Cuisines of the World Part Two
~ Italy ~
By: Adrienne White
Date: Spring 2025
Cuisine isn’t simply food. It isn’t just the thing you have to put into your body for fuel and it should never be a chore or something you dread. Cuisine is an experience, life-changing in itself. This experience can vary not only from person to person, but from place to place. So, over the span of this series we will be taking a deep dive into the diverse cookery around the world.
Italy, a boot-shaped peninsula in Southern Europe which boasts rich history, diverse landscapes and a significant cultural heritage. When you think of some of the most American foods (pizza, pasta, and even fruit ice cream), I bet some of you didn’t even know their deepest roots lie in Italy. In this article, we will be taking a closer look at both the history of traditional Italian cuisine and how they’ve evolved into the meals we know and enjoy today.
Pizza is often debated to be the most popular American food. Pizza is actually an Italian staple originating in Naples. While no direct date for the first slice of pizza is currently known, scientists have approximated roughly 600 B.C. according to the History Channel’s 2012 article Who Invented Pizza? Original pizza was typically a flatbread topped with light ingredients such as tomatoes, cheese, oil and garlic. Fun fact: Queen Margherita (an Italian queen, lover of mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes on flatbreads) is actually the source of the “Margherita Pizza,” which started the Italy pizza craze. Pizza’s nuanced popularity did not take effect until the late 19th century, when Italian immigrants who had landed in New York would make their mark on the pizza world forever.
One of the most commonly believed Italian legends is that the famous explorer Marco Polo brought pasta to Italy from China in the 13th century. Though the exact time frame or places are not known, historians actually believe that Arab traders may have brought over the first strands of pasta along the Silk Road. There is quite a bit of variety among both pasta types and sauces. Southern Italy holds the most tomato-heavy pasta dishes such as the classic spaghetti, whereas creamy and thick dishes like Bolognese stem from Northern Italy. Pasta shapes such as Orecchiette, hold unique meanings. In this case the dough is shaped to resemble small “ears, traditionally used to ‘catch’ chunky vegetable sauces,” stated in the article The Cultural History Behind Pasta from Pastasty. Overall, pasta is a unique staple that comes straight from the heart of Italy.
Did you know that the first ice cream cone was actually produced by an Italian immigrant named Italo Marchiony? While Asian cultures originated the idea of flavoring crushed ice, it was the Italians who brought the idea to the Americas. Dairy was actually a relatively new installment to the ice cream industry, as the original dessert (now known solely as Italian Ice) was simply crushed ice with flavored syrup or fruit juice. When Italo introduced the idea of adding milk, this was just the beginning of the craze. A common assumption is that ice cream and gelato are the same thing, but that belief is actually incorrect. Sticking to its icy roots, gelato has a lower cream (and therefore lower fat content) than ice cream, along with a “silkier flavor” according to the Food Network in Gelato vs. Ice Cream: What's the Difference?
Today we discussed the sweet, the savory, the salty and the icy flavors from the country of Italy. Though pizza, pasta and gelato are staples, lesser known foods such as risotto, arancini and tiramisu are equally as important. I hope today I have helped give you a better understanding of just how big an impact Italy has had on not just American cuisine, but cuisine all over the world.
Sources:
PIZZA AND SOUTHERN ITALY
https://www.lacucinaItaliana.com/Italian-food/Italian-dishes/history-pizza-incredible-tale
https://www.history.com/articles/a-slice-of-history-pizza-through-the-ages
PASTA AND NORTHERN ITALY
https://www.trafalgar.com/real-word/history-pasta/
GELATO AND DESSERTS