[2swasseneons]

Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce [17:30]

[Zesavenue]

Great, thought provoking clip.

Not withstanding the ill-conceived conclusions regarding the pursuit of "Universal Principles of Food" I consider the value of diversity here, in the US to be much different than that in a more culturally-rich Europe.

With the possible exception of more trendy pop-culture, citizens of the US are probably less attached to inherent US culture characteristics because ... well ... there are none. More than any country in the world, we are a country of immigrants and as such our culture reflects that of the countries from which our family emigrated. This in turn SHOULD create a greater tolerance for diversity and in fact does on the coasts and great harbor ports where immigration is most dynamic.

In contrast, countries like Italy, France, and Spain have richer indigenous cultures which have been formulated over thousands of years. There is a stronger cultural indentity in those countries which is reflected in the association of culture to National pride and in turn a resistance to diversity.

[AriaDesser]

I agree.

One noteworthy thing was how sauce was perceived as separate and distinct from the pasta -- only to meet in the diner's dish -- rather than married in the pan. Is this insensitivity based on a deep puritanical defect -- an aversion to intimate comingling? An unhealthy artifact of a rigorous scientific lens which seeks to know things in isolation rather than context?

Though very conscious of a type of analytical bias, Gladwell is conspicuously blind to wider implications of these hidden assumptions.

Cultural ignorance and insensitivity are in large measure the cause of unappreciated diversity.

[amelveEnromma]

Sauce just tastes better when freshly applied (in most instances).

Similar to how something tastes saltier with a little salt on top than dumping it in the mix, sauce follows similar rules.

It also is better (in most cases) when applied later to prevent the pasta from getting mushy from absorbing the extra liquid, etc etc....

Sorry if I have not seen the vid, blocked here at work. I partly agree with the whole "heritage" bent, but I disagree with the leaning of certain municipalities to forbid any other influence. Protection and buffering is important to prevent Ikea, Home Depot, KFC and Starbucks from taking over your landscape, but you should not be so paranoid as to outlaw Falafel in Italy......

[VtLe67WR]

Fun FAQS:

Pasta in Italy is usually quickly tossed together with sauce in the pan.

And usually in the same pan that the sauce has been made in.

This allows the sauce to bind a bit with the pasta. The wetness of the drained pasta holds starch and as it cooks over the flame it reduces a bit and helps with the binding.

Pasta in Italy is served from pan to plate... not from a bowl with sauce plopped on top.

Worth noting: 90% of the pasta sauces in Italy are made in the same time it takes to boil the pasta water and cook the pasta... or there abouts.

And: sauce in Italy works more like a dressing on salad... in other words the pasta is lightly coated but not swimming in sauce.

But if you are not in Italy: do as you please...

---

[Teprophopay]

@ Fab

Completely agree and the effect is a fresher, more al fresco flavor on the palate. I cannot help but wonder if this is a byproduct of fresher ingredients ... it is much subtler and a little goes a long way. In contrast we do produce on steroids in the states...looks good but lacks flavor, so we mask it by cooking it longer, making it thicker, and applying it more heavily.

[esenesesinas]

Italy has a different relationship to pasta... it's own culture regarding pasta.

Food culture here springs from poverty and frugality... not abundance and luxury. That is the key.

And food is eaten fresh if you don't have refridgeration... or it is cured for storage and becomes prosciutto, parmesano and etc..... again: poverty.

Even if today's Italy has little to do with the poverty of the past... that poverty, closeness to the land, that agrarian society, has shaped it's food culture.

And so a dish of pasta for me has a different meaning than it will for you. Just as rice will have a different meaning and customs for the Chinese.

--

[Knillagrarp]

Fun FAQS:

Pasta in Italy is usually quickly tossed together with sauce in the pan.

And usually in the same pan that the sauce has been made in.

This allows the sauce to bind a bit with the pasta. The wetness of the drained pasta holds starch and as it cooks over the flame it reduces a bit and helps with the binding.

Pasta in Italy is served from pan to plate... not from a bowl with sauce plopped on top.

