Gastronomic Culture

History and Tradition Found in a Book

Food Culture

Section 9 contains all of the publications dedicated more specifically to cultural issues and containing more historic information than your average cookbook.

This section includes a wide range of books that vary in subject from food culture and nutritional history, to single ingredients, regional Italian cuisines, and domestic customs and culture. In this section of the library, history, literature, music, cinema, brotherhood and popular traditions come together to form a world of their own.

The History of Food and Diet

This subsection includes over a hundred books that form the guidelines to understanding gastronomic culture in a wider context. There are the fundamental histories like La fame e l'abbondanza, or “Hunger and Plenty,” by Massimo Montanari (Laterza, 1993); Storia e geografia dell'alimentazione, or “History and Geography of Diet,” by Montanari–Sabban (UTET 1996); Storia dell'alimentazione, or “History of Diet,” by Flandrin–Montanari (Laterza, 1997); and even the “Food & Diet” volume of the monumental Storia d’Italia, “History or Italy,” book series published by Einaudi (1998).

Questions of economics as they are tied to feeding oneself are addressed in Alimentazione e nutrizione nei sec. XIII–XVIII, “Diet and Nutrition in the 13th to 18th Centuries,”by the “F. Datini” Institute of Prato (Le Monnier, 1997), while an anthropological approach can be found in La terra e la luna: alimentazione, folclore e società, “The Earth and The Moon: nutrition, folklore and society,” by Piero Camporesi  (Il Saggiatore, 1989). Also look for Onnivoro, “Omnivore,” by Claude Fischler (Mondadori, 1992), Il crudo e il cotto, “Raw and Cooked,” by Claude Levi–Strauss (Net, 2004) and Le cucine del mondo, “World Cuisines,” by Christian Boudan (Donzelli, 2005).

The champion of discovering regional specialties is Davide Paolini, who has written a number of books under the title Gastronauta. In terms of regional cuisine, there is also a unique collection of articles published over the course of the years in Domenicale of the “Sole 24 Ore” newspaper.

Other interesting book on gastronomic culture include Convivio, Nuovo Convivio e Convivio Oggi by Montanari (Laterza, 1989, 1991, 1992), Romanzo della grande cucina, or “A Novel about Great Cooking,” by Giuseppe Maffioli (Canesi, 1965), 4000 anni a tavola: dalla bistecca preistorica al picnic sulla luna, or “4000 years at the table: from the prehistoric steak to a picnic on the moon,” di Massimo Alberini (Fabbri, 1972), and Piaceri della tavola: contributo alla storia della cucina e della mensa, “Pleasures of the Tables: a history of food and the table,” (Bocca, 1903) by Albert Cougnet, an active journalist and food lover.

Cougnet is also a passionate menu collector and his collection is now housed in the Academia Barilla Library. And there is a special treat waiting for you in the Gastronomic Library of Sabatiniana: a series of 18 delicious books, sophisticated and ironic at the same time. The series was curated by Marino Parenti and then by Giovanni Gelati, and published thanks to the Florentine restaurant on via Panzani, owned by Anna Maria and Vicenzo Sabatini.

They published be books from 1957 to 1974 and gave them to their regular customers as a Christmas gift. There are also rare essays and history books about cooking, and even works on the Italian food industry and its top brands. There are even books on the numerous Italian food museums, built to celebrate the excellent food products of the country.

History and Gastronomy

This large subsection of about one hundred books is dedicated to in-depth texts relating to Italian food throughout history.
The subjects range from the ancient world to modern day.

De gustibus (Alexa, 1999) rebuilds the food culture of the Roman Empire, while Massimo Montanari discuss the medieval food and culture in Alimentazione e cultura nel Medio Evo (Laterza, 1998). 

Mensa del Principe, or “The Table of the Prince,” (Il bulino, 2000) explores Renaissance cuisine, while the prolific Claudio Benporat discusses the evolution of gastronomy during the following centuries in Feste e banchetti, convivialità italiana fra Tre e Quattrocento, “Parties and Banquets, Italian Conviviality between the 14th and 15th Centuries;” La cucina italiana del Quattrocento, “Italian Cuisine of the 15th Century;” and Cucina e convivialità italiana del Cinquecento, “Italian Cuisine and Conviviality in the 16th Century,” (all published by Olshki, in 1996, 2001 and 2007).

In the book entitled “An account of his excellence Roger Earl of Castelmaine's Embassy…”published in London, one can find interesting information about the sumptuous banquet offered by King James II of England to Pope Innocent XI in 1688. The book is beautifully illustrated and was designed by Michael Wright, con a great folded insert depicting the food spread out on the banquet table.

