Earlier this evening I popped into a new local eaterie managed by an Iranian.
There was only one other person there, an elderly gentleman who told me who was from Italy.
We engaged in conversation. Or rather, the Italian man spoke, and i listened.
He told me he had a passion for food, had worked in the catering trade for many years and had travelled the world. He shared his views about the food on offer in the UK:
“People in this country don’t know what they are eating. They don’t want to pay for quality food. The high streets are full of kebabs, fish and chips for less than £5. Everything is catered for the students, with lots of offers and discounts. They eat any shit and either are sick or have dysentery. Now, these students always want cheap food. But they go to university. For what? To become doctors, professors, or whatever and earn a high salary. Now, when they qualify, do they consider discounts for the people they serve? NO! They want to save money and earn money!
So they want cheap food but don’t accept the food offered is also coming from a business!”
This led to a diatribe and he expressed his feelings about how people in the UK don’t take care of the food they eat and the quality of service. He said the craze for buffets was shit! and embarrassing. He asked why people are avarice for copious amounts of food for as cheap as possible. It’s not like how soldiers are fed to build up strength, stamina, energy and physicality and one or two chefs could cook for 6 – 700 soldiers and churn out anything! He said soldiers are given boosters to help develop immunity ( he claimed he was a soldier when younger) and ordinary people should look at what they are consuming and order quality food.
He discussed competitve rates offered in the UK e.g. £2 -5 for a pizza and how this type of competition would not be tolerated in the rest of Europe. If a restaurant in Europe or Italy offered a meal at £80 and a place down the road offered one pizza at £2, the business which offered the cheaper pizza would be razed to the ground. That’s not a way to run businesses!
He said he couldn’t understand how one of the richest countries in the world (UK) would have people wanting the cheapest food from eateries.
This led him to talk about “dirty people” and how Italians would not tolerate unclean or smelly individuals or apartments. He said one phonecall and the police would have them out!
He continued about the beggars and homeless people in the city of Birmingham and said within 10 mins of being in the city, he was accosted 5 times by beggars. He said if they are begging or homeless, they’d be better off robbing a bank or something bigger and going to prison. Why? he asked, because that way, they’d be fed, sheltered, warm, go to the gym, gain access to courses and gain skills. He said they have more support from professionals than if they were to continue begging or sleeping rough on the cold streets.
He continued that hard core criminals should be beheaded. He said when someone kills many, why should there be campaigns to provide clemency to the perpetrators and allow them to live ? The one perp can live for many years, but many have lost their lives through his actions…
He then talked about immigration and said the Italian government try to help a million asylum seekers from all over the world. He said when passengers pay over £5k to travel in a small dinghy over choppy seas with babies and children in cramped conditions, how do they eat and go to the toilet ? He said human trafficking is really bad and cruel.
He added that in Sicily, there’s hardly any Italian speakers left and more languages spoken from other countries. He said he almost forgets he’s in Italy when he goes home.
At which point, after listening to the Italian for 30 mins, i collected my belongings, bade my farewell, and left the premises.
thelearnedkat 