|  Il
cibo é l'essenza della vita.... Food is the essence
of life. For the Italians, food is a passion and many maintain
that they live to eat, they don't eat to live. Italy has a culinary
reputation which dates back over two thousand years, declining
after the fall of the Roman Empire. Food and its preparation was
a very important part of the culture of the Roman empire and the
only surviving cookery book from the Classical period is Roman;
a text known as Apicius, after the renowned Roman gourmet who
lived in the first century BC. Although, it is thought that the
work itself is a compilation, constructed over many years by several
contributors, as it was copied and re-copied. The first printed
cookery book also came from Italy. Written by Bartolomeo Platina,
the Vatican Librarian, in 1475, his work De Honesta Voluptate,
drew largely from the manuscripts of an earlier 15th century recipe
writer, Maestro Martino of Como. After the collapse of the Roman
empire, Italy became fragmented and the separate regions grew
up as individual city states, each with their own identity, resources
and traditions. Just over a century ago, under the auspices of
Garibaldi, it was drawn together to form a unified country which,
like its cuisine style, is relaxed, varied, colourful and unpretentious.
With any country, ingredients traditionally vary according to
the availabity locally of different foods. Although modern storage,
freezing methods and easier shipping and transportation are tending
to change this worldwide, Italian food still seems able to reflect
seasonal and regional variations. For example, the north contributes
Tuscan beef, the excellent pork and dairy products of Parma, the
recently fashionable polenta and, of course, the famous black
truffles from the Marches. The South complements these with citrus
fruits, and creamy cheeses such as Ricotta, Mozzarella and Provolone.
However, the true mark of the southern style is in the use of
the ubiquitous tomato, which the southerners, and Naples in particular
took to its heart almost upon its arrival from the 'New World'
and, by marrying their fluffy flatbreads and creamy Mozzarella
with the Pomo D'Oro, or golden apple, (the first tomatoes were
yellow), created the famous open pie which has now been emulated
worldwide - Pizza.
Naturally enough, the coastal areas have a wide variety of fish
and seafood to draw upon: Mussels, baby clams, squid, octopus,
prawns, sardines, anchovies and red mullet number among the more
familiar to the British, along with many more, including the more
exotic sea-dates, sea-truffles and cuttlefish. The islands of
Sardinia and Sicily maintain the more traditional and simple cuisine
styles; spit-roasting suckling pig pretty much as their ancestors
would have at the height of the Roman Empire, when Sicilian cooks
enjoyed a certain amount of fame; producing soups and stews which
draw upon the rich harvets from the Mediterranean - sardines (which
share their name with the island of Sardinia), red mullet, swordfish,
lobster and anchovies.
The Arab influence on the food of the south is very strong and
the two islands are no exception to this, especially in the areas
of sweets and spices. Cassata, the famous Sicilian ice cream cake,
takes its name from the Arabic qas'at, the name for a large, round
bowl. For more information on this article please vist:
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