Here, you will also find a first edition copy from 1932 of Cucina futurista, or “Futuristic Cuisine,” by Tommaso Marinetti and Fillia. On the same shelf, there are numerous studies and criticisms, describing the relationship between food and the first global movement in the Italy’s artistic history.
L'Italia a tavola, “Italy at the Table,” (Libreria dello Stato, 2003) is about Italians relationship with food throughout the 20th century, while Caffè storici nel mondo, “Historic Coffee Houses of the World,” (Copernico, 1962) describes the fascination with coffee culture and its place in European history.

An entire part of the collection is dedicated to historic texts written by important cooks to explain food preparations. These texts go hand in hand with the historic cookbooks in Section 1 of the Library. Here, you will find the works by the most famous chefs throughout history: from Martino da Como to Bartolomeo Scappi, from Platina, to Frugoli, Rossetti and Latini. There is a copy of Francesco Maria Grapaldo’s architectural text and De partibus aedium link which carefully describes in elegant Latin prose the ideal house during the Italian Renaissance, with plenty of pages dedicated to the kitchen, pantry, wine cellar, garden and courtyard.

This is the oldest book in the library, dating back to 1516. It is stored next to the work of another Parma native, Girolamo Calestani, who describes agricultural techniques in his 1655 book. We also must mention the books by Baldassarre Pisanelli, author of Panunto toscano, “Tuscan Oilybread,” and by Vincenzo Corrado, author of Cuoco galante, or “The Chivalrous Cook.” Here you will also find works by Ottavio Cavalcanti and the monumental Cucina semplice ed economica, “Simple and Affordable Cooking,” by Giovanni Vialardi published in 1899.

The History of Nourishment

Food is culture.

A lot has been written about the importance of individual ingredients throughout history, from salt to oil, to bread, to pasta, to salumi, dairy products, fish, fruit and vegetables. Here are just a few titles worth highlighting: Vini di lusso, “Luxury Wines,” by Ottavio Ottavi (Cassone, 1898) and Regina delle mense, “Queen of the Table,” (Biblioteca Trivulziana, 1989), which explains the history of pasta. Also look for L'eccellenza e il trionfo del porco, “The Excellence and Triumph of Pork,” (Mazzotta, 1982), the playful poem La salameide by Antonio Frizzi (1736–1800), published in Venice by Guglielmo Zerletti in 1772.

There are various books dedicated to Prosciutto di Parma and Lardo di Colonnata, as well as other meats and salumi. In the vegetable section, you can find Cicalata in lode del finocchio, “Cicalata in Praise of Fennel,” TKTK by Ottavio Canovai, published in Florence in1809 and Il pomodoro è colto, “The Cultivated Tomato,”  (Il Margine, 1983), dedicated to the world of tomatoes, which have found a second home in the land around Parma.
Among the cheese, there are a number of interesting books about Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gorgonzola, Provolone, and Mozzarella di Bufala from Campana. Here you will also find a first edition copy of Facetiae facetiarum, published in 1657, perhaps by Leyda, which includes an entire chapter filled with fun and ironic hyperbole about the extraordinary powers of Parmasean.

Regional Italian Traditions

There are many books written by the top scholars about Italian gastronomy. Some of the top titles include: Gli italiani a tavola, “Italians at the Table,” by Felice Cunsolo (Mursia, 1965); La cucina italiana, “Italian Cuisine,” di Capatti–Montanari (Laterza, 1999); Storia della gastronomia italiana, “History of Italian Gastronomy,” by Benporat (Mursia, 1990); Il ghiottone Veneto, “The Glutton of the Veneto,” by Giuseppe Maffioli (Morganti, 1992); Civiltà della tavola a Bologna, “The Civilization of Eating in Bologna,” by Giorgio Maioli (Ges, 1981); La grande cucina di Parma, “The Great Cuisine of Parma,” by Baldassarre Molossi; Osterie e locande di Firenze, “Osterie and Small Restaurants in Florence,” by Alessandro Molinari (Newton Compton, 1982); Il ghiottone romano, “The Glutton of Rome,” by Livio Jannattoni (Bramante, 1965), Sentimento del gusto ovvero della cucina napoletana, “The Feeling of Flavor, or Neopolitan Cuisine,” by Alberto Consiglio (Parenti, 1957); and finally Antichi sapori di Sicilia, “Ancient Flavors of Sicily,” by Anna Pomar, from 1978. 

This subsection is a complete panorama of the regional Italian culture, studied carefully and in-depth by various local authors and published by small publishing houses. Many of the books are hard to find on the market. Gathered together here, these books offer a wide range of information about Italian gastronomy.