Worth noting: 90% of the pasta sauces in Italy are made in the same time it takes to boil the pasta water and cook the pasta... or there abouts.

And: sauce in Italy works more like a dressing on salad... in other words the pasta is lightly coated but not swimming in sauce.

But if you are not in Italy: do as you please...

---

Is that all of Italy, or certain regions, because I have seen both.

Although the sauce ratio IS something I have seen in all cases.

Most of the things like a classical Marinara have been served, by many an Italian in-law, friend, restaurant and other, on top. Many others like a wite wine basil and olive oil sauce have been just as you have described it. A coating for the pasta.

Is this an Americanization, the MODERATE application of sauce on top? Or is it more of a general application of what was used on a few Italian sauces to encompass all of them due to our own international culinary ignorance?

[Jeaxatoem]

Oh, one other thing....

Marinara. I have seen THAT sauce cooking all day. Something about it just tastes better.... I don't know.

I also remember seeing people use the big old pot and making a months supply all at once, or one restaurant where the guy used an old 2x4 (size wise) to stir the large pot on the stove...

Granted I have not seen an alfredo sauce made that way, but are there some that were made to be stored a bit longer or used for large events?

[FourEsters]

Forget about what you have seen in the US even by Italian-Americans. Italian-American cooking is it's own cuisine and it can be very nice but it is different.

Marinara sauce: "marinara" means of the sea... and here it is usualy a simple tomato sauce with anchovy. It can also be without anchovy but marinara flavourings would be: oregano, cappers, parsley, garlic, white wine. It would be simple and fresh... done in 5-10 minutes with fresh tomato in season or with canned tomato ... maybe 20 minutes.

Alfredo sauce: "alfredo sauce" does not exist in Italy. it's an American name for a cream sauce. Cream reduces in maybe 10 minutes circa.

The ONLY sauces that require long cooking times are some meat sauces... traditional "ragù bolognese" is cooked for even 3 hours at a very low flame. The Tuscan version in an hour or so.

A simple tomato sauce can be done in minutes with fresh tomato in the summer time.... to 30 minutes or so with canned tomato.

In Italy you have to remember that pasta is usually not thought of as a meal (although it often is eaten that way) it is thought of as the prelude to a meal... portions are small 80-100 gr. and not laden with sauce. In parts of the south of Italy, pasta is often a heartier dish with more sauce but it is very specific to that area and not diffuse in the rest of Italy.

--

[JakeBarkings]

The ONLY sauces that require long cooking times are some meat sauces... traditional "ragù bolognese" is cooked for even 3 hours at a very low flame. The Tuscan version in an hour or so. That is more of what I was thinking.

"Marinara" has been bastardized here in the states to mean almost any non-meat tomato sauce... my bad!

The tomato sauces you are talking about sound more "bright" and seasonal. (I am getting hungry... Lunch Time!!). I almost thinkof those sauces as being more "garden style" than "sauces" per se.... (although, literally, they are BOTH sauces!).

Depending on the use for the pasta, as you have inferred, the sauce differs I guess. You don't necessarily want a light olive oil sauce to be your main dish.... Lost in Translation I guess!!!

[smifatv]

In my family, marinara is 30 minutes, fish sauces are about the same, and meat ragus (or as my grandma would say 'gravy') is between 1.5 and 3 hours, and normally cooked on a Sunday Morning. I remember waking up to the smell of the 'gravy' cooking when I was a kid. What a great memory.

And Pasta was never the main dish when I was growing up. On Sundays, it was usually followed by a Roast and the Ssuce meat (meatballs, sausage, etc...) as well as vegitables, and salad. At grandma's the meal ended with fruit. nuts and later pastries.

On Thursdays it was simply Macoroni and meatballs followed by a salad.

[CenICrerflind]

When it's well made, I love good Italian-American cooking... the good classic "red-sauce" restaurants... and home cooked food. To me it should not be compared to Italy... it lives in it's own universe.

But I have no tolerance for the national chains that serve up "Italian food" it's usually just awful.

