Whenever I'm too lazy to make a proper sauce to go with their spaghetti, I ask my kids if they want to be American children or Italian children. That's our code for whether they want tomato ketchup and grated cheese (American) or olive oil and parmesan (Italian) on their pasta.
Yet as I discovered to my utter amazement last week, this is a stereotype of the first order because get this: Americans don't put ketchup on their spaghetti! Not only that, they seem to be intrigued at the very suggestion! Butter, yes, grated cheese, perhaps. But not ketchup.
Interestingly enough, while looking for a suitable image to accompany this post, I came across a recent entry on another blog stating exactly the same thing, and a second one on how a Swede introduced Americans to the concept.
So, with yet another of my prejudices biting the dust, I just wonder what firmly-held belief will be demolished next. That's the great thing about living in a new country: it's full of surprises.
Yet as I discovered to my utter amazement last week, this is a stereotype of the first order because get this: Americans don't put ketchup on their spaghetti! Not only that, they seem to be intrigued at the very suggestion! Butter, yes, grated cheese, perhaps. But not ketchup.
Interestingly enough, while looking for a suitable image to accompany this post, I came across a recent entry on another blog stating exactly the same thing, and a second one on how a Swede introduced Americans to the concept.
So, with yet another of my prejudices biting the dust, I just wonder what firmly-held belief will be demolished next. That's the great thing about living in a new country: it's full of surprises.