Kitchen Arts

Food has always been a popular subject in the arts throughout history. Painters have always taken an interest in food and ingredients, from still life paining, an artistic genre that exploded in the 17th century, to the art of today. La cucina nell'arte, “The Kitchen in Art,” (Vallecchi, 1983) and Il cibo e la tavola, “Food and the Table,” (Electa, 2006) both attest to this fact. But also in the field of literature, you find that gastronomy and cooking play a central role. For example, we have Chocolat by Joanne Harris, Banchetto; “Banquet” by Orazio Bagnasco (Mondadori, 1997); Ghiottoni, “Gluttons,” by Fabio Tombari (Mondadori, 1957); Maqeda by Salvo Sottile (Baldini e Castoldi, 2007) and Zenzero e nuvole: manuale di nomadismo letterario e gastronomico, “Ginger and Clouds: manual of literary and gastronomic nomadism” (Bompiani, 2005). There are plenty of writers that build their stories around the subject of food. There are also plenty of examples of famous literary characters, created by important European authors, that are connected to food, like in the case of Ricette della Signora Maigret, “Recipes of Mrs. Maigret,” (Mondadori, 1977), or Giro del Mondo in 80 piatti, “Around the World in 80 Dishes,” (Gribaudo, 2005), inspired by the epic book by Jules Verne, and Manuale di cucina di Nero Wolfe, “Kitchen Manuel by Nero Wolfe,” written by Rex Stout (Sonzogno, 2007). There is even a series of books published by Leone Verde that addresses the culinary elements found in the writings of great authors from various time periods: from A convito con Dante, “At the Table with Dante;” to In taverna con Shakespeare, “In the Tavern with Shakespeare;” to Pentole di Don Chisciotte, “The Pots of Don Quijote;” to Banchetto del Gattopardo, “The Banquet The Lepoard.” Here, once again, you will find a copy of A tavola con Maigret. In this section, you will also find books dedicated to food proverbs, for example, La gastronomia nei proverbi, (Felice Cunsolo, 1970); to music, like Sinfonia gastronomica, “Gastronomic Symphony,” Canzoni da mangiare, “Songs to Eat,” and I beatles nella zuppa, “Beatles Soup”; and to movies, like Ciack si mangia, “Action, Let’s Eat,” Sequenze di gola, “Food Sequences,” Il gusto del cinema italiano, “Taste in Italian Cinema.” There is even a book called Ricette da fiaba, or “Fairytale Recipes,” inspired by Walt Disney cartoons and edited by Ira Meyer.

Tradition and Table Manners

A special subsection of the library is dedicated to the books published by the Associations, Brotherhoods, and Italian Academies dedicated to food or gastronomy. Here, you will find the numerous works by the Italian Academy of Cuisine, a praiseworthy national organization that is responsible for the rediscovery and promotion of Italian gastronomic traditions and regional products. Be sure not to miss the food guide, Itinerari della buona tavola, published in the Sixties and Seventies by the Academy of Cuisine or I cavalieri del buon gusto: storia e cronache delle confraternite bacchiche e dei sodalizi gastronomici, “The Knights of Good Taste: History and News of Food and Wine Lovers Groups,” published in 1976.

And how could we forget all of the books about table manners and hospitality. These subjects are addresses in the home economics books, like Dalla cucina al salotto, “From the Kitchen to the Living Room;” Scrigno d'oro, “Golden Box;” Nuovo ricettario domestico “New Housekeeper’s Cookbook,” by Lidia Morelli (Hoepli, 1945); and Ricettario domestico, “Housekeeper’s Cookbook,” by Anna Maria Tedeschi (Hoepli, 1965).  There are also books about entertaining and table decoration, including Gardenie e caviale “Gardinias and Caviar,” by Giovanni Nuvoletta, (Martello, 1968); La tavola e i suoi arredi “Table and Table Design,” (Idealibri, 1998); and Pranzo al Quirinale, “Lunch at the Capital,” published in 2004. And to compliment the Library’s collection of historic menus, link alla sezione dei menu storici, there are a number of books that discuss the significance of such menus. For example, you will find copies of Mangiare con gli occhi, “Eating with your Eyes,” by Massimo Alberini (Panini, 1987); Pranzi di carta “Meals of Paper,” (Orsa Maggiore, 1990); Menu tra storia ed arte, “Menus of History and Art,” from 1990; E per finire frutta cotta… , “And to Finish, Cooked Fruit …,” by Livio Cerini of Castegnate (Step, 2002); Arte e storia a tavola: due secoli di menu, “Art and History of the Table: Two Centuries of Menus,” by Maurizio Campiverdi (Accademia Italiana della Cucina, 2003) and many more.

Section 9 is a compendium or a key to understanding the entire collection of books in the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library – a place where the pages worth flipping through never end.