Italian cuisine's global dominance is inextricably linked to the Italian diaspora. Your Guardian Chef: Our Culinary Heritage & Resources
: In contrast, the Futurist movement later critiqued these traditions, famously launching a "crusade against pasta," which they viewed as a symbol of lethargy and weakness, in an attempt to modernize the Italian spirit. Migration and Global Identity La cucina italiana. Storia di una cultura
: While rural consumption was historically local and dictated by survival, the "cosmopolitan" Italian cuisine we recognize today emerged from urban elite centers. Italian cuisine's global dominance is inextricably linked to
: Key "Italian" ingredients are actually imports. For example, tomatoes arrived from the Americas, and coffee came via trade with the Arab world. : Key "Italian" ingredients are actually imports
: His seminal 1891 work, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well , is credited with creating a unified culinary language for the newly unified Italian state.
Literature played a crucial role in transforming a collection of local habits into a national culture.
A central thesis of the book is that what we now call "traditional" Italian cuisine is often a modern invention.