. No enough places have a wood-fired oven for pizzas either, so just investing in a pizza stone will allow you to make a better pizza than most places.

I can imagine Indian food being to 'Merkins what Mexican food is to Britishers.

i live in the suburbs where good restaurants of any sort are at a premium and there are at least two decent indian restaurants (and a couple of take-out places) within driving distance. and no decent mexican joints. this country's just too big, and the immigrant population so diverse depending on which region you're in, to break it down like that.

more variety in Indian food imho (wider geographic area, wider variety of local ingredients, much bigger range of cultural diversity) so I'm goin with that

otoh I've never been to Italy (been to India twice)

voted italian just because i've been eating curry for 4 days in a row and so now longing for a lasagne

or a fritto misto (rather than onion bhaji)

Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia fuck yes

these are hands-down my two favorite cuisines (and yes i know neither is a monolith) but i feel a bit biased towards italian because i just made a huge batch of marinara sauce yesterday and it is delicious so that

Is indian pizza indian or italian? This is an important question to resolve, because indian pizza is a thing of beauty.

Going to eat my leftovers of that butter/garlic/tomato/pasta combination. Can't wait!

Is indian pizza indian or italian? This is an important question to resolve, because indian pizza is a thing of beauty.

so sad when people don't believe me about this

I feel Chinese should have been an option in this polldown.

xpost Shakey Mo, it is on your recommendation that I experienced the glory!!!

…and presumably every other world cuisine?

Chinese is at least as well represented in the US as Indian and Italian; do not know about UK.

i once had doner kebab pizza in the south of france -- it was not very amazing except as a concept

many many chinese takeaways in the uk, maybe even more than indian, i don't know (probably varies regionally) -- i remember the first chinese restaurant opening in shrewsbury in the 60s, the chanticleer, it was fancy! it had a dance band and a dance floor -- and my whole family went as a special very unusual treat

this reminds me, I should get around to doing the ILX world cuisine knockout poll

fyi according to dayo american chinese is a pale imitation and we basically have no access to the true wonder of chinese food. ;_;

xp!

I'm part Italian, I can eat Italian any time I want. Yes, it's great. It's really filling though and gets tiresome every day. That is true about the variety in Indian food...and the SPICE. I love SPICY FOOD. So, Indian then....

rustic italian flatbread vs. garlic naan

"turkish pizza" is good. U roll it into a tube.

Need to try pide at some point.

Is Indian pizza significantly different from Italian?

the one time i took my mom out for indian food, the only thing she liked was the "pizza bread"

xp yeah, pide. its great! and its so cheap and easy it kind of amazes me that it hasnt been exported to other countries as a late-night drunk food the way doner/schawarma has been

or maybe im thinking of lahmacun

http://www.tablehopper.com/newsletter/061205/zantes_large.jpg

for all not in the know... above is a pic of Zante's Indian Pizza in San Francisco. I have seen this ripped off by other local pizzerias, but I have never seen it replicated anywhere else in the US or in India. It differs significantly from Italian pizza - there is no marinara sauce, afaict they kind of use a saag-based sauce. and then there's cheese obviously, but the other toppings are usually tandoori chicken or lamb, cauliflower, onions etc It does not taste remotely Italian.

I think spicy food elevates your mood. When I down a huge Italian meal, I fall asleep.

meat version = Topped with Spinach, Egg Plant, Cauliflower, Ginger, Garlic, Green Onions, Cilantro, Lamb, Tandoori Chicken & Prawns

xp

afghani pizza rules, shaped like a football

go long

the one time i took my mom out for indian food, the only thing she liked was the "pizza bread"

http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-grandmother-tries-indian-food,2472/

real life versus chinese takeaway

Indian or Chinese?

American Chinese food

(there are several more)

we need a "european/mediterranean vs asian-including-indian" food poll

blood sausage versus the world

why has british cuisine sucked for so long, is my question

I think I kind of like British food but I might just be perverse.

i like scones

english breakfast!

i mean englands got nothing on italy or france or india but i think its been underrated for a long time now.

I actually kind of enjoy stuff like steak and kidney pie and haggis (the one time I had each of them). Big on ginger marmalade too.

