num_pages: 332
description: Spaghetti with meatballs fettuccine alfredo margherita pizzas ricotta and parmesan cheeseswe 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 countrys regions and beyond in the first book in Reaktions new Foods and Nations series Al Dente explores our obsession with Italian food and how the countrys cuisine became what it is today. 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 countrys population thought about food. He also reveals that much of Italys culinary reputation hinged on the worlds 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. Including historical recipes for delicious Italian dishes to enjoy alongside a glass of crisp Chianti Al Dente is a fascinating survey of this countrys cuisine that sheds new light on why we should always leave the gun and take the cannoli.
language: English
title: Al Dente: A History of Food in Italy
publisher: Reaktion Books