Italian Cuisine Abroad: A Journey Between Tradition and Authenticity

An Interview with Giuseppe: Italian Chef in Panama

Table of Contents

• From the Mediterranean to the Tropics: Giuseppe's Journey
• Italian Cuisine in Panama: Between Past and Present
• The Battle for Authenticity
• UNESCO Recognition and Its Meaning
• Cultural Curiosities and Gastronomic Differences
• The Problem of Fake Italian Restaurants
• Educating Taste: The Possible Mission
• Advice for Italian Restaurateurs Abroad
• Conclusion: dare to stay true

Italian cuisine is much more than simple dishes: it is culture, tradition, and identity.

In 2025, with UNESCO's recognition of Italian cuisine as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, this awareness has become even stronger.

But how is our cuisine perceived and practiced abroad?

What challenges do Italian restaurateurs face around the world?

We met with Giuseppe, a native of Puglia who has been living in Panama for almost twenty years, and who has turned his passion for cooking into a mission: teaching and preserving authentic Italian culinary tradition in Central America.

His story offers a valuable glimpse into how Italian cuisine is viewed abroad and the difficulties of keeping it authentic in a multicultural context.

From the Mediterranean to the Tropics

From Puglian Roots to Colombia

Giuseppe was born in Puglia, a region that boasts one of the richest and most ancient culinary traditions in Italy.

After university studies in Florence, where he studied architecture, life took him to Colombia with an Italian multinational company specializing in office chair components.

"When I arrived in Colombia," he recalls, "the chair armrests that go up and down didn't exist yet. There was still the endless screw mechanism. It was about 30 years ago."

This apparently trivial detail reveals much:

Giuseppe has been a witness and active participant in a global transformation, both in the industrial sector and culturally.

His professional experience led him to live firsthand the evolution of Latin American markets.

Landing in Panama: A Multicultural Family

Twenty years ago, the company Giuseppe worked for decided to open an office in Panama: with his Panamanian wife by his side, the choice was natural.

Today, after retirement, Giuseppe dedicates himself completely to his true passion: authentic Italian cuisine.

With a multicultural family living around the world, Giuseppe has been given a unique perspective on Italian cuisine, which allows him to compare different realities and better understand both the challenges and opportunities of spreading Italian gastronomic culture worldwide.

Italian Cuisine in Panama: Between Past and Present

The Italian Colony and Its Legacy

Panama boasts a fairly substantial Italian colony with distinguished figures.

As Giuseppe tells us, "A couple of presidents of the Republic are of Italian origin.

This historical Italian presence has inevitably influenced the local gastronomic scene.

The first Italian restaurants in Panama were founded by these immigrants who, arriving in a country with completely different products, necessarily had to adapt.

"They had to adapt with local products to make a kind of Italian cuisine," Giuseppe explains.

When Italy Meets Central America

This is how what is defined as "criolla cuisine" was born, a cuisine that, while referencing Italy, is deeply influenced by the territory where it landed.

It's a phenomenon similar to what happened in the United States with pepperoni, a cured meat that doesn't exist in Italy but was invented by Italian-Americans to compensate for the lack of traditional salumi.

However, Giuseppe emphasizes an important change in recent years:

"Lately it's possible to find one hundred percent Italian products: from buffalo mozzarella, to fiordilatte, to stracciatella, to pasta, almonds from any part you want, oils, wines, anything."

This evolution is fundamental: thanks to a network of specialized importers, today it's truly possible to make "Italian Italian cuisine" even in Panama, without having to resort to questionable compromises.

The Boom of Italian Restaurants

In recent years there has been a real proliferation of restaurants declaring themselves Italian.

But there's a fundamental problem that Giuseppe identifies with clarity: many of these restaurants are managed by descendants of Italians who, despite having the surname and perhaps Italian citizenship thanks to ius sanguinis, are culturally more Panamanian (or Venezuelan, Colombian, etc.) than Italian.

"I consider myself an Italian of the latest import," says Giuseppe, "in the sense that I was born in Italy and then went away. But the Italian colony here is already made up of descendants who are no longer Italo-something, they're something-Italy."

The Battle for Authenticity

When Tradition Gets Distorted

It's precisely this loss of authentic cultural connection that pushed Giuseppe to become a chef and teacher.

"It was one of the reasons I became a cook," he confesses, "because I've seen Italian cuisine being greatly distorted."

An emblematic example is that of the restaurant La Strega, which proposed the famous scene of pasta served in a wheel of Parmesan as "grandma's cooking."