[13spebampiliece]

When it's well made, I love good Italian-American cooking... the good classic "red-sauce" restaurants... and home cooked food. To me it should not be compared to Italy... it lives in it's own universe.

But I have no tolerance for the national chains that serve up "Italian food" it's usually just awful.

Ugh!

Olive Garden???!?

And don't get me started about the idiots that can't tell a Pizza Hut ziti from an "authentic" Italian one. .

Finally, the commercials that tell you that they are the best because of a bunch of people that have never had really good pasta sauce like the jar of stuff with all the sugar in it..... Ragu? Prego? Bleh!

[qCGfQR9T]

When it's well made, I love good Italian-American cooking... the good classic "red-sauce" restaurants... and home cooked food. To me it should not be compared to Italy... it lives in it's own universe.

But I have no tolerance for the national chains that serve up "Italian food" it's usually just awful.

Double agreed, although I should have noted that Grandma was straight off the boat, and so was Grandpa who was in fact an even better cook. In fact my Grandfather emmigrated later on in life, I believe he was in his late 30's or early 40's, and his style was closer to authentic

[Fellionas]

'White African-American' Suing N.J. Med School for Discrimination
Paulo Serodio Says He Was Harassed, Assaulted After Defining Himself as African-American

By SARAH NETTER
May 13, 2009—

Can a white guy be African-American?

Paulo Serodio says he is.

Born and raised in Mozambique and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, Serodio, 45, has filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey medical school, claiming he was harassed and ultimately suspended for identifying himself during a class cultural exercise as a "white African-American."

"I wouldn't wish this to my worst enemy," he said. "I'm not exaggerating. This has destroyed my life, my career."

The lawsuit, which asks for Serodio's reinstatement at the school and monetary damages, named the Newark-based University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and several doctors and university employees as defendants.

Filed Monday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, the lawsuit traces a series of events that Serodio maintains led to his 2007 suspension, starting with a March 2006 cultural exercise in a clinical skills course taught by Dr. Kathy Ann Duncan, where each student was asked to define themselves for a discussion on culture and medicine.

After Serodio labeled himself as a white African-American, another student said she was offended by his comments and that, because of his white skin, was not an African-American.

According to the lawsuit, Serodio was summoned to Duncan's office where he was instructed "never to define himself as an African-American & because it was offensive to others and to people of color for him to do so."

"It's crazy," Serodio's attorney Gregg Zeff told ABCNews.com. "Because that's what he is."

Serodio, who lives in Newark, said he never meant to offend anyone and calling himself African-American doesn't detract from another person's heritage.

Neither the American Civil Liberties Union nor the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People responded to messages seeking comment on the meaning of African-American.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines African-American as "an American of African and especially of black African descent."

"There are people of all races who are African," Serodio said, adding that he's never had a problem identifying himself as an African-American until that day in Duncan's class.

Zeff pointed out that Serodio only labeled himself after his instructors asked him to do so and was then penalized for it.

Defending an Identity or Unprofessional Behavior?

Serodio said he is a third-generation African of Portuguese ethnicity whose great-grandfather emigrated to Mozambique. He came to the U.S. in 1984 after being accepted at New York University.

He met his future wife and started a family and, after deciding to settle in the U.S. permanently, got his citizenship in the early 1990s. After doing research work on and off, including for UMDNJ, with pauses in between to be a stay-at-home dad, Serodio said he decided to become a doctor to follow in his parents footsteps.

His plan, he said, was to become a doctor and join Doctors Without Borders where he could travel back to Africa to do charity work like his parents, either as an internist or possibly a neurologist. He started medical school, he said, when his eldest child was in first grade.

The family, he said, had hoped to hold a joint graduation party this spring for his son's passing out of fourth grade and for Serodio's graduation from medical school. But they will only be celebrating his son's achievements this year.

The lawsuit claims Serodio began to be harassed by other students who sought disciplinary action against him for his statement in Duncan's class, but was never given a chance to defend his views against the complaints.

UMDNJ spokesman Jeffrey Tolvin told ABCNews.com that university officials had not yet seen the lawsuit.

