What is it About Italians?

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I was just thinking over my morning coffee about Italy/Italians and how everything they seem to do is so elegant and beautiful. Be it cars (Lambo, Ferrari), shoes/boots (Vasque, etc), Suits (Canali, Armani, etc), Pistols (Beretta), Long guns (Rizzini, etc), Wine (Brunello), and PIPES! They always seem to be able to take ordinary goods and make them special and more refined. It must be a carryover from the Roman empire and the renaissance. I simply love Italian stuff including the food and now Pipes!
 

briarbuck

Lifer
Nov 24, 2015
2,288
5,494
sophia-loren-1.gif
 
I'm probably going to insult some of our members here... but, just another day in paradise for me... ha ha... ok, think of the foods from different regions. Italian foods served next to... lets say... English foods. italians use spices to compliment and enhance flavors, make it more savory, so that even just a dish made out of flour and egg can really shine and sing. The English just serve you some boiled stuff with some salt and pepper. Of course that's a gross over generalization, but you get what I mean. The Italian aesthetic is to make elegant, sexy... they like their women spicy. The English... really aren't known for sex... I think they do, but just don't talk about it much.

In the pipe world, what makes it even more interesting is that The English took from the French. The French established the shapes, and the English just copied them, without a lot of flair. They took a French dish, and eliminated any spice, and just salt and peppered it, and now we have Dunhills.

The Germans... :::cough cough::: I hate pissing off Germans, but come on, their pipes are made on straight edges, and calculated Golden ratios so that they look "engineered" more so than designed. I mean... they try, really try, but...

The Danish... true to their Viking heritage, slam down their hammers and rough out a shape that looks like it grew that way, bulbous flaws and all. I've not ever had Danish food, I mean... I've eaten a danish, and a pastry, haha. But, I couldn't tell you much about Danish cuisine. I imagine it is playful and rough. Probably a lot of fish. Just a guess.

Anyways, have I pissed off everyone but the Italians? Good. I don't want them gangsters coming after me. puffy
 

briarbuck

Lifer
Nov 24, 2015
2,288
5,494
I'm probably going to insult some of our members here... but, just another day in paradise for me... ha ha... ok, think of the foods from different regions. Italian foods served next to... lets say... English foods. italians use spices to compliment and enhance flavors, make it more savory, so that even just a dish made out of flour and egg can really shine and sing. The English just serve you some boiled stuff with some salt and pepper. Of course that's a gross over generalization, but you get what I mean. The Italian aesthetic is to make elegant, sexy... they like their women spicy. The English... really aren't known for sex... I think they do, but just don't talk about it much.

In the pipe world, what makes it even more interesting is that The English took from the French. The French established the shapes, and the English just copied them, without a lot of flair. They took a French dish, and eliminated any spice, and just salt and peppered it, and now we have Dunhills.

The Germans... :::cough cough::: I hate pissing off Germans, but come on, their pipes are made on straight edges, and calculated Golden ratios so that they look "engineered" more so than designed. I mean... they try, really try, but...

The Danish... true to their Viking heritage, slam down their hammers and rough out a shape that looks like it grew that way, bulbous flaws and all. I've not ever had Danish food, I mean... I've eaten a danish, and a pastry, haha. But, I couldn't tell you much about Danish cuisine. I imagine it is playful and rough. Probably a lot of fish. Just a guess.

Anyways, have I pissed off everyone but the Italians? Good. I don't want them gangsters coming after me. puffy
If you thing English food is bad...go to Ireland. I will leave it to you to throw Peterson under the bus....ha
 
If you thing English food is bad...go to Ireland.
Not really "bad"... just bland for my tastes. If the Germans didn't use a lot of cabbages and coriander like spices, they would be just as bland. Ever get stuck in a car with someone who eats a lot of German food? It's strange how rotten cabbage smells just seep from people's skin like that.
 

sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,689
2,885
The best of Italian pipes are wonderful, truly neo-classical in that they pay a sort of playful homage to true "classic" factory shapes, but they incorporate elements of style and elements of the material which the French and English basically never managed (even Charatan's freehands are just weirdly shaped pipes with no true driving design behind most of them). The Castello 55, like it or hate it, exemplifies this. A simple clean-lined pot, and yet with all kinds of racing bloodlines. A big aggressive jut of the chin. So Italian. And a perfect shape to show of a lovely piece of briar with. And such excellent smokers, many of these brands.

I love the hard lines, the "spot it across the room" perfection of a Dunhill, but I have a huge soft spot for the Italian school, I'm glad that Amorelli and Viprati make all kinds of weird stuff, it's wonderful.
 

briarbuck

Lifer
Nov 24, 2015
2,288
5,494
Not really "bad"... just bland for my tastes. If the Germans didn't use a lot of cabbages and coriander like spices, they would be just as bland. Ever get stuck in a car with someone who eats a lot of German food? It's strange how rotten cabbage smells just seep from people's skin like that.
Classic English isn't bad at all. I've had some amazing meals in London. Ireland....not so much.
 
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Thought it was curry.
Ahhh yes, you are also correct. Empire food. While I love most things Indian... I really would love to visit there one day, soon... My stomach just hasn't evolved a tolerance for curries or THAT MUCH spice. I do love the smell of it though. The English do love their appropriations. puffy
 
If you thing English food is bad...go to Ireland. I will leave it to you to throw Peterson under the bus....ha
The last time I was in Ireland - 2017 I found the food fantastic. Now when I was there in 1996, not so much. A lot of chefs are trained in France these days over there as I understand it.
 
The last time I was in Ireland - 2017 I found the food fantastic. Now when I was there in 1996, not so much. A lot of chefs are trained in France these days over there as I understand it.
They don't eat as much corned beef as we are led to believe. And, you'd be hard pressed to find any Lucky Charms at their restaurants. puffy
 

briarbuck

Lifer
Nov 24, 2015
2,288
5,494
The last time I was in Ireland - 2017 I found the food fantastic. Now when I was there in 1996, not so much. A lot of chefs are trained in France these days over there as I understand it.
I was there for a month in the 80's. They didn't know how to cook a piece of beef to save their lives. I just wanted to find an edible hamburger the whole time I was there.
 
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Speaking of food - If you all haven't noticed my handle is one of my favorite Italian dishes, "Osobuco"

OSSOBUCO MILANESE (BRAISED VEAL SHANKS)​

Traditional Ossobuco alla Milanese (Milan style veal shanks) braised in an incredible tomato and white wine sauce until the meat is extra tender and falling off the bone. Served with Risotto alla Milanese and topped with zesty gremolata it's the ultimate comforting meal.
Osso Bucco on a plate of saffron risotto and topped with gremolata
 

Ag®o

Lifer
Nov 14, 2021
1,222
14,108
Italy
Speaking of food - If you all haven't noticed my handle is one of my favorite Italian dishes, "Osobuco"

OSSOBUCO MILANESE (BRAISED VEAL SHANKS)​

Traditional Ossobuco alla Milanese (Milan style veal shanks) braised in an incredible tomato and white wine sauce until the meat is extra tender and falling off the bone. Served with Risotto alla Milanese and topped with zesty gremolata it's the ultimate comforting meal.
Osso Bucco on a plate of saffron risotto and topped with gremolata
Lol, I was just thinking about it reading your handle and I was about to ask you ;)
 
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