Italian cuisine abroad has missed the opportunity to tell its story in a different way
Italians aren't just about pizza and mandolin; they've recently embraced all of Italian cuisine, with its dishes, rituals, and traditions.
The fact is, however, that over time, and especially with the recognition of Italian cuisine as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, our ability to promote the entire culture of our food and wine heritage seems to have grown, finally giving us the opportunity to showcase Italy's great biodiversity and the enormous variety of regional and local dishes and traditions, and not just the usual few things that arrive abroad, perhaps even in the wrong way.
The Italian Table Abroad: What's Italian dining like abroad?
Food for thought is provided by “The Italian Table Abroad,” a report produced by FIPE-Confcommercio on the state of Italian restaurants abroad, which also gives us an idea of the international perception of Italian cuisine.
The report analyzes 1,486 Italian restaurants in ten major European cities: Paris, London, Barcelona, Vienna, Amsterdam, Brussels, Munich, Lyon, Berlin, and Marseille. The stated aim of this study is to delve into the analytical detail of their offerings: names, addresses, typologies, menus, prices, ratings, reviews, dishes, and even ingredients. Over 115,000 menu items were examined to observe how Italy is represented at the table in major European cities.
And finally, once everything was analyzed, the study attempted to rank the results, judging them based on the value index (how much value the customer receives when eating Italian abroad compared to what they pay) and the authenticity index (ingredients, denominations, territorial consistency).
The findings of the report
Italian cuisine abroad is healthy and still going strong. At least judging by the report's data, which gives the restaurants analyzed an average score of 8.95 out of 10, and calculates the average price of a main course at around €30.30. "Italian cuisine therefore maintains a highly accessible positioning and enjoys very high levels of appreciation," says Fipe-Confcommercio.
When it comes to authenticity, London and Paris lead the way, with a good level of consistency. Even the menus show some diversity: "Italian restaurants abroad don't export a standardized menu, but a vast variety of offerings, adaptations, traditions, and inventions."
Pizza and Spritz: what next?
Yet, the feeling is that Italian cuisine has much more to offer abroad, while instead it remains somewhat stuck in the same stereotypes. The most popular and well-known dishes, the report explains, are, in order: Margherita pizza, Tiramisu, and Spritz. "This is the triad that reigns supreme in Italian cuisine abroad," and perhaps we should be happy that fettuccine Alfredo isn't included.
And while it's true that everyone needs their own distinctive identity, strong, clear images that unequivocally convey "Italian cuisine," perhaps it's a shame that after so many years of work on raw materials, biodiversity, ingredients, variety, and the venue, we're still stuck there, with pizza, spritz, and tiramisu. Perhaps that work is still ongoing, or perhaps it hasn't been done properly.
After all, you might say, for us too, Japan is sushi and China is spring rolls, and it's a huge shame we can't delve deeper. But a country that places so much, so much, emphasis on its food and wine could perhaps try to do more to present itself differently to the wider international audience.
