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Pre-Italian Cooking

4 years ago

https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2019/04/19/italian-food-before-italy-early-modern-recipes/

I've never thought about this. What was Italian cooking before Italy's creation and even before the tomato's arrival.

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jerzeegirl (FL zone 9B)

4 years ago

I loved this line because I swear it refers directly to my DH to whom figs and eggplant are anathema (even though they are in my top 10 foods).

Some Mediterranean-inflected foods, such as chocolate, saffron, and
lemons, were readily absorbed into the English diet, even if sparingly,
due to cost and accessibility; but others, such as olive oil, eggplant,
and figs, were treated with suspicion, due to fear of their sources and
of their potential effects on English physiology.

It's funny but I was musing about the parallels between Italian and Chinese food as I was making my wontons yesterday.

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Comments (8)

writersblock (9b/10a)
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
For even more pre-pre-Italian cooking, this BBC documentary on Herculaneum has a lot of interesting information about food:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_wfTPdp3_k

I knew they wouldn't have tomatoes, but I never thought they wouldn't have had lemons.
annie1992
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I'd never thought of it either, happily believing that Italians had always had red sauce, I suppose.

I did smile at the picture of the tripe seller with the "gatta", I'd also never thought of carrying tripe on a stick, or even how that would work.

I think of the United States as a very young country, but some others aren't very old either, or at least not the incarnation that we currently recognize them in.

Annie
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colleenoz
4 years ago
I’ve often had that thought, and also “What was Indian and Asian food like before the introduction of the tomato and the chilli?”, but then I was for a while in my younger days involved in a mediaeval re-creation group which required correct period recipes, so no potatoes, no tomatoes, etc.
Islay Corbel
4 years ago
Roman food sounds quite disgusting.

Countries' boundaries have moved, but they were still there. Alsace, for example, has been French, German, French, German on and off but their food hasn't been changed by their nationality.
writersblock (9b/10a)
4 years ago
Colleenoz, I've made this curry, which the BBC says is the oldest known one:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36415079

It's pretty good. I'm a little agnostic about some of the ingredients, though.
Gooster
4 years ago
I've researched this before, and read about the impact that the new world had on cuisine throughout Europe. So many of today's dishes would not be possible without tomatoes, potatoes, chili, corn, bell peppers, squashes and the like. But pasta and flatbreads existed in the early modern times, and a rich variety of flavors from spices and herbs. And it seems like, from the link above, it was healthier with more fresh fruit and veggies.

What was interesting about the Herculeum link (I skimmed the video) was the use of spices, including black pepper from India. I know garum was popular in Roman times, and the rich use of herbs and spices probably made for some flavorful food compared to other regions in Europe.
l pinkmountain
4 years ago
So many of my favorite herbs come from the Mediterranean region! I also imagine they would eat them fresh year-round unlike what I am able to do!

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