^^xpost that pretty much sums it up. was just reading on some US food blog that everyone was excited fergus henderson was visiting nyc and his food is the most english thing ever

i mean british people invented "things that are named like desserts but actually made of meat" which is a really impressive innovation

it doesn't suck now -- after four of five decades of foodie agitation (and haha indian and chinese takeaways) -- and there've always been good pockets, but it was hit REALLY hard by the industrial revolution basically, and everyone flooding to the cities; and plus the fine eating establishments after the french revolution were basically all run by french ex-pats who'd been chefs for the aristos who had their heads chopped off

during empire, "takeout" meant we sent a gunship out to eg india and took their cuisine (curry, kedgeree and so on)

fine eating establishments^^^ie in england (well, london)

i suppose my point is that theres nothing inherent in british-and-or-english cuisine that would make it suck, so long as its prepared well. but i believe that it spent a century sucking because of bad chefs/bad reputations/margaret thatcher

I am late to this but I just read this upthread:

I just want to remind everyone that if you agree with Aerosmith on this thread you are agreeing with a guy who thinks now and laters are the pinnacle of human culinary achievement, standing above only bit O honey

I mean, how can Now and Laters be the pinnacle of human culinary achievement if everything but Bit O Honey is better than them?

1. Now and Laters
2. Bit O Honey
3. Saag Paneer
4. Garlic Naan
5. Chick O Stick

every ethnic cuisine in the world has copped to the fact that spices and pickling and fermenting are good things and make food flavorful and tasty and great

but british food, british food

currently lobbying to have the above ranking replace the US Constitution in toto

Bill of Blights

read a british cookery book in the 1930s and it's all nervously trying to be "french" -- escoffier's fault mainly! (tho he was good at this style)

the turnabout came after ww2, when english writers like elizabeth david started looking at european peasant cookery as the source of quality, instead of high-falutin fancy cuinse that few could pull off -- rationing during the war and after was the end of the low (and its nadir, probably), and it began a long slow trudge of a climb back to interest in cheap(ish) quality

thatcher is not actually the villain here, for once (she's not the hero either, just irrelevant: brit neo-foodiness coincided with her...)

xp spices and pickling and fermenting <-- dude, chutney! pickled onions, walnuts, everyone in the uk makes/buys a fvckton of this!

oh i was just guessing that it was maggies fault, everything else seems to be

pickled eggs!

i am not helping myself here i suspect

wow chutney was a british invention??

cheese, beer, whisky, cider are all fermented

even bread! bread is fermented

and speaking of cheese, it rules, and you cant find any of it in china, so lets call it even

not enough cheese in indian food either tbh

no, stolen from india (this was part of the problem, militarised access to all the world's foods) but pickling and fermenting stuff generally is a long-standing rural DIY activity

aero it is vital that we get yr opinion on Lik-A-Maid

(ps: INDIAN FOOD 4 LYFE)

stilton is english, right? thank you england!

glad to see all of you are agreeing to go on the cheese and whisky diet, sounds great

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/The_Tale_of_Ginger_and_Pickles_first_edition_cover.jpg

british cheeses are fantastic

also as a happy paneer addict I really don't understand criticizing Indian food for its lack of cheese

paneer is great, but there aren't a bunch of different varieties of indian cheese, is all i meant.

afaik anyway

I guess I'm just trying to understand why british food sucked for so long when france and italy were innovating up a storm during the same time period

really I'm just mad that america inherited the uk's shitty food legacy

we didn't need to innovate! during the upheaval of the industrial revolution, we could just help ourselves to an empire's-worth of excellence, plus many chefs fleeing from turbulent france/italy etc ended up in the uk also!

From wikipedia:
Dates of introduction of various foodstuffs and methods to Britain

1492 to 1914:
turkey: 1524[22]
cayenne pepper,[23]
parsley:[24] 1548
refined sugar: 1540s[19]
lemon: 1577 (first recorded cultivation)[25]
peach (cultivated): 16th century[25]
potato: 1586
horseradish:[26] 16th century
tea: 1610 or later[27]
banana (from Bermuda):[28] 1633
coffee: 1650[29]
chocolate: 1650s
ice cream: first recorded serving in 1672.[30]
broccoli: before 1724[31]
tomato (as food):[32] 1750s
sandwich: named in 18th century
curry: first appearance on a menu 1773; first Indian restaurant 1809[33]
rhubarb (as food): early 19th century[34]
three-course meal: about 1850 (developed from service à la Russe)[13]
fish and chips: 1858 or 1863[19]
Marmite: 1902[35]

Marmite: 1902[35]

I rest my case.

british cheeses do own

My Indian grandfather trying Marmite for the first time is literally the funniest thing i've ever seen in my life.

tomato (as food) made me lol, too: as opposed to what?

tomato (as food):[32] 1750s

was there some industrial use for tomatos?

xposts

tomato (as blood sausage)

people thought tomatoes were poisonous for ages iirc

tomato plants were used as garden plants I think?

number none OTM

those poor fools

tomatoes are a new world crop, along with the potato

always amazed me that italians have been working with tomatoes for only a few hudnred years

This thread has reminded me how much i hate when 'marinara sauce' is used by 'merkins to mean 'napoli sauce'. Anyway, this could boil down to How much time does everyone like spending in the toilet per day.