Giuseppe is categorical:

"Two days ago I was reading an article: in Italy you can't do this because health laws prevent such a thing. The bacterial population that develops when you would then have to take the wheel, scrape two centimeters and put it in the fridge... The other option would cost you five hundred euros."

And he adds with bitterness:

"They make you do the mixing yourself, so you don't know where it comes from, you've touched who knows what, they put rubber gloves on you that don't help anything, and then they tell you 'authentic Italian cuisine.' And there I say: no, it can't go on, enough."

The Response: Education and Training

Faced with this situation, Giuseppe decided to act concretely.

He "infiltrated" the local university and obtained the diploma that allows him to teach.

Today he holds courses on pasta, menu design and presentation (his architectural training proves valuable), appetizers, and fish.

"Appetizers," he says enthusiastically, "you could spend three years on them and not be able to say how many different ones you can make."

The variety of Italian cuisine is practically infinite, and this is one of the aspects he tries to convey to his students.

The Private Chef: A Personalized Approach

In addition to teaching, Giuseppe works as a private chef.

He has created themed menus with evocative names that tell stories and traditions:

"Mystery in Bari Vecchia" (which includes spaghetti all'assassina), "A Dive into Polignano" (seafood-based), "Red at Evening" (meat), and "Ventu Iapics" (typical Bari style with orecchiette with turnip greens and braciole).

The Iapyges were the inhabitants of Bari before the arrival of the Romans, and this historical detail is characteristic of Giuseppe's approach: every dish, every menu has a story to tell, a cultural root to preserve and transmit.

UNESCO Recognition and Its Meaning

Not Just Dishes, But Culture

UNESCO's recognition of Italian cuisine as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity represents much more than a simple certificate of excellence for our dishes.

As Giuseppe emphasizes: "They recognized Italian culture. It's not the plate of pasta, it's Italian culture. It's something cultural."

This recognition embraces the way of cooking, the choice of ingredients, seasonality, conviviality, the relationship with the territory.

It's the set of traditions, knowledge, and social practices that revolve around food and the table.

Health and Tradition: A Winning Combination

An important aspect that Giuseppe highlights is the healthfulness of the Italian diet.

"Yesterday an article came out about why Italian cuisine, that is, the Italian way of cooking, is healthy. Even though there's pasta. People say no, the demonization of pasta."

And he continues: "Pasta is good, it's not about eating twenty kilos. Eating it in the right quantity, as Professor Calabresi says, is fine. We need carbohydrates, they're our fuel."

Giuseppe contrasts this balanced approach with American food culture, where "meat is everything" and where food pyramids have been modified to encourage consumption of animal proteins.

"In our diet, meat is a couple of times a week. Not even Neanderthal men ate that amount of meat."

Cultural Curiosities and Gastronomic Differences

Chicken Isn't Meat?

One curiosity that Giuseppe relates concerns the classification of foods in Panama: "Here chicken is not meat, chicken is chicken. Meat is pork, that's it."

This type of distinction, which may seem bizarre to an Italian, reflects deep cultural differences in the way of perceiving and categorizing foods.

It's an example of how gastronomic cultures are complex constructs that go beyond simple cooking.

The History of the Hamburger

Giuseppe loves to remind his students that many "modern dishes" actually have very ancient roots.

"The hamburger," he explains, "was bread with spiced meat, cooked, put inside. Americans didn't invent the hamburger. We were eating bread with meat in the middle two thousand and something years ago."

This type of information is fundamental to understanding that Italian cuisine is not just recent tradition, but has its roots in the millennial history of Mediterranean civilization.

The Problem of Fake Italian Restaurants

6.1 600,000 Restaurants, But How Many Are Authentic?

There are approximately 600,000 restaurants worldwide that declare themselves Italian, but estimates say that three out of four are not really authentic.

This phenomenon of "fake Italian" is particularly widespread and damages both the image of Italian cuisine and customer expectations.

But what is the main cause of this problem?

Giuseppe has no doubts: "The big problem I've seen in my small experience here is: it's the Italians themselves who go abroad."

Cooking As Art vs. As Business

"Cooking is not considered an art," states Giuseppe, "which in my opinion it is. Because painting enters through your eyes, reading through your ears. Cooking involves two or three of our senses. It's an art because transforming things to make them taste better is art."

The problem arises when you see the restaurant business primarily as a way to make money, rather than as a vehicle for culture.

Giuseppe recounts the episode of the Verona restaurant, where he did a pre-Christmas consultation.

