Just a question. Who are the Americans who consume Italian products?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

I'll bet it's those "elitists" in the coasts, rather than flyover country.

Just sayin'.

[mdmc]

1. fashion and food

most likely coast folk

[Bridget Burke]

2. Spec's Liquor Warehouse in Houston shows 816 Italian items....

In their online store. Spec's sells lots of imported food, as well as wine & liquor.

www.specsonline.com/

Ain't Houston "flyover country"?

[DUHandle]

3. Ralph Lauren is a common enough brand

[simonm]

4. mmmm

pizza.. calzone. I'm guilty!

[Avalux]

5. Hmmm.

I happen to be addicted to Alessi Strained Tomatoes - a jarred product from Italy that I use instead of tomato sauce. I must be an elitist stuck in Texas. ;)

[Initech]

6. Me! I love Italian food.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

27. Nothing against Italian food

As long as it isn't actually made in Italy.

[Initech]

29. Olive Garden?

:puke:

[MADem]

7. A lot of middle class Italian-Americans go for Italian food products

And not all of it is "high end." Barilla pasta, for example, is the "everyday" pasta of Italy. It's what the "two working parents" crowd buys to feed the rugrats. Sometimes I have to laugh at how they take something that is just an average product, and make these incredibly fancy ads that make it seem like you are getting something other than the usual stuff.

Of course, the wealthy always go mad for the suits and shoes and so on, but there are plenty of more pedestrian products that are exported here.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. Yep. Overpriced shit.

Italy has zero GDP growth, thanks to Berlusconi.

I'll bet it'd be quite negative if not for US exports.

Again, just sayin'.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

30. I really like Barilla and not for the ads.

On sale here they go for 3 lbs for $2.00, and after buying pasta products for 30 some odd years, I think it's the best on the market next to the "fancy" and expensive fresh pasta.

[MADem]

37. DiCecco is also good, but over the past decade, the price has gone nuts

I have noticed quite a few "house brands" that I used to see in the supermercados making it over this way, as well--sorta like buying SAFEWAY products in Italy, marketed as high end. It cracks me up. It's all pretty good--the way they make it, the pasta doesn't get that fer-shit mushy quality that one used to get over this way. If you can make a decent pasta al forno with it, it's good stuff.

[TomInTib]

8. In my little town of 5,400, Ill bet there are over 100 Italian cars..

All four houses on our drive have one.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. French cars are better. Hell, even AMERICAN cars are better.

Once again, just sayin'.

[Book Lover]

13. Now, CPD, I love you, but

if you are implying that any car is better than a Ferrari, then I'll have to ask you to step outside :-)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. Ferrari isn't a car, it's metal masturbation.

Just like that ski slope in Dubai.

[TomInTib]

20. I have tried both (extensively)

And I would give up masturbating before I would "quit" my automobile.

[Book Lover]

21. Not mental

If you buy one used that has been well-maintained and keep it well-maintained, you will own it for the rest of your days. And unlike Dubai, Ferrari cars are not built using slave labor.

[Cleita]

14. A friend of mine once joked that FIAT stood for

"fix it again, Tony".

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. I'm a Sicilian

What was I supposed to eat?

[MADem]

19. Well, I have to search for it, but I do find my AVERNA amaro

And nothing like a hit of Montenegro on a cold day.

I happen to like Italian food. I'll pay extra for mozzarella di bufula airfreighted in, I know the difference between lousy pasta and good pasta, and I am a fan of any tomato canned south of Rome (you will never find high fructose corn syrup added--maybe salt, but that's that). The price difference, if any, is insignificant, and the taste is extraordinary. And I am hardly an elite. I'd rather have less of a good thing than a gallon of crap...!

[Book Lover]

12. Yeah, me with my elite Barilla!

:rofl: and my tomato paste in a tube. Yep, I'm a librul wealthy coaster, fer shure.

[MADem]

24. That highly concentrated paste is just the thing when you want a teaspoon

to add to a recipe. I have always wondered why the Americans don't get off the dime and come up with a better way to package paste other than the small can. American paste, if you check the label (go for no extra ingredients, save maybe salt), is often every bit as good as the exports from Italia--it's just the packaging that isn't convenient if you only need a little.

I can't say the same for tomatoes, though. The national brands of canned tomatoes are not, on average, as good as the Italian ones. There are a few exceptions but most of those are old school brands that were started up by Italian immigrants in the last century.

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. There's nothing like a nice Chianti ---

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Gimme Spanish wine any day. -nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

28. But does it go as well with

liver and fava beans?

;-)

[MADem]

25. Funny, I almost never had chianti over in Italy, and I lived there for

close on a decade. I usually had the homemade wine. Way cheaper, good stuff, no added ingredients. You could buy it in bulk at a wine store--bring your own bottles, they fill 'em up like you are at a gas station, and you pay by the results on the meter. I also had friends who made their own, so I never had to buy the labelled stuff. I'd only get it when going out for a meal....

[AllieB]

18. That would be me

:blush:

I go to my local Italian grocery and pick up prosciutto at least once a week. My DH loves it with slices of melon and cheese!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

22. Nonononono. You want jamon serrano instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamon_serrano

[northzax]

34. good news, did you hear?

you can now import Iberico into the US! mmm. jamon iberico...

[redwitch]

23. DH?

designated hitter?
devoted husband?
damned, dumb, ditzy, doofus husband?

[AllieB]

33. Sometimes all of the above

:o

[incapsulated]

26. Yeah, I'm the "elitist" on the coast.

I buy Italian olive oil, balsamic vinegar, wine, cheese.

I'm no elitist, I don't have anywhere near enough money to be one. But I do enjoy my little pleasures and one of them is good food. You will pry my Italian balsamic from my cold, dead hands.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

31. I do.. but I'm Italian, so I don't count

and I'm a NYC librul elitist feminazi :)

I buy prosciutto, parmacotto (cooked ham), mozzarella, other kinds of cheeses, etc.

[Xenotime]

32. I never do.

[kcass1954]

35. This non-elitist likes pasta and tomatoes from the local Italian market.

The imported stuff is the same price as the local supermarket, and the variety of shapes is better - Mr. KCass (2nd generation Italian on both sides) likes bucatini for cacciatorre. Besides, you can't get good prosciutto or parmesan in Albertsons.

[Adelante]

36. Probably the entire population of New York City

Buys Italian food. Lots of shoes, too. I live in Mexico and I buy Italian wine. My friends who visit have to carry Romano cheese or I won't let them in.

[Ksec]

38. I own a few pairs of Italian made shoes

They are the best, and Im no rich guy. I just appreciate a well made item.