When one mentions Italian cooking to most foreigners they almost automatically think of pizza and spaghetti. This is a sad oversimplification, because Italian cooking is as diversified as it is delicious.

    The centuries during which Italy was a collection of separate kingdoms, duchies, and republics has given the modern Italians a cuisine with as many subtle variations as their language. Pizza, for example, is a south Italian regional dish that was once served because it combined all the virtues a thrifty cook looks for - it was inexpensive, simple to make, nourishing, and tasty.

    The popularity of pizza as a meal or a snack in America is probably greater than in Italy where it is safe to guess that many people have never even tasted one of their best-known exports.

    如果有人對外國人提起意大利烹飪，大部分人總是想到意大利餡餅和意大利細(xì)面條。這是一種可悲的過分簡單的想法，因?yàn)橐獯罄�飯菜不僅美味可口，而且豐富多彩。

    幾個世紀(jì)以來，意大利經(jīng)歷了獨(dú)立的王國、公爵領(lǐng)地以及共和國等許多時期，這使得當(dāng)代意大利人的食譜猶如他們的語言一樣絢麗多姿。例如，餡餅(Pizza)是意大利南部的一種地方食品，它集中了勤儉廚師所追求的一切優(yōu)點(diǎn)--價格不貴，制作方便，營養(yǎng)豐富，而且美味可口。

    在美國,Pizza被當(dāng)成主食或零食。而且美國人比意大利人更喜歡Pizza。你可以這么認(rèn)為意大利人甚至從未嘗過他們那早已流傳在外國的餡餅。