A History of Italian Food

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Imagine Italian cuisine without tomato as an ingredient or your favorite pasta without any tomato sauce. It sounds extraordinary to think that at one point in history Italian cuisine didn’t have tomato as a staple food. After the European exploration of the Americas, numerous amounts food we introduced into Europe, Eurasia and Africa. This helped evolve the Mediterranean diet as well as traditional Italian cuisine (MacLennan and Zhang, 131.) What makes Italian cuisine popular around the world today is that most dishes are made with a small number of ingredients; cooking methods are simple and the recipes are healthy. This is a perfect mix for the food lover, and the upcoming cook with hopes to become a chef. This is why traditional Italian cuisine has influence my pursuit into the culinary field. (”Italian Food Made Easy; Traditional Fare Just Like Mama Used to Make,” par. 1-11.)

Everything has an origin, a time and a place of its beginning. A lot of things have happened over the course of two millennia’s. The origin of Italian cuisine dates back centuries and over time is has evolved due to political and social changes within Italy and Europe. During the time the Roman Empire controlled many territories and provinces. Italy was among theses territories, and during which time its people generated one of the greatest cuisines in the world. Each territory and providence displayed their individually with their own unique way of cooking. (Steendahl, Par.3). Every town has a distinctive way of making sausage, special kinds of cheese and wine, and a local type of bread. Even if one were to ask around just one town or providence how to make tomato sauce. Variations within the methods and ingredients will be the answers. (Volpi, ...

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...here.. (Volpi, par.10)

Works Cited

Capatti, Alberto and Montanari, Massimo. Italian Cuisine: a Cultural History. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.

Del, Conte Anna. Gastronomy of Italy. London: Pavilion, 2004. Print.

“Italian Food Made Easy; Traditional Fare Just Like Mama Used to Make” South China Morning Post December 31, 2011: SUPPLEMENTS; Pg. 01. Print

MacLennan R, Zhang A. “Cuisine: the concept and its health and nutrition implications-global.”Asia Pacific J Clin Nutr. 13.2(2004):131-135. Print.

Steendahl, C. “The History Of Italian Food.” Ezinearticles. Ezinearticles.com, August 27, 2007. Web. Feburary 19, 2012. < http://ezinearticles.com/?The-History-Of-Italian-Food&id=701161>

Volpi, Anna Maria. “What is Italian Cooking.” Annamariavolpi. Annamariavolpi.com, n.d. Web. Feb 19, 2012. < http://www.annamariavolpi.com/what_is_italian_cooking.html>

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