Super Size Me

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December 7, 2009

San Francisco - To tell you the true, this picture does not really impress me anymore. It's an "Italian Sandwich" from Ted's, in SF, and it's stuffed with 3 kind of "italian meats", cheese, tomato, lattuce, mayo and more. It weights a couple of pounds, seriously. In Italy you usually get two thin slices of prosciutto and one of mozzarella and that's it.
Which one is better?
I guess I'm starting getting used to American portions. If I don't get my huge hamburger or my 30cm glass of water or a pasta as a side dish I'm a little disapponted. I'm getting used to free coke and coffee refill and I think that the place is cheap if they don't have it.
Am I getting fatter? Not really. And you? How many pounds did you put on on your last trip to the US?

Posted by Roberto Fonti

Comments (4)

Dec 08, 2009

Roisin said...

Roberto - you telepathically stole my idea! I was literally writing an article about American obesity-sized food portions earlier for this blog! Great minds think alike.
Since coming here, I way 20% more than I did before. It's unstoppable. Portions are gigantic, and there's secret fat in everything :(

Dec 08, 2009

Roberto Fonti said...

It was an easy subject to pick.. I gave the Italian perspective and you should still write your post.

But, as far as I remember, you can easily handle the size of the Irish Apple Cider here in San Francisco... :-P

Dec 08, 2009

Roisin said...

of course, i am irish, and can therefore drink anyone under the table.

Dec 09, 2009

Silvia Zolfanelli said...

Word of an Italian living in Ireland: i've never seen a good portion of Lasagna served with a side-dish of chips... but it happens here! For Italians is "forbidden" to have a double dose of carbohidrates on the same meal, you'll never have pasta and potatoes... but i have to say one thing: I've never had potatoes as delicious as in Ireland... and they do it in all fancy ways... chips & wedges, mashed & roasted, not to tell about the faboulous baked potatoes... yummy!

Anyways supersize portions in the US are not a mystery, i was thinkin about it just yesterday when i was watching "Rain with a chance of meatballs" with my husband after a lazy frozen pizza for his birthday... but i think that getting accustomed to other countries way of feeding is a challenge for everybody. I gained loads of weight in my first year in Ireland! You try this, you try that, and this one is new to you... all the sauces they use on salads (when over 28years of my life i only new oil and vinegar on salads!), all the different multicultural restaurants, all the sunday brunches... but after that, thankfully i found my balance, got rid of the "let's try everything new" emotion and went back to my normal, even fitter, shape!
I have few european (non-italian) friends that when they go visit Italy they gain weight too because they can't make it without a good dose of salami, prosciutto, various types of ham and cheeses, their stone-baked pizzas, their tons of hand made ice cream.... :)
as Julia says, "Bon Appetit!"

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Super Size Me

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