Mama Mia! Counting Italian Food's Calories

May 20 -- In southern Italy, the native dishes are made of healthy, humble ingredients that are good for you. But in this excerpt of their book, Restaurant Confidential, Michael Jacobson and Jayne Hurley of the Center for Science in the Public Interest reveal that the American versions can be fattier and packed with calories.

Excerpt: Chapter 6 — Use Your Noodle: Italian Restaurants

When it comes to ethnic eating in America, Italian food, together with Mexican and Chinese food, are what the restaurant industry calls the "Big Three." In addition to their popularity, these cuisines share something else — a loss of authenticity that with time has transformed some once-healthful traditional specialties into ones you should think twice about before ordering. The best way to enjoy a terrific Italian meal these days is to take your cues from the past.

The Italian food most Americans have grown up eating in restaurants has its roots in the cuisine of southern Italy, which is bolder, more highly seasoned, and has less meat, cheese, and cream sauce than northern fare. It evolved from traditional peasant food that made the best and most delicious use of inexpensive, readily available ingredients. Vegetables, including familiar favorites like tomato, eggplant, peppers, and artichoke, were served in season. Fresh seafood was caught and savored the same day. Sauces, whether fresh and uncooked or slow simmered until the flavors melted into one another, always included a splash of olive oil to add an extra dimension to the taste. Seasonings such as fresh basil, capers, oregano, lemon, and olives lent their zesty, lively flavors. Meat, expensive and far from abundant, was enjoyed on the occasional feast day or used in small quantities as a flavoring rather than as a main dish — a tradition that continues today in Italian home cooking. And flavorful cheeses were used sparingly but to great effect as a garnish rather than as the focus of a dish. From humble ingredients came a great cuisine. The Italian way of eating has become one of the world's most beloved.

Americans adore Italian food. It is a cuisine that wraps its arms around diners with bold, fresh flavors. Over the years, however, something has been lost in the translation. For many people, Italian food has become veal smothered in mozzarella, fettuccine coated with cream-and-cheese sauce, and lasagnas oozing with fatty meat and cheese. And our servings are far larger than is customary in Italy. Nothing could be further removed from the light, fresh preparations for which southern Italy is noted.

You can still find the basic components of low-fat, healthful eating in most Italian restaurants; you just need to choose carefully. If you opt for pasta with marinara, clam, or even meat sauce (forget the cream and cheese sauces) and add a salad of dark, leafy greens and fresh vegetables, you can have a delicious, healthy, and truly Italian meal.

The Dishes and the Data

We bought dinner-size take-out portions of 3 popular appetizers and 13 entrées from 21 mid-price Italian restaurants in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. (For more on our methodology, see pages 12-14.) We chose independent restaurants rather than chains like The Olive Garden because more than three-quarters of the country's Italian restaurants are independently owned. (However, The Olive Garden provides numbers on its healthy meals, which are found on a separate chart on page 133.) We didn't do pizza because it's more like fast food. It's covered in chapter 7, Any Way You Slice It: Pizzerias, page 135.Within each category, we've listed the dishes from best to worst — that is, from least to most saturated fat. We did not test for trans fat; if we had, the saturated-fat numbers would be higher than those indicated.