Ask Americans what their favorite international cuisine is, and Italian is bound to make their top three at least. But “Italian food” is such a broad topic that it is unfair to the many different regional cuisines and styles of service in the country.

Anyone who follows Stanley Tucci on his gastronomic tour of the boot in CNN’s Searching for Italy should realize that the country has as much variety of ingredients and kitchen techniques as the U.S. does, and we don’t really talk about “American food” as a meaningful descriptor. So what we clump under the umbrella of Italian food can range from a simple bowl of pasta served with a rustic Sunday gravy to a Michelin-starred kitchen’s elegant presentation of assoluto di bosco topped with a shower of shaved truffles.