A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

Massimo Montanari, Gregory Conti

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English

Europa Editions
05 January 2022

History; Social & cultural history

"Pasta is an iconic symbol of Italy and its cuisine. Hundreds of shapes and thousands of recipes give expression to the culture and products of the country's regions. But spaghetti with tomato sauce remains Italy's identity dish par excellence.

Massimo Montanari goes in search of the dish's true origins, tracing its history along the multiple, intricate routes taken by its raw ingredients to merge and become the distinctive element of a whole culinary tradition.

Did medieval explorer Marco Polo bring pasta back from China, or is that a myth? How did the Neapolitan ""macharoni"" turn into the ubiquitous spaghetti? And is it even an Italian dish? In the kitchen, the blending of practices and traditions is as necessary as seasoning. It took almost two thousand years and input from the Far East, the Arabic world, and the Americas, for spaghetti with tomato sauce to take centre stage. Its development is the result of chance encounters, unplanned exchanges, and unpredictable intersections. The deeper we dig in search of the dish's origins, the more we find its strands wrap right around the world."

By: Massimo Montanari
Translated by: Gregory Conti
Imprint: Europa Editions
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 135mm,
ISBN: 9781787703285
ISBN 10: 1787703282
Pages: 128
Publication Date: 05 January 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Massimo Montanari, currently Professor of Medieval History at Bologna University, is a scholar in Food studies. He has been invited as visiting professor to a number of leading universities in Europe, Japan, the United States, Mexico and Canada, and is one of the founders of the international review Food & History. Gregory Conti teaches English at the University of Perugia and is a regular contributor to Raritan. His most recent translations are Seven Poems by Elisa Biagini and The Fault Line by Paolo Rumiz (Rizzoli USA, 2015).

Reviews for A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

Food historian Montanari reflect[s] on the meaning of roots, identities, and origins in this illuminating examination of one of the world's most famous culinary pairings. While this scholarly treatise may be better suited for those with big appetites for knowledge, it's full of delicious details. * Publisher's Weekly * Montanari traces the unstoppable rise of what would become the most famous dish in the whole world. * Robinson * A learned and entertaining volume. * Il Giornale *