Blog #9

This week I had the pear pasta again for a friend’s birthday because everyone here at the John Felice Rome Center loves it. It was really good and I am not going to lie, the combination between savory and sweety is super satisfactory. However, after having a talk with my food and wine professor earlier in the semester I cannot help but looking at the dish in a whole new light. The dish is not exactly “Italian”. The way my professor described it was almost like a Russian Pierogi. Or Pierogi inspired. It was not a ravioli or a tortellini and I have never experienced that combination of flavors in Italian cooking. In my experience, Italian menus do not normally veer off of the traditional recipes or at least they stay somewhat similar to the original recipes. I have noticed that Italians do not like change. For instance, when Rome tried to introduce a Starbucks and it was basically run out because coffee is a sacred drink here. It thrives everywhere else but here.

This weeks reading was about Pelligrino Artusi and his famous book Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. Artusi’s background was extremely interesting because he left Folimpopoli because his family was attacked by the Ferryman, a burglar that almost seemed like a myth but caused serious psychological harm to his family. He and his family moved to Florence where he pursued many arts but then decided to write a book on recipes and cooking. The book helped to unified a divided Italy after it was only recently made into a country. He brought together recipes from all over Italy and used the Florentine Italian language which helped teach Italians from all over the official language of their country through the common language of food.

It was really interesting to read about the background of why food is so important to the Italian people and their history. It is not just that they make really good food and cook a lot, but food actually helped unify the Italian people and create an Italian identity. Food is literally one of the main elements of Italian culture before the common people or language. My grandparents actually have a copy of Artusi’s book and remember them once (probably many more times) pulling out the book and flipping through to decide what to make for a family picnic we were having.