The Case of Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken

"I made a menu with about thirty dishes," Giuseppe recounts. "The owner Franco tells me: 'Fettuccine Alfredo, but Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken!"

Giuseppe's reaction was instinctive and categorical: "Look Franco, I just can't,  it's a violence I don't want to do to myself."

This episode perfectly represents the conflict between commercial needs and cultural authenticity that many Italian restaurateurs abroad face daily.

Educating Taste: The Possible Mission

The Difference Between Eating and Nourishing

Giuseppe identifies a fundamental difference between the Italian approach and that of many other countries:

"In Italy, maybe not, we have this culture of going to eat, but not to fill ourselves. We go to that restaurant, we go to that other restaurant. The famous guides work in countries where there's a gastronomic culture."

"Where people go to eat because that cook makes Plin ravioli that are spectacular. I go to eat there because I like that pizza, I don't go to eat just any pizza, I go to eat that pizza. Here people go to fill themselves. This is the big difference."

The Chicken Lasagna Experience

An illuminating anecdote concerns the period when Giuseppe worked in a seaside club, where most members were foreigners.

The director asked him to make a chicken lasagna, but Giuseppe's response was clear:

"Look, I have no idea how much it costs or how it's made, because we don't make it where I'm from."

But instead of categorically refusing, Giuseppe found a creative and culturally authentic solution:

"I can make you a lasagna with chicken ragù, which is a ragù we made a lot in the south, as there once was no beef. In Puglia, they made pigeon ragù: so delicious!

The result? "They loved it. So what I tell many cooks: dare! In the sense, give them the alternative. People recognize when something is good."

Carpaccio: Simplicity vs. Excess

Another perfect example of how authenticity pays off is that of carpaccio.

"Carpaccio here now they make it with thirty thousand things on top," explains Giuseppe.

"Carpaccio from Cipriani was meat with an egg, a bit of mustard, Worcestershire sauce and a bit of salt."

The original recipe was created because Countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo had to eat raw meat for health reasons, and Giuseppe Cipriani said:

"You can't eat raw meat alone, you put this thing on top."

When Giuseppe prepared it in its original version, the reaction was enthusiastic:

"Look, I've never eaten such good carpaccio."

And he comments:

"Of course it's good, that's how carpaccio is. Don't put cucumbers or tomatoes on it. Why not? Because you're covering the meat."

Advice for Italian Restaurateurs Abroad

Being Ambassadors of Culture

The main advice Giuseppe gives to Italian restaurateurs abroad is clear:

"Dare, that is, don't be afraid to remain authentic in your Italian culture. I would see them a bit as ambassadors of culture, right? Bringing knowledge."

Today, especially with UNESCO recognition, Italian restaurateurs have a cultural responsibility in addition to a commercial one.

"They have the means to transmit this culture," says Giuseppe, "only then they get fooled."

Quality Before Appearance

Another important aspect that Giuseppe emphasizes to his university students is:

"A dish shouldn't be for Instagram, it should be good first of all. Then we'll see if we make it tall, round, wide. Now they're starting with it has to have volume... No, no, no, make it good."

And he quotes the famous chef Niko Romito:

"Bissani says: make cuisine, don't make trends. Make something good, people will come. When it's good people eat, right? They're not stupid."

Why Giuseppe Works As a Private Chef

There's a very simple reason why Giuseppe chose to work as a private chef instead of opening a restaurant:

"Because if I had a restaurant I would starve. Why? Because you dare to do things, you dare to propose..."

Working privately allows him to select clients who truly appreciate authenticity and are willing to try traditional dishes without demanding the usual contaminations or stereotypes of Italian-American cuisine.

It's a sustainable model for those who want to make authentic Italian cuisine without compromising.

Conclusion: dare to stay true

Giuseppe's story is emblematic of a challenge that concerns all Italians abroad and all those who want to preserve and spread Italian gastronomic culture in the world.

It's not just about preparing good dishes, but about transmitting a cultural heritage that must be preserved in its authenticity.

UNESCO recognition has provided an additional tool for this cultural battle, but as Giuseppe says:

"We're not just pizza and mandolin, but we are much, much more."

Education is the key. As Giuseppe taught us: people aren't stupid, when food is good and authentic, they recognize and appreciate it.

You just need to have the courage to dare, remain faithful to tradition, and tell the stories that each dish carries with it.

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Instagram: Giuseppe Rignanese

source https://www.realitalianrestaurants.com/blog/italian-cuisine-abroad-a-journey-between-tradition-and-authenticity