Synopses & Reviews
Buon appetito! Everyone loves Italian food. But how did the Italians come to eat so well?
The answer lies amid the vibrant beauty of Italy's historic cities. For a thousand years, they have been magnets for everything that makes for great eating: ingredients, talent, money, and power. Italian food is city food.
From the bustle of medieval Milan's marketplace to the banqueting halls of Renaissance Ferrara; from street stalls in the putrid alleyways of nineteenth-century Naples to the noisy trattorie of postwar Rome: in rich slices of urban life, historian and master storyteller John Dickie shows how taste, creativity, and civic pride blended with princely arrogance, political violence, and dark intrigue to create the world's favorite cuisine. Delizia! is much more than a history of Italian food. It is a history of Italy told through the flavors and character of its cities.
A dynamic chronicle that is full of surprises, Delizia! draws back the curtain on much that was unknown about Italian food and exposes the long-held canards. It interprets the ancient Arabic map that tells of pasta's true origins, and shows that Marco Polo did not introduce spaghetti to the Italians, as is often thought, but did have a big influence on making pasta a part of the American diet. It seeks out the medieval recipes that reveal Italy's long love affair with exotic spices, and introduces the great Renaissance cookery writer who plotted to murder the Pope even as he detailed the aphrodisiac qualities of his ingredients. It moves from the opulent theater of a Renaissance wedding banquet, with its gargantuan ten-course menu comprising hundreds of separate dishes, to the thin soups and bland polentas that would eventually force millions to emigrate to the New World. It shows how early pizzas were disgusting and why Mussolini championed risotto. Most important, it explains the origins and growth of the world's greatest urban food culture.
With its delectable mix of vivid storytelling, groundbreaking research, and shrewd analysis, Delizia! is as appetizing as the dishes it describes. This passionate account of Italy's civilization of the table will satisfy foodies, history buffs, Italophiles, travelers, students -- and anyone who loves a well-told tale.
Review
"Revelatory history of gourmet Italy from antiquity to today...Boisterous, gluttonous stories -- some verging on salacious -- are balanced by accounts of paucity in this look into Italian history and its edibles." -- Publishers Weekly"A book that is as much a feast of horrors as delights...[Dickie's] book is hard to fault: densely researched, enlightening, and consistently moreish." -- The Sunday Times (London)"A literally mouth-watering read, which counters the misconception of "Italian" cuisine, as well as the myth that it originated among peasants." -- The Herald"A clever and provoking account of Italy's history...informs as well as enlightens." -- The Guardian"Lots of books are written with passion about Italian food, precious few backed up with the deep historical background here presented in allegro con brio style by a clear-headed historian who rubbishes some too-persistent myths and replaces them with factual narratives no less fascinating. Dickie shows how Italian regional cuisines developed and some dishes became global icons. If we are what we eat, who wouldn't want to be Italian?" -- The Times (London)
Review
and#8220;In this fascinating guide, Parasecoli takes us through the history of Italyand#8217;s relationship with food, right back to the Romans, discussing the origins of olive oil and the importance of sun-ripened tomatoes. . . . The stories that are interwoven into the pages are essential reads for any budding connoisseur or general foodie.and#8221;and#160;
Review
and#8220;This cool analysis of the geopolitical background to the delights of Italian gastronomy is a welcome addition.and#8221; and#160;
Review
andldquo;This ambitious volume places discussions of food and food-related customs in the context of Italian history from the Neolithic to the present. Parasecoli leads readers on an engaging journey through time and geography. The author peppers the account with anecdotes and historical tidbits ranging from whether or not there was food scarcity during the Middle Ages to how changes in female empowerment have caused adjustments in portion sizes in the twenty-first century.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Over the last three decades Italian cuisine has gained in status as well as fame. It is not only served at family-style eateries, ice cream parlors, and pizza shops: high-end Italian restaurants are now listed among the most prestigious establishments in major cities worldwide. TV shows and magazines are full of Italian recipes, and culinary professionals become celebrities, banking on their Italian origins. As Italian cuisine acquires new relevance, scores of tourists flock to the epicenter of it all: Italy.
The author shows that for centuries, countries such as Italy in the Southern Mediterranean fought against food scarcity, wars, invasions, and an environment that was often not very favorable to agriculture. With limited access to meat, dairy, and fats, they developed foodways that hinged on grains, pulses, and vegetables. It was only after the and#147;economic miracleand#8221; of the late 1950s that the majority of the Italian population was able to afford a more diverse and abundant diet, albeit sacrificing traditional ways of life and culinary habits. New packaging and conservation techniques, industrial mass production, and more sophisticated systems of transportation and distribution brought profound changes in the way Italians ate and thought about food. Gradually, the rest of the world has become aware that the practices adopted by Italians constitute a healthy eating model, and its reputation has been growing exponentially ever since.
Synopsis
Spaghetti with meatballs, fettuccine alfredo, margherita pizzas, ricotta and parmesan cheesesand#151;we have Italy to thank for some of our favorite comfort foods. Home to a dazzling array of wines, cheese, breads, vegetables, and salamis, Italy has become a mecca for foodies who flock to its pizzerias, gelateries, and family-style and Michelin-starred restaurants. Taking readers across the countryand#8217;s regions and beyond in the first book in Reaktionand#8217;s new Foods and Nations series,and#160;
Al Denteand#160;explores our obsession with Italian food and how the countryand#8217;s cuisine became what it is today.
and#160;
Fabio Parasecoli discovers that for centuries, southern Mediterranean countries such as Italy fought against food scarcity, wars, invasions, and an unfavorable agricultural environment. Lacking in meat and dairy, Italy developed foodways that depended on grains, legumes, and vegetables until a stronger economy in the late 1950s allowed the majority of Italians to afford a more diverse diet. Parasecoli elucidates how the last half century has seen new packaging, conservation techniques, industrial mass production, and more sophisticated systems of transportation and distribution, bringing about profound changes in how the countryand#8217;s population thought about food. He also reveals that much of Italyand#8217;s culinary reputation hinged on the worldand#8217;s discovery of it as a healthy eating model, which has led to the prevalence of high-end Italian restaurants in major cities around the globe.
and#160;
Including historical recipes for delicious Italian dishes to enjoy alongside a glass of crisp Chianti,and#160;Al Denteand#160;is a fascinating survey of this countryand#8217;s cuisine that sheds new light on why we should always leave the gun and take the cannoli.
About the Author
John Dickie lectures in Italian Studies at University College London. Cosa Nostra, his award-winning history of the Sicilian mafia, has been translated into twenty languages and has sold nearly half a million copies throughout the world; it was hailed in Italy as the best book ever written about the Mafia. In 2005 the president of the Italian Republic appointed him a Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana. He lives in London with his family .
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Food of Italy: Beyond Myths and Stereotypes
1. A Land in the Mediterranean
2. Invaders
3. Rebirth
4. Fragmentation and Unification
5. From War to Miracle
6. Now and the Future
7. The Globalization of Italian Food
8. A Nation of Town and Regions: Italian Campanilismo
References
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index