Criticizing food and questioning the origins of dishes from Mediterranean peoples is not usually well received in this region of the world so attached to its gastronomic culture. Now, if this questioning is directed at an Italian and also calls into question the pizza, then... fight is right.
This is what the historian of University of Parma Alberto Grandi. In a interview with the newspaper “Finantial Times" Last week, Grandi, who researches the history of gastronomy and food, stated, among other things, that Italian cuisine as we know it today is actually more North American than Italian.
“While staying in Naples, the pizza was complete rubbish. But when it arrived in New York, it gained new features, especially tomato sauce, becoming the wonder we know today,” Grandi told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “Without the Italians’ trip to America, I’m sure pizza would have disappeared.”
Albert Grandi
The historian's thesis is that, in a project to create its identity, Italy “invented” origins for dishes that already existed or that emerged or were improved from the influence of other regions of the world, such as the United States and even Brazil.
“We confuse identity with roots. Our history is full of people who emigrated to America, to Brazil, to Belgium”, said the historian in the interview.
But the idea was not at all well received among his countrymen. He was criticized by a series of politicians, and, on social media, Italian internet users call Grandi a charlatan and media man.
“This man had a miserable childhood with a family that didn't know how to cook and now he wants to rewrite history. I wonder how much the French government must be paying him to say these things”, said an Italian internet user – France and Italy often compete for the informal title of best cuisine in Europe.
Coldiretti, the main association of Italian producers and farmers, said it was opportunism on the part of the historian, who, for the group, wants to gain attention just at a time when Italy is trying to make its gastronomy a heritage of humanity.
Last week, the Italian Ministry of Culture presented the candidacy of Italian gastronomy for the title of UNESCO Cultural Heritage.
The proposal will be evaluated and decided by 2025. (G1)
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