For millennia, pizza, a food of various origins and multiple styles, has played an important role in the diet of those who inhabited the land now called Italy. Neolithic nomads, the Etruscans from the North, and the Greeks from southern regions were the three earliest societies to develop pizza prototypes, for example, focaccia. Each group made small adaptations that changed the original product into a slightly more refined dish.
As early as the Stone Age, Neolithic hunter-gatherer tribal groups foraged throughout what would become Italy for wild grains, among them wheat varieties such as emmer and einkorn, as well as barley. Commonly first soaked or boiled, these grains were mashed into pastes and cooked on hot stones over open fires.
Later,
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Probably not coincidentally, the Neapolitans were responsible for the addition of the ingredient most commonly associated with pizza today—the tomato.
No one is sure of the precise reason, but it took well over two centuries from the time the New World tomato was introduced to the continent of Europe during the Columbian food exchange for Neapolitans, and various other inhabitants of the peninsula, to begin consuming tomatoes in quantity.
There are several theories about why adoption of a fruit that has almost come to symbolize Italian cuisine took so long. One argues that it was because tomatoes were believed to be poisonous, another that the earliest tomatoes were inferior and, therefore, eaten only in modest amounts until quality improved enough to make the fruit genuinely popular. In the area of Naples, for example, a key moment appears to have come in the middle of the eighteenth century with the development of a pleasing, large, and sweet tomato. The fruit quickly became the mainstay of Neapolitan pizza
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In one version of the story, the queen (Marie Antoinette 's sister and the daughter of Empress Maria Teresa of Austria) is said to have been described by the king as having "common tastes," apparently a quality thought to explain her love of pizza, a dish of the people. It is, however, a measure of the confounding nature of pizza lore that in a variant of the story, it is the king who relishes pizza and the refined queen who does not understand his passion.
Whichever of their majesties was the real enthusiast, the object of desire was probably flavored with lard (a less expensive alternative to oil), tomatoes, salt, and sometimes tiny eels, anchovies, or sardines. Over time, craving for this pie became so great that either the king, to gratify his wife 's yearning, or the queen, to gratify the king 's hunger, had a pizza oven built at the Capodimonte palace, so they could make the dish at home, an act that brought the pie even more attention. Pizza became the fashion, and other nobles followed suit, building pizza ovens where they
Mozzarella sticks are one common dish. It is cubes of mozzarella coated in breadcrumbs and fried in oil. This dish is one of the few can be made without the Columbian exchange. The ingredients in this dish include all-purpose flour and breadcrumbs, besides the cheese. The flour is from southwestern Asia, and the mozzarella cheese is from Italy. The breadcrumbs are from Egypt. All of these ingredients are from the “Old World”, meaning that they are from either Europe, Asia, or Africa. Therefore, the Columbian exchange need not have occurred to make
Along with an exuberance of gold and silver, plants such as corn, tobacco, potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate, sugar, and myriad other fruits and vegetables were introduced into European diets. The humble potato was especially adopted by the Irish; Tomatoes, the Spanish; and tobacco, the entire world. Due to the increased food supply, the European population exploded and necessitated the subsequent settlement of the ‘New World’.
Pizza My Heart is one of the most successful pizza restaurant businesses in the Bay area. Founded in 1981, this family-owned business soon became a favorite place for the surfers and beachgoers, and grew into a chain that operates at eighteen locations in northern California. As it emphasized in the mission statement that they want the highest quality in pizza and service, Pizza My Heart is well known for its freshness and taste. Its strategy to source food with more natural and local ingredients and less processing worked when it was awarded “Best in the Silicon Valley” for being the best pizza of the year in 2006 and 2007 from tews.com.
Many people declare that pizza is the best food that they have ever tasted, or it is at least their favorite, but pizza has not gone far beyond fulfilling a sense of hunger. “The Best Pizza in the World”, by Elizabeth Gilbert, is a short story that explores how a simple pizza quenches the narrator's thirst for adventure and changes her overall attitude toward herself. In “The Best Pizza in the World”, Gilbert uses description,cause and effect; and pathos to share her experience of how a little pizzeria in Naples lead her to temporary enlightenment.
came from the Italians. Their new flavor and pasta dishes won the country over and is
The political history of Italy is quite extensive. The Greeks were the first to settle in Italy and established colonies in the southern part of the country and in Sicily. There was not a sense of political reality as much as there was a civilization (Windows on Italy- History). While the Greeks controlled the south the Gauls, or Celtic people, ruled the north and the Po Valley. But the most important group to settle in Italy was the Etruscans. Because of their advanced civilization, the Etruscans were the only ones to establish political and cultural ideas before the Roman Empire (Windows on Italy- History). At the end of the Etruscans rule, Rome began a unification of Italy and established Latin to be the general language (Defusco).
