Periodicals of Gastronomy

Pages and pages of food

Italian food magazines

In addition to the remarkably large collection of books, the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library houses an equally remarkable number of Italian food and wine publications.

The history of culinary periodicals is a reflection of the history of taste and trends. The gold standard of Italian cooking magazines is, without a doubt, “La Cucina Italiana.” Founded in 1929, the magazine is published by Editrice Quadratum and has a circulation of over 100,000 copies per month. A complete collection of past issues is housed in the Academia Barilla Library. “La Cucina Italiana” was founded by a “Tasting Committee,” which included Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the father of Italian futurism. The publication closed its doors in 1943 at the height of World War II – a time of survival, rather than culinary arts – and reopened in 1952 thanks to the Gosetti sisters. Fernanda Gosetti tested all the recipes. For a decade, it was the only culinary magazine published continuously. It was also the most authoritative.

In the culinary library, there are also numerous issues of Preziosa, a woman’s magazine with a food column. Preziosa was published in its handy, characteristic format from 1915 to 1944 and, after the war, from 1946 to 1954. There is a rare, complete series of the magazine supplement La cucina di Mani di Fata, published between 1954 and 1957. At the end of the Sixties, Nuova cucina, hit the newspaper stands. As its name suggests, this publication intended to explore the less traditional aspects of the world of gastronomy. The complete series was published from 1967 to 1974. Tutto cucina was released in 1978 and stuck around until 2005. Issues from 1992 to 1994 can be found in the library.

Not until the mid-Eighties did other general culinary magazines come into being, like the short-lived “Mondo cucina,” published between 1986 and 1989, or the excellent “A tavola,” which can still be found in newsstands today. Complete collections of both publications are in the library. The Nineties saw an increased in timesaving cooking techniques. Easy, low-cost food magazines like “Cucina moderna” (Mondadori), “Cucinare bene” (Del Duca), and “Arte in cucina” (Ediz. Mimosa) were published in response to the customer demand. These magazines are not part of the library’s collection. However, one can look through other publications like “Buon appetito,” published from 1997 to 2004, and “La mia cucina,” published from 1998 to 2004. Both of these magazines were promoted by Hobby&Food and were known for their low price and recipe driven content.

Beginning in 2000, the trend of low-cost, recipe-based magazines really took off. New publications like “Cucina no problem” (Mondadori), “Subito pronto” (Del Duca), “Io cucino” (Quadratum), and “Gioia Cucina” (Hachette-Rusconi) were created. Thanks to Edigamma publishers, magazines dedicated to low fat cooking, like “La mia buona cucina” and “Cucina leggera e cucina vegetariana,” hit the market. These Italian food magazines are not part of the library’s collection.

Beginning in the spring of 1983, people with more refined tastes turned to “Grand Gourmet,” the international magazine of haute cuisine. Originally published by Vallardi, the magazine was taken over by Electa-Mondadori, who oversaw the publication until its end in 2004. Mondadori diversified the magazine by publishing continuous supplements dedicated to travel, like “Viaggi di Grand Gourmet,” (1993-1994), and wine, like “Vini di Grand Gourmet” (1991-1992). A collection of the supplements can be found in the library.

Viaggi e sapori – Travel and flavor

Thanks to the boom of food and wine tours in the Nineties, many diverse magazines dedicated to food and travel were developed. This first to arrive, possibly ahead of its time, was “Sapori d’Italia,” published from 1995 to 1996. A complete collection is available in the library. Then came the short-lived “Gastronomade,” published in 2001 and available in the library. Then, there was “Meridiani–Viaggi del gusto,” published between 2001 and 2005 and also available in the library. “Viaggi e Sapori,” now called V&S, was first published in 2002 by Quadratum. A complete and up-to-date collection of V&S is available in the library. And finally, beginning in 2003, we have “Vie del gusto,” published by RCS. In this section, one must also mention the “Michelin Guide” magazine, published yearly in Italy beginning in 1955. The magazine is an excellent tool for mapping the history of Italian restaurants from after the war to the present. The Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library houses the only complete collection of this magazine in Italy.

Specialized periodicals

Every sector in the food industry has its own publications, from pasta to pastry, or from oils to cheese. The number of magazines dedicated to wine alone is astonishing.  It would quite a challenge to list them all, so here we have included only the titles available in the library. In the pasta category, we have “Pasta mia” (1991–1197, complete collection), “Pasta & C.” (1994–1999, complete collection), and “Pasta e basta” (1996, complete collection). Our magazines dedicated to cheese and cheese-making include “Re formaggio” (Ed. New, 1987, complete collection) and “Caseus,” first published in 1996, but only the issues from 2002 on are available in the library. In the world of pastry, we have “Cioccolata & C.” (Ed. Il periodico, since 1991, complete collection) and “Dolcesalato” (Ed. Food, since 2000, complete collection). We also must mention “Giornale dei pasticcieri e confettieri,” originally published in Milan in 1893.  A collection of the issues published in 1924 from this historic magazine can be found in the library.

Among the wine periodicals, we should point out “Civiltà del bere,” first published in 1973. In the Academia Barilla Library, you can find a complete collection of “Taste vin,” originally called “Vin,” “L'etichetta” (1983–1998), “Ex vinis” (published since 1989, but we only have issues from 1995 to 1998), the short-lived “Pane e vino” (1988–89), the in-depth “Enogea” (1997–2002, complete collection) and the more recent “Spirito di vino,” (since 2001, complete collection).

Gastronomic culture

There is also a series of publications that address more specific cultural aspects of the world of gastronomy. In this category, the Oscar goes to “Apollo buongustaio,” a delightful yearly literary/gastronomic magazine edited by Mario dell’Arco and published in Rome since 1960.  The library houses an almost complete collection.

One must not overlook the work of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, a national organization created to protect the Italian gastronomic patrimony, which published its own monthly magazine called “Civiltà della tavola,” beginning in 1973. In addition to giving a face to the organization, the publication dedicates a good amount of space to cultural issues. The magazine also has section, called the “Quaderni,” that documents the organization’s over 70 culinary conferences. A complete collection of “Civiltà della tavola” can be found in the library.

There is also a complete collection of “La gola,” published between 1982 and 1992 by various publishers, and of “Gambero Rosso,” published since 1992. “Gambero Rosso” was originally an insert of the daily Italian newspaper “Il Manifesto” and is now considered a field guide for gastronomes. “Slow,” the magazine of the Slow Food organization first published in 1996, is also available. From 1997, we have “La circolare,” released by Club Papillon and edited by Paolo Massobrio. There is also the quarterly “Appunti di gastronomia” was first published by Claudio Benporat, a noted food historian. Many remarkable studies on food have taken been published over the course of the years. Nowadays, one can search for library’s holdings on the Internet.

Foreign language publications

Although the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library is specialized in Italian cuisine, the newspaper collection contains a number of French publications.

We have issues of “Pot au feu,” from 1896 to 1903, although the magazine was first published in 1892. There are also copies of “Cordon bleu,” from 1911, although the magazine was founded in 1894. The authoritative and innovative publication “Gault Millau” debuted in 1969.

In the library, you can access the issues published between 1982 and 2003. There is also a complete collection of “Lettre du verre et de l'assiette,” published between 1982 and 1992.
The Academia Barilla periodicals library collects over 45 different magazines, offering a wide array of information about the Italian publishing world as it relates to food and wine.