The Italian language in the kitchen. For a historical dictionary of the language of gastronomy. This is the title of the initiative born from the collaboration between the Accademia della Crusca, the most important scientific research center dedicated to the study and promotion of the Italian language, and Academia Barilla, an institution that promotes Italian culinary tradition in the world.

Untill this moment, a linguistic repertoire of the major texts of the Italian gastronomic tradition both for research in the history of culture on nutrition and for the specific study of the history of the Italian language has been lacking. To fill this significant gap the Accademia della Crusca, in collaboration with Academia Barilla, and some Italian universities (including the University of Rome La Sapienza and Lumsa, the University of Turin and the University for Foreigners of Siena) and cultural institutions interested in the great Italian cuisine tradition, will promote the creation of a historical dictionary of culinary language that reconstructs the ways and forms by which the Italian language in the kitchen has been outlined.

For this purpose, in the first phase of the project, 100 cookbooks have been selected starting from from the founding manual of Pellegrino Artusi (1891) to the Second World War: the volumes, that are mostly held in Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library or have been selected from public libraries, will be scanned and then placed in text format in order to make them accessible and through a searchable web database.
All the material will be cataloged and labeled in order to create a database that will be head to a real historical dictionary of the language of Italian gastronomy, vocabulary that falls within a Accademia della Crusca’s broader project: an Italian post-unification vocabulary.

The project also foresees an accessible portal connected to both Accademia della Crusca and Academia Barilla’s website. This portal will allow access to the data collected and permit research for both Italian and foreigners users.
Particular attention will be paid to the usability of educational materials available online for teaching Italian language at home and abroad, but also for the spreading of cultural and linguistic knowledge related to the kitchen, outside national borders, in view of  the important role that food has always played and continues to play in promoting language, culture and lifestyle of Italians around the world.

Accademia della Crusca, founded in Florence in 1583, is the most important language institution in Italy, and it has always been renowned for its commitment to enhancing and promoting the Italian language, publishing, since 1612, the Vocabulary of the Italian language, lexicographic model even outside our borders. Even today the Accademia della Crusca, which is part of the European Federation of National Institutions for Language, supports the scientific activities and training of new researchers in the field of linguistics and philology and promotes historical knowledge of our language in Italian society and especially in schools. The www.accademiadellacrusca.it site is dedicated to the Italian language.   

Academia Barilla, founded in Parma in 2004, in a few years has become an important reference for the promotion and valorization of Italian gastronomic culture around the world through the many training courses, publications of international distribution and the certification program of Italian chefs abroad. The Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library, with over 10,000 volumes and 50 periodicals, open to the public in 2005, is today one of the most representative in this area of interes and is available on the National Library System. On this website you will find a rich selection of historical texts digitized.   

For more information and requests please contact: info@academiabarilla.it  - +39-0521 264060