Intellectually engaging and deliciously readable, a stereotype-defying
history of how one of the most recognisable symbols of Italian cuisine
and national identity is the product of centuries of encounters,
dialogue, and exchange.
Is it possible to identify a starting point in history from which
everything else unfolds--a single moment that can explain the present
and reveal the essence of our identities? According to Massimo
Montanari, this is just a myth: by themselves, origins explain very
little and historical phenomena can only be understood dynamically--by
looking at how events and identities develop and change as a result of
encounters and combinations that are often unexpected.
As Montanari shows in this lively, brilliant, and surprising essay, all
you need to debunk the "origins myth" is a plate of spaghetti. By
tracing the history of the one of Italy's "national dishes"--from Asia
to America, from Africa to Europe; from the beginning of agriculture to
the Middle Ages and up to the 20th century--he shows that in order to
understand who we are (our identity) we almost always need to look
beyond ourselves to other cultures, peoples, and traditions.