Page 12 - Italian-American Herald - December 2024

12 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | DECEMBER 2024 ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
CUISINE AND CULTURE
static. Some of the iconic dishes that we
now consider “purely Italian” are, in fact, the
result of centuries of adaptation and cross-
cultural exchange. For instance, pasta, one
of Italy’s most famous exports, likely has its
roots in Arab Sicily. The Arabs had probably
come up with the process of dehydrating
and drying the pasta, because this process
allowed to eliminate bacteria and made
the pasta last longer – which was essential
for nomadic groups. It was the Sicilians,
though, who once discovered the process,
perfected its production and transformed
it into a global trade. The Arab geographer
Al-Idrisi in 1154 wrote, referring to a
Sicilian city: “There is a town called Trabia,
an enchanting place to live, abounding in
streams that drive numerous mills. Trabia
sits in a vast plain with many great estates,
where great quantities of pasta (in Arab –
itriya – spaghetti) are made and exported
everywhere, especially to Calabria and other
Muslim and Christian lands; many shiploads
are sent. ”
Italians, in 1154, had already made dry
pasta a global business and a staple of their
own cuisine – yet, the fi rst step was to being
able to appreciate and acknowledge the
value of a product/process coming from a
different culture. This kind of transnational
interchange always played a role in much
of Italian cuisine, from pizza to the use of
tomatoes, and up to the carbonara. Yes, even
the beloved Roman carbonara may have been
infl uenced by another culture, namely by
American soldiers during World War II, who
introduced Italian cooks to bacon. Over time,
the dish was refi ned to include guanciale, a
cured pork jowl, which today is, according
to Italians, the only acceptable meat for the
recipe.
This fascinating trajectory doesn’t stop
in Italy, though: let’s take, for example,
Italian-American cuisine, which, to the
dismay of many Italian Americans, is not
the same as Italian cuisine. Just as Italian
cuisine historically developed by embracing
infl uences from neighboring cultures,
Italian-American dishes were born from
the encounter between Italian traditions
(mostly carried by southern Italians), and
the need to adapt to the culture and the
local ingredients of the United States. For
example, pasta Alfredo – a dish beloved in
the U.S. but relatively unknown in Italy,
at least with this name – evolved from the
simple Italian pasta al burro (pasta with
butter and parmigiano cheese), “invented” by
the Roman cook Alfredo. The pasta became
incredibly popular, both in Italy and overseas.
Italian-American cuisine, to the dismay
of many Italian Americans, is not the
same as Italian cuisine.
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