4 hours a day for me

was wondering where ur display name came from

lol

put a lot of work into it

"In certain areas of Italy, such as Florence, however, the fruit was used solely as a tabletop decoration* before it was incorporated into the local cuisine in the late 17th or early 18th century."

*ie by the Borgias

I like that they called it a day after marmite

This thread has reminded me how much i hate when 'marinara sauce' is used by 'merkins to mean 'napoli sauce'.

now we're gettin down to some kick-ass food pedantry

btw DJP Lik-M-Aid the powder ranks beneath the amazing Mexican sour sugar-and-chile powder "Brinquitos," but Lik-M-Aid sticks are generally considered an outstanding food

you sicken me

oh my god

where the hell has "Brinquitos" been all my life

Was Whiney seriously saying "italian sux bcz Chef Boyardee" or just being an arse?

I like Indian food but it doesn't like me

where the hell has "Brinquitos" been all my life

dude they are...sooo....good

what did my girlfriend buy me for my birthday in 1991? a big ol' bag of BRINQUITOS

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Assuming the ingredients are of the same quality, going with Indian.

Tough call, but I don't think there's an Italian dish I love as much as butter chicken.

real talk

cannot decide

this thread is reminding me that
a) hongry
b) i basically never ever eat italian food anymore?
c) crave indian food
d) have like a bazillion dollars worth of saffron in my kitchen right now that my mom got in Goa for like $2

I just bought saffron today for the first time ever! It reminded me of when my friend's co-worker went to Turkey on vacation and brought him back a lifetime's worth for like $15.

also just walked by a local Italian joint and sitting right there by the window was a large Indian family out for dinner

we love italian food!

I just thought it was funny, like they'd picked that particular restaurant to make me lol

chicken tikka messiah complex imo

plate of shrimp xp

When my housemates went to Turkey for holiday, I asked them to bring back saffron, but they bought back a big bag of turmeric. Dozy stoners.

indian food >>>>> italian food >>>>> english roast dinner >>>>> massive burger

now wait a damned minute

I think that's fair, no? Some days I'll swap the italian for a roast.

Saying that, some days I just want a massive burger. I never claimed consistency.

The only fair way for me to judge this is the best Indian food I've had (which was in Manchester) vs. the best Italian food I've had (which was in Italy, tho also some in NYC was close). I will go with Indian for its amazing range of textures and spices. But mostly, having considered this, I am sad that I now live in a place where you can't get either good Indian or good Italian. I guess I need to try to make some of my own.

Homemade Indian food, if made properly is really fun to prepare and eat.

esp if you own a tandoori oven

a tandoor, even

I did some Indian cooking years ago, but never enough to get good at it. Worth revisiting.

I know which of these I feel worse about indulging in 12-24 hours later.

lol catholic?

the best Indian food I've had (which was in Manchester)

The best Indian food I have eaten was in Galway. There was a maestro with spice working in that kitchen.

do you remember the place?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

*rolls eyes*

*lols*

*great britain*

wow. so many votes!

bless you, great britain, for choosing the butter chicken over the spag bol.

its tough to vote against risotto but sometimes you have to do it

nb: i abstained from this poll

i should have abstained. i voted indian out of ethnic pride but it was too hard a call, really.

I didnt vote, I couldnt choose.

this poll helped me choose my dinner tonight ... for real. it's gonna be chicken kashmiri!!

I'm glad to be on the right side for once

i approve

i really can't choose ... and it's a shame that my stomach has gotten so fucked up over the years that i have to take it easy when eating the finest of either of these fine cuisines. lotsa alfredo sauce and no vindaloos any more sadly ;_;

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss this poll yay

saag ravioli

real talk in this thread

jeez u guys

jalfrezi u guys

eat thali every day lamp!

I love Indian Food like Chappatis, Poori, dals, rice, Saag, makki di roti etc.
I also like Indian restaurant where the Indian food is served. My Favorite Indian veg. restaurant is " Haveli - Indian Food Restaurant ".

another ilx travesty

bearing in mind that my only experience is the anglo simulacra for which i'm eternally guilty and apologize to the gods of cuisine i still think this was the right result within the confines of this entirely hypothetical split

i approve

― buzza, Monday, November 14, 2011 5:56 PM (1 year ago)

Disappointed there was no Italian-Indian fusion poll option.

Baltipizza. Vindaloosagne.

Indian on sat
Italian yesterday
Off work today

Thks obama

I made keema lasgane and chicken tikka canneloni years ago, the results were on I Love Cooking - or, since search doesn't find them, more likely on Two Weeks/Sandbox versions of that board.

