Boiled in bag pre made food in Italy's restaurants?

I have no idea??? The food in every restaurant I dined at appeared to be freshly prepared. I suspect that "boiled in a bag" pasta would be easily apparent?

I cannot make your link work. But I wonder if they are talking about cooking "sous vide" which has been used in restaurants for some time, hee and in France. It involves cooking portion-sized pieces of meat, chicken, fish, etc. in a vacuum-sealed bag in water a temperatures well below the boiling point. It cooks very evenly and can be held for some time at the perfect temperature. When ready to serve, it is removed from the bag, finished (grill marks if necessary), sauced, and Voila! The "sous vide" method is not really "boil in a bag" precooked meals.

I could not get the link to work either, but in any country, restaurants, some rather well respected ones, but more so chains or touristy places, will serve prepared foods or variants, nothing new at all. The article may focus on meals prepared in industrial kitchens, packaged, then microwaved or heated on-site, but many restaurants will make sauces, braise meats, even par boil pasta, then package, so service requires a short finish or heating to serve. This does not begin to touch on frozen portions, vegetables, and other prepared products. I would venture to say that even the most rustic, homey restaurant does something that would be considered a "shortcut". I suppose it comes down to your impression of what goes on in a restaurant kitchen and if it fits your idea of proper, but if you really knew, you may find yourself wishing that the veil between dining room and kitchen had been maintained, and you just focus on the meal.

Try copy/paste this URL version of link. I've tried inserting links but it never works for me on this board I just showed the Reuters article to a friend who publishes in France and he said that in Paris this has been an under reported story for a while. Hard to imagine pre cooked boiled in a bag Umbrian boar in Italy. http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/france-forces-chefs-confess-boil-bag-fare-122939725.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=us&.lang=en-us

Sad, but there's bad food everywhere, even in italy and france. Lots of places in Italy serve frozen pizza, which is just plain heresy of course, but not particularly different than this article. From that article it's clear that this is not sous vide, which is a real gourmet type of cooking style and not a type of pre-prepared complete meal that someone can just boil, and that microwaves are also involved. I'm sure lots of Italian restaurants use microwaves too, just as a lot of American ones do as well. It makes doing good restaurant research even more important. From my own experience in italy, the only times I have had mediocre meals in Italy have come when I was somewhere that I didn't have a restaurant on a list already researched and picked out.

I was able to read the second link posted, and it is like other articles I have seen. I certainly like a well prepared meal, but many of these articles quickly take the "snob" approach and condemn many practices. But I always wonder where you draw the line. Certainly a prepared meal, sealed, maybe frozen, then simply reheated, is not what I pay for at a restaurant (though I may be fine with it at home, or maybe a budget cafeteria and it could be very high quality). But certainly, that lamb shank is not braised while you wait, and you would probably be amazed at how many places cook them well ahead, package, and finish when you order. Is a well cooked lamb shank done in house necessarily better than an equal one done by the place down the street or in a kitchen a hundred miles away? What about using canned tomatoes for sauce? Is using fresh chicken breasts OK, Frozen not, or is the level of expectation that the birds be procured live and dispatched tableside? In the end, I think one has to judge a meal on taste, presentation, ambiance, and service. If your expectations are met for the price you pay, then it may not really matter the preparation.

Of course food is prepared ahead. That lasagne which takes plenty time to assemble then an hour to cook, how is it that you are eating it 15 minutes after you order it, in a restaurant with other diners ordering other things. Or, if you order a less popular dish that chef does not know when it will be needed yet is able to magic it up in half the time it would take to make it?

If you see cafes with printed pictures of their dishes, there is a good chance the meal is waiting in a box in the kitchen freezer.

a number of restaurants (esp in Rome) actually noted on menu which of their dishes were prepared fresh on ordering and which had been frozen.