Food and Foodways in Italy from 1861 to the Present

271 Pages·2016·3.848 MB·English

by  Emanuela Scarpellini (auth.)

Food and Foodways in Italy from
1861 to the Present
WorldsofConsumption
PublishedinassociationwiththeGermanHistoricalInstitute,Washington,DC
SeriesEditors:HARTMUTBERGHOFFandUWESPIEKERMANN
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FoodandFoodwaysinItalyfrom1861tothePresent
ByEmanuelaScarpellini
Food and Foodways in Italy from 1861
to the Present
Emanuela Scarpellini
TranslatedbyNoorGiovanniMazhar
FOODANDFOODWAYSINITALYFROM1861TOTHEPRESENT
Copyright©EmanuelaScarpellini2016
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-56960-8
Originallypublishedin2012byEditoriLaterza,Italy,asAtavola!
Gliitalianiin7pranzi
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Scarpellini,Emanuela.
[Atavola!English]
FoodandfoodwaysinItalyfrom1861tothepresent/Emanuela
Scarpellini;translatedbyNoorGiovanniMazhar.
pages cm.—(Worldsofconsumption)
“PublishedinassociationwiththeGermanHistoricalInstitute,
Washington,DC.”
Originallypublishedas:Atavola!:gliitalianiin7pranzi(Roma:Editori
Laterza,2011).
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1. Foodhabits—Italy—History. 2. Cooking—Socialaspects—Italy.
3. Cooking,Italian—History. 4. Italy–Sociallifeandcustoms.
I. Mazhar,NoorGiovanni,translator. II. GermanHistoricalInstitute
(Washington,D.C.) III. Title.
GT2853.I8S33132015
394.1(cid:2)20945—dc23 2015019060
AcataloguerecordforthebookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ForPaolo,withlove

Contents
Preface ix
1 TheLuxuryoftheAristocracy
(OrtheBuildingoftheUnitaryState,1861–1880) 1
2 NatureandCultureinthePeasantWorld
(OrtheZenithandCrisisofLiberalism,1881–1900) 27
3 EatingintheCity
(OrIndustrialDevelopment,1901–1914) 53
4 HomemadeMeals
(OrFascismandtheTwoWorldWars,1915–1949) 81
5 TheGreatTransformation
(OrEconomicGrowthinthePostwarPeriod,1950–1973) 109
6 CuisineintheAgeofGlobalization
(OrtheAffluentSociety,1974–1993) 141
7 EatingintheTwenty-FirstCentury
(OrtheTimeofComplexity,since1994) 171
Epilogue 205
Tables 209
Notes 221
Index 249

Preface
ThereisamythabouttheoriginoffireamongtheindigenousKayapó,who
live in Brazil south of the Amazon River and refuse to accept the way of
life of the “whites.” A young boy named Botoque, trapped on top of a cliff
while unsuccessfully attempting to seize Ara’s eggs, was saved—to his great
surprise—by a jaguar, who was passing that way and took him on his back
tohislair.There,forthefirsttime,Botoquesawafireburningandateroast
meat (his companions did not know about fire and only ate raw meat). The
jaguar decided to adopt the young man, despite the opposition of his wife,
who was Kayapó, and he taught Botoque how to defend himself using a
bow and arrow. One day when the jaguar was out hunting, Botoque killed
his stepmother with an arrow and ran away frightened. He returned to his
village,showedhiscompanionshisnewweaponandhadthemtastetheroast
meat he had brought with him. Everyone began to want the fire. So they
went to the jaguar’s lair while he was away, stole the fire and the meat for
roasting, and returned to their village. Now they could warm themselves,
havelightduringthenight,andeatcookedmeat.Whenthejaguarreturned
andfoundoutwhathadhappened,hegotterriblyangry,buthewastoolate.
Since that time, he has harbored an infinite hatred toward everyone, above
allhumanbeings,andheonlyeatsrawmeat.Butinhiseyestherestillshines
thefire’sreflection.1
In connection with this myth, Claude Lévi-Strauss has concluded that
cooking indicates a passage from nature to culture. Cooking meat is accom-
paniedbyadifferentwayoflifeandthediscoveryofarms;itmarksapeople’s
entry into “civilization.” The Kayapó became “men” (just as the jaguar
went back to being an “animal”). Human culture originated from an act
ofcourage,cunning,andbetrayal.
Theroleofcookingandthesignificanceofeatingdonotjustconcernthe
culture of an ethnic group of a few thousand people struggling to survive.
Food matters to all of us. But if consuming food is a universal experi-
ence, we do not eat the same things, or in the same ways, or in the same
places. It could be said that, to a certain extent, everything converges in
the act of eating—the agricultural, industrial, and commercial conditions of
a given place; traditional customs and religious beliefs; differences in social
and economic background, gender, and age; taste preferences and culinary
art; geographical characteristics, cultural identity, public policies, and more.