The foods of ancient Italy offered settlers a varied diet. Excavation sites, from the Alps of its northern border to the tip of the toe, reveal many foods of the Stone Age. Wild game, pigs, goats, acorns, almonds, barley, fava beans, olives, apples, figs, pears, quince, grapes, and various berries are some of the culinary remains found that date back to around 7500 B.C. Other foods include sheep, cattle, artichokes, pomegranates, plums, fennel, garlic, cauliflower, cheese, millet, wheat, spelt, farro, lentils, chestnuts, chickpeas, walnuts, and honey.
The Etruscans and Romans
By the time the Etruscans had settled in Italy, in the eighth century B.C., the food of ancient civilizations was widely assimilated into the Italian diet. The Etruscans, a cultured society, added flavorings to food by cooking with herbs and using aromatic wood fires. The Roman diet, from about the first century B.C. to A.D. 300, included wild fowl such as pheasant, peacock, thrush, and woodcock, and their eggs; cured meats and smoked spicy pork sausage, including luganega, a long thin variety, carried by Roman soldiers; pickled and salted seafood; and garum, a fermented fish sauce.
Those who could afford the exotic spices of the East would flavor their meals with pepper, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Other seasonings included bayberry, rue, savory, and parsley, along with basil, bay leaf, oregano, mint, dill, and thyme. Wild asparagus and mushrooms were gathered; cabbage, broccoli, radicchio, lettuce, other leafy greens, cucumbers, carrots, turnips, and leeks were harvested; and apricot and wild cherry trees were cultivated. Old World gourds were prepared stuffed, fried, or boiled. Toward the end of the Roman Empire, citrus fruits were introduced from the East. In addition to the grape, other fruits were dried; and honey, must, and rosewater were used to sweeten recipes.
The major significance of the food of the Roman Empire was in its ability to travel throughout the vast kingdom. Along with olive oil and wine, one of the most common foods of Roman citizens was puls, an early form of polenta made with various grains. By the second century, biscuits and bread were a large part of the Roman diet.
Italian Food in the Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, between the fifth century and the 1400s, the elaborate Roman feasts were expanded upon as cooks, eager for new ways to prepare food, experimented with mixing flavors, textures, and colors. Pies became a mealtime favorite; they were easy to prepare, and could be filled and seasoned with various ingredients. The technique was adapted to stuffing pasta and layering noodles—forerunners of ravioli, tortellini, cannelloni, manicotti, and lasagna. All types of poultry and small game were cooked in pies, simmered with spices from the east, or roasted in pits.
Wine was used in recipes, as a cooking liquid, and in sauces. Colored sauces—tinted with saffron, fruits, and herbs—and sauces made of various fruits were served with meats and pies. In the ninth century, Arab settlers brought eggplants to Sicily; and throughout southern Italy, sweet tarts, many flavored with almond milk or rosewater, were popular treats.
The Food of Renaissance Italy
From the end of the Middle Ages to the early 1600s, the food of the Renaissance continued to evolve. For noblemen and women, the food of this period was quite elaborate. Roasted animals and fowl were often made to look as lifelike as possible—birds were cooked, reassembled, and presented with their feathers artfully arranged. A celebration would call for a feast consisting of every type of meat and fowl imaginable.
The return of explorers from the New World during the 1500s brought corn, tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, yams, vanilla, and turkey. At first, corn was used as an ornamental, but it rapidly became a food of the poor, who were always eager to try new foods. Corn became so plentiful that it was ground into meal and eventually became synonymous with polenta. By the late 1800s, more than 300 varieties of peppers were cultivated in Italy, and tomatoes were a staple in Italian cooking—not just as a sauce, but also in soups, and stuffed, roasted, and baked.
Italian Cookbooks Include Recipes and Culture
It was during this time that several cookbooks began to further define Italian food. In 1773, The Gallant Cook by Vincenzo Corrado, included recipes from both north and south Italy, rather than concentrating on just one region. Francesco Leonardi, chef to Catherine II, wrote a six-volume encyclopedia of Italian food, L'Apicio Moderno, published in 1790The Science of Cookery and the Art of Eating Well, self published in 1891 by Pellegrino Artusi, provided more than just recipes—he offered a glimpse of life in Italy during the late 1800s and used standardized Italian cooking terms. The books captured the essence of Italian cooking and Italian life, while encouraging the creativity of the cook.
Sources
What the Etruscans ate and drank
Columbus Menu: Italian Cuisine after the First Voyage of Christopher Columbus; Stefano Milioni
The Foods of Italy, 3rd Edition; Burton Anderson
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