"We have no comment on this matter," he said.

In September 2006, Serodio said he again asked to define himself culturally as part of another course exercise. Again, according to the lawsuit he said he was a "white African-American." And again, he was called to the course instructor's office and told never to define himself that way again.

According to the lawsuit, Serodio then wrote an article for the student newspaper, titled "A More Colorful View Than Black and White," in an attempt to explain his self-identification and to call for tolerance at the school.

But when complaints started pouring into Dr. I. Thomas Cohen, then the dean of student affairs, the lawsuit alleges that Serodio was called in again and told by Cohen that if he "lay low for awhile" Cohen would see that a record of the incident would not be placed in Serodio's transcript.

Serodio told ABCNews.com that he believes that America has outgrown the labels of black and white, something he wrote about in the article.

His own children, he said, are of mixed ethnicity  European and Chinese. In his own case, he said, "There's a distinction to be made here between ethnicity and being from Africa."

Spiraling Out of Control

The lawsuit claims Serodio tried to stop publication on the newspaper article, but was too late. In response, the professor of the latter cultural class posted a reply on the bulletin boards at the medical school stating that Serodio "had failed to learn professionalism and humanism."

That's when, according to the lawsuit, the harassment, some physical, began in earnest. According to the lawsuit, Serodio's tires were vandalized in December of 2006, other students put up posters slamming him and he was denied protection by the school.

In January 2007, Serodio was made to promise he would never again write in any public forum at the school at the risk of facing disciplinary action, according to the lawsuit.

But Zeff said that the same month, his client was designated as the person who would take notes from a particular class for posting online, as was customary. The notes, Zeff said, contained a few jokes and comments as was typical for students who posted notes online and had been approved by the class professor.

But after a fellow student complained, the same professor that approved the notes filed a complaint about their content, according to the lawsuit, and school officials demanded that Serodio submit to a psychiatric evaluation.

The evaluation was given in April 2007 and Serodio was declared "fit for medical student functions," according to the lawsuit. But after a disciplinary hearing on April 1, which consisted of testimony from anyone claiming to be offended by Serodio's comments, he was notified of his suspension.

The lawsuit claims Serodio was suspended on May 15, 2007 for a period "of not less than one year."

Messages and e-mails left with Duncan and Cohen as well as UMDNJ Dean Dr. Robert Johnson were not returned.

His suspension, which Serodio said was for "unprofessional behavior," meant he was unable to take the board exams reserved for students preparing to enter third year and therefore could not transfer elsewhere to continue his education even though he completed all the second-year coursework.

Resolving the Issue

Serodio told ABCNews.com that he was technically reinstated last spring, but it was too late to start his third year because he still had not been allowed to take his second-year exams.

"I feel unprepared now," he said. "That was very penalizing to me."

So Serodio said he decided to take a year's leave of absence to spend time with his children and get things sorted out with the school, while trying to stay current on his studies for the exam.

The lawsuit is asking for reinstatement to UMDNJ and to the National Board of Medical Examiners so Serodio be allowed to take his board exams. The suit is also asking for recognition that UMDNJ's actions were discriminatory and retaliatory and for unspecified monetary damages.

"I felt this issue had to be resolved," he said.

For now, Serodio is hoping to be able to get his medical degree and put what he considers to be the humiliation of the incident behind him.

"He's lost a part of his career," Zeff said. "He's lost two years of his life."

Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures

[ArrichMer]

Epitome of stupidity.

[Seeseeskeva]

I think this is a shame, but it shows how stupid and "revese"-discriminatory humans can be. It is somehow wrong to be called "Black" or be juidged poorly by the color of your skin, but a White man can't be "African"?


I think the only mistake he made was by deliberately calling himself a "white" African American. By the same standard that he is siting as a guide for multicultural integration and cohabitation, his own segregation by applying the descriptor "white" to his nationality was unneeded.

If ANYTHING, people should have protested his need to somehow describe himself as anything different than just "African American".

I have a feeling he has had this fight before.