Italian cuisine doesn’t exist
After the success of the “DOI, Denominazione di Origine Inventata” podcast series, Alberto Grandi and Daniele Soffiati return to debunk the clichés and myths that surround the Italian table. The same title as Grandi's first book on the subject, in which the professor of Economic History and Food History at the University of Parma tried to dismantle the myths and legends of Italian cuisine, incurring the wrath of food purists and nationalists. A book that does not seek to discredit Italian cuisine - which, after all, does exist - but to elevate it, recounting its evolution and poking fun at the understanding of tradition as something eternal and unchanging. On the other hand, if you tell a Roman that you use onions and bacon in carbonara, or a Milanese that you prefer panettone with chocolate, you will often be told that you are insulting a recipe written in stone, with very ancient origins and often shrouded in mystery. But what makes Italian cuisine so special is that it has undergone so many influences, changes and innovations that it is now one of the most loved cuisines in the world.
La cucina italiana non esiste
Alberto Grandi and Daniele Soffiati
Mondadori, 2024