That is a mistaken idea many Americans have, misunderstanding the basics of Italian cooking. They never promoted thick tomato-pasty sauces. Their pasta and/or pizza sauce is basically olive oil with garlic and a few chopped tomatoes and/or other vegetables thrown in, sautéed rapidly and very fresh. It's delicious and less caloric, by the way, than the thick, cheese-laden American pasta and pizza sauces.
Eddie was comparing what he was served in Italy with the food his Italian mother prepared. Apparently she made her sauces thicker. He was really disappointed, and he ranted about that trip for weeks.
“Their pasta and/or pizza sauce is basically olive oil with garlic and a few chopped tomatoes and/or other vegetables thrown in, sautéed rapidly and very fresh. It’s delicious and less caloric, by the way, than the thick, cheese-laden American pasta and pizza sauces.”
I second this motion. Had the best simple fresh pizza margherita I’ve ever eaten in a resort town on the Adriatic in Italy years ago.