A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce: The Unbelievable True Story of the World's Most Beloved Dish

A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce: The Unbelievable True Story of the World's Most Beloved Dish

by Massimo Montanari
A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce: The Unbelievable True Story of the World's Most Beloved Dish

A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce: The Unbelievable True Story of the World's Most Beloved Dish

by Massimo Montanari

eBook

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Overview

A surprisingly wide-ranging journey into the story of this beloved dish and “an utterly fascinating discourse on food history” (The Daily Beast).

Intellectually engaging and deliciously readable, this is a stereotype-defying history of how one of the most recognizable symbols of Italian cuisine and national identity is the product of centuries of encounters, dialogue, and exchange.

Is it possible to identify a starting point in history from which everything else unfolds—a single moment that can explain the present and reveal the essence of who we are? According to Massimo Montanari, this is just a myth. Historical phenomena can only be understood dynamically—by looking at how events and identities develop and change as a result of encounters and combinations that are often unexpected.

As he shows in this lively, brilliant, and surprising essay, finding the origin of spaghetti—or anything else—is not as simple as it may seem. By tracing the history of the one of Italy’s “national dishes” —from Asia to America, from Africa to Europe; from the beginning of agriculture to the Middle Ages and up to the twentieth century—he reveals that in order to understand our own identity, we almost always need to look beyond ourselves to other cultures, peoples, and traditions.

“Montanari’s research will delight readers and provide plenty of fodder for dinner-table discussion.” —Booklist

“Full of delicious details.” —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781609457105
Publisher: Europa Editions, Incorporated
Publication date: 03/08/2023
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 92
File size: 3 MB

About the Author

Massimo Montanari is Professor of Food History at the University of Bologna and one of Europe’s foremost scholars of the evolution of agriculture, landscape, food, and nutrition since the Middle Ages. His works have been translated into many languages across the globe.



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