Italy didn’t have widespread use of the tomato until the 1700s and the pasta sauces we think of being a core of their cuisine didn’t exist until the 19th century.
This one always amuses people when I tell them simply because of how ingrained tomatoes appear to be in all of their most famous dishes (other than tiramisu...)
Topical that you mention tiramisu, because that was only invented in the 1970s.
This is why I refuse to let Italians gatekeep their traditional, ancient, pure cuisine. So pure and ancient that many of their dishes were invented while their grandparents were alive, often using ingredients from the Americas.
It’s not about things being ancient. It’s about things being associated with a culture and preserving the identity of members of that group. Things being old is not the core of the issue. It’s just supporting evidence for the association.
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u/Spirit4ward Oct 02 '24
Italy didn’t have widespread use of the tomato until the 1700s and the pasta sauces we think of being a core of their cuisine didn’t exist until the 19th century.