Nationalism on food

So i wanted to start in a nice and formal way but i can't seem to find the right translation in english for the PROTAGONIST of this blog : "the rucola".

Now i don't know if all of you folks know what it is so i am gonna describe it for you. Is a kind of salad, its shape is peculiar; is long and of a very dark shade of green and lets say it has little "arms" coming out in both ways.

Reading this description the only thing that comes to my mind is a millepede but still, this is why they invented pictures!!

So now that you all know what it looks like i can go on with my rumbling.

You should know that this kind of salad has a very strong taste and not everyone likes it but most of us ITALIANS have an inclination to put it everywhere we can think of.

For example in my family if we don't have rucola in the fridge we go mad, my dad comes home and says "lets eat pizza tonight" and my mom looks at him with sad eyes and says "well as you wish but we don't have rucola" like if it was essential to that meal to be eaten.

Meat or fish carpaccio HAS and i underline HAS to be eaten with rucola or there is no reason to eat it.

Then we have mixed salad with rucola, pasta with rucola, pesto of rucola and of course pizza with rucola.

I have a theory. I know why all this madness happens.

I am aware that italians are nationalists and i am aware that basilic can't be eaten as easily as a salad so why surrender to a meal without the colours of our flag? Why surrender? Never surrender! Use rucola!

If you go back and think at a salad you see the colours, if you go back and think at a plate of pasta with tomatoes and rucola you see the coulours and so on.

So here's revealed the first typical feature of italians...also food is a way to say "I am italian, you a..hole!"