Some of these changes now define modern day life and culture in European countries. When describing tomatoes, in a paper that analyzes the redistribution of goods brought by the Columbian exchange, authors Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian explain that “[There was a] significant increase in tomato consumption. Tomatoes have truly become a global food. nine of the top ten tomato-consuming countries are Old World countries. Greece consumes the most tomatoes per capita, followed by other Mediterranean and Middle Eastern
Italy, Spain, and Greece are all located on Mediterranean Europe, but in different regions of Mediterranean. Since they are in the same region of Europe, their climates are almost nearly the same. As for their fruit, they had their own unique fruits as they are in different regions of Mediterranean. They may have some same kinds of fruits with each other. How these two, climate and fruit, connected with each other? Some people said that only the landforms can change the climate. Some people said the climates can change the food. What is the relationship between climates and fruit?
There’s a lot more to being Italian than the typical stereotypes that we have come to know from movies, television and books. From the Catholic mobsters who kill during the week but always make it to mass on Sunday, to the “how you doin” views of Joey from the television show “Friends”, people often forget the more important parts of being Italian. It is a culture like no other, full of history, art, and most importantly, their passion for food. Italian food, in my opinion, is the best in the world. Italians put so much into everything they make that the time and effort is tasted with every single bite. One of my favorite dishes would have to be fettuccini alfredo and it just happens to be a fairly easy, but extremely delicious, dish to make. Trust me, if I can make it, you can make it.
She was never open to new change in the movie because within the Italian culture, tradition is a main part. Everything is made the same and passed down from generation to generation, without any change. The food Marquerite made was not filled with much color or flavor. Bread was also served with the meal but it was most as a side dish to the pasta or other grains. The families who were eating at the restaurant had a bigger family, and all ate together. When eating the Italian meal, they went through every course from appetizer to
The story of the pineapple falls into three distinct periods. The first period precedes the discovery of America and goes back into the antiquity of South America where the pineapple is believed to have developed. There is very little information about it during this period but it is known that the pineapple was already being cultivated and widely distributed through inhabited areas of the American tropics.
Tomato felt insecure about its position in the Kingdom of Fruits. It felt like its real self was miles away trapped inside the wrong body. As Tomato pondered on its identity, it felt a strong hatred towards its appearance. It was soft and tender but what it disliked the most was its seed-bearing body. Despite wanting to be a vegetable, Tomato also feared the discrimination and harassment that came with telling the truth. In both the Kingdom of Fruits and the Kingdom of Vegetables, being different was not tolerated. The Kingdoms were dominated by fruits and vegetables that regarded 'being different' as socially unacceptable. It was considered an entity that was denied the chance of equal treatment.
Around 3000 B.C. tribes from different areas of Europe and Asia formed small towns and farming communities in mountain pockets of the Italian peninsula. The rough shape of the Apennine Mountains allowed many of these small tribes to exist separately. Some of them had migrated to Italy from areas north of the Black and Caspian seas. Historians call these people Indo-Europeans, that is, they came from Europe, southwest Asia, and India. These Indo-Europeans also influenced the Greek culture of the time. (Packer).
Italian food began about 13,000 years ago and became recognized when “the Etruscans, Greeks, and Romans moved into the Italian peninsula around 1,000 BCE” (Italian Food History). By about 400 BCE the Romans had taken control of this diverse area. During this period, Italian cuisine consisted of barley or wheat that would be cooked into a type of porridge and enriched with wild greens, root vegetables, fruit or, for a really big celebration, honey. The boarders of the Roman Empire provided spices like cumin, sesame, coriander, oregano, olive oil and saffron to those who could afford it. “After conquering Macedonia around 200 BCE, the returning standard bearers brought commercial baking to the city of Romulus and Remus enriching the history of Italian food and making bread the staple of the Roman welfare system called the Annona” (Italian Food History). Even with such diversity, the people of Italy were quite poor and had to rely on locally available foods to create their recipes. This is why many Italian dishes, including today, are based on simple ingredients like cheese, eggplant, olives, and olive oil....
The side walk cafes are very popular in Rome. The cafes were always populated with happy Italians and a few curious tourists. The most preferred cafe was the Cafe S. Petro. this cafe was in perfect walking distance from the Vatican city. The Vatica n city is were the pope lives. The main meals served at the cafes varied from pizza to tortillini. The pizzas were not exactly like Pizza Hut's pizza. They were crispy thin with very few toppings available. Most pizzas came with cheese, pepperoni and a watery tomato sauce. The tortillini had soft, medium-length, hollow noodles with more watery tomato sauce. Another favorite at the cafe was the lasagna which was unbelievably delicious. After having tasted the pizzas and the tortillini, I was not exp ecting the lasagna to be so tasty. The lasagna was packed full of hot meat, zesty cheese, and a tangy tomato sauce. It was not out of the ordinary to see Italians, instead of eating at the cafe, talking with their friends and sipping on hot cappucino.