Italian cuisine is everywhere. Americans eat 350 slices of pizza every second.
Yet Italian cuisine is far more than pizza and pasta. It has a long history with dishes that cover all food groups, including fruits and vegetables.
What is the early history of Italian cuisine alike? How did Italian cuisine pick up influences from outside of Italy? When did the first Italian restaurants come into operation?
Answer these questions and you can enrich your knowledge of Italian food. Here is your quick guide.
The Roman Empire
Romans enjoyed epic feasts. Some Romans liked to invite their whole extended family over to mark a special occasion. Some towns organized so everyone in town could indulge in Italian dining.
The Roman Empire combined the foods from the lands it oversaw. Italian dishes combined spices from the Middle East with fish from the Mediterranean Sea. Red wine became a popular drink amongst the wealthy.
Lower-income people also drank cheap wine. But their meals were more simplistic, centered around olive oil and bread. The Mediterranean diet has its roots among the lower classes of the Empire, prioritizing vegetables and legumes over meat.
The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages saw rapid changes in Italian food. Groups from the Arabian Peninsula took over Sicily in the 9th century. They introduced dried pasta into the region, and it spread across Italy.
Italian monks ate large amounts of vegetables, bread, and legumes. This diet became adopted amongst secular people because it was cheap and easy to make.
Sugar and lemons entered Italy from the Arabian Peninsula. As the Middle Ages came to an end, Italians began making desserts. They produced the first Italian cakes and gelato.
The Renaissance
Fine dining emerged during the Renaissance. Chefs prepared elaborate meals for princes and high-ranking government officials in order to appease them. They usually added spices from distant lands in order to make dishes seem more exotic.
Ingredients from America began entering Italy during the Renaissance. Tomatoes, potatoes, and cocoa flooded the Mediterranean.
Focaccia is an oven-baked bread with salt and spices on it. The Ancient Romans made the first focaccia, and the bread grew in prominence through time.
During the Renaissance, people began putting tomatoes on their focaccia. They started adding cheese and other toppings onto it, then baking all of the ingredients in the oven. Their creations were the first pizzas.
Italian restaurants opened as people had more money to spend on food. Most restaurants started along trade routes, serving merchants and businesspeople instead of locals.
A Brief History of Italian Cuisine
The history of Italian cuisine is varied and extensive. Wealthy Romans sampled from many different dishes at elaborate feasts. Less well-off people focused on vegetables and bread, establishing the modern-day Mediterranean diet.
Pasta and sugar entered the region from the Arabian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Desserts became popular, though vegetables remained the main focus.
Meat regained popularity with the rise of fine dining. Pizza also emerged as a variant of focaccia, becoming popular amongst the rich and poor.
Italian cuisine is one world cuisine you can study. Read the histories of all world cuisines by following our coverage.