Wait, I found it:

So what have you cooked lately?

indian is almost guaranteed to cause damage to my guts. or at least yr east london curry will anyway, even in the nicer places.

italian seems to be sinned against quite frequently in restaurants, so many average or below average restaurants are "italian", ime.

A bad Indian is worse than a bad Italian but there are so many bad examples of both pretty much anywhere you go. A good Indian beats a really great Italian though, even in a really good Italian restaurant you get past the antipasti/pasta courses and the options can seem nice but not terribly exciting.

i guess the thing with "Italian" is that it relies a lot on quality of ingredients - obv to a large extent all cuisine does, but a lot of Italian dishes seem to be about simple stuff presented to its best advantage. this is why i cook pasta dishes two or three times a week but don't do my own "Indian" meals anything like as often

i know that this is all very broad generalizations

Yeah I would agree with that. The best Italian meals I've had haven't been doing anything earth-shattering in theory but have just been sourced and prepared impeccably.

same with spanish imo, to an extent.

i feel like loads of great cooking prob has roots in italian ways but this isn't what many "italian" restaurants do.

microwave italian food vs microwave indian food would be a better poll

still Indian, possibly by a wider margin imo

microwave lasagne though (horse or not) is truly beautiful

whereas microwave chicken jalfrazi is always a bit..

Which foodstuff has more tomato and cheese? Hmm.

that wd normally sway me but i think i wd take "mexican" over "indian" over "italian"

I haven't looked at what won this poll, but I wanted to make clear that the results are a travesty

http://www.tablehopper.com/newsletter/061205/zantes_large.jpg

i guess the thing with "Italian" is that it relies a lot on quality of ingredients - obv to a large extent all cuisine does, but a lot of Italian dishes seem to be about simple stuff presented to its best advantage. this is why i cook pasta dishes two or three times a week but don't do my own "Indian" meals anything like as often

i know that this is all very broad generalizations

― i'm not racist, i just dislike rap (Noodle Vague), Monday, September 16, 2013 7:17 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that seems accurate imo. i can buy some arugula from the farmer's market, sautee with garlic and olive oil and serve it with pasta and it's very simple and easy to prepare but delicious. indian food is definitely one my favorite cuisines but when i cook it i'm making basmati rice, a dal, vegetables, maybe some roti and pickle and it's sublime but a little more demanding

i had brilliant italian food last night (at sotto in the beverlywood section of l.a.), and today i'm going to an indian lunch buffet. i will report my findings to the thread once i am good and stuffed.

I made lamb rogan josh 2 days ago and went to Jamie's Italian yesterday. The rogan josh was amazing (and mostly out of a packet type thing, which NEVER happens) but Jamie's Italian was so full of butter and fattiness without much substance, therefore I declare Indian to be the winner.
Really into spiced cauliflower atm too yummm

Well, your first mistake was going to Jamie's Italian.

People cooking Indian from scratch will do well to remember that less is more...

our dinner at sotto was:

grilled bread with olive oil
kale/ricotta frittata
tomato-braised octopus with chickpeas (flavored with preserved lemon)
margherita pizza (with lovely char; I dipped the crust into the olive oil from the bread starter)
olive oil cake with oven-roasted grapes

just putting that out there.

wld probably still vote indian because i've had curries that have changed my life but i've eaten some v amazing italian food since this poll took place. pheasant ravioli, mint & asparagus risotto, arancini, the richest ragu, quail risotto (risotto w/ the proper finish & texture is the product of some rare magic)... these are my two fav cuisines

if you're eating both, the winner is you.

Bigoli al Pomodoro della Mamma 15
Tomato sauce Mamma Anna style, if you don’t like it, please, call my mom @ 091-905581 and tell her. Good luck!

Haven't had much Italian food these past four years and not really missing it. As long as I can have a gluten-free pizza now and then and some limoncello, I'm good. I did miss tiramisu but it doesn't even occur to me anymore. Tiramisu just doesn't measure up to gajar halva.

Italians lol.

"He also disdains the pace of change driven by the internet. “On the web, everything is consumed quickly. Culture, on the other hand, is slowness and choice. I made my theory; it is the theory of the three risottos. Do you want to hear it?” He clears his throat. “If someone has never eaten a risotto in his life – and if they have never been to Sicily, they certainly never have eaten a good one – the first time they taste it, they can only say if they liked it or not. The second time, however, they can argue that it was better or worse than the first one. Only from the third time on can they have their own theory of risotto and, if they want, give advice on how it should be cooked. Culture, to me, is knowing things and having a choice.”"

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/jul/26/photographer-ferdinando-scianna-interview-sicily-magnum

if you take onion & garlic away from Italian cuisine it's game over for Italian cuisine

lol