But in the 17th century chef Giangiacomo Castelvetro made the case for a few of the cooking processes that are still in use currently in Italy. His recipes, simple, hassle-free and tasty with minimum use of spices and condiments, created a minor upheaval in the way Italian food was cooked in those days. He also brought into notice several vegetarian delicacies which were not getting their due but gained in importance once Castelvetro wrote about them. Tomato and potato slowly began taking their rightful place in European culinary art in general and Italian food in particular.
The next century saw a change in the trends of Italian food preparation which might be termed as a kind of return to the roots. The regionalism of Italian cuisine got more weightage instead of the cuisine of France, Austria and Spain which till that time were the rulers of most of Italy. Middle-class housewives were the target audience of the cookbooks released around this time. As the century advanced the cook books increased in popularity, size and frequency.
The peasant diet of these times comprised of heavy foods, essential in the times when food was needed to generate energy for the daily hustle. It was also thought that peasants had crude stomachs which were incapable of digesting sophisticated foods and it was supposed by some that peasants ate inadequately because they were habituated to eating poorly, as the consequence from the fact that many peasants had no choice but to eat decomposed foods and stale breads in order to stay alive.
The nineteenth century saw the art of cooking slowly moving out the kitchen of the nobility and slowly approaching the hearth of the ordinary household. Elaborate recipes using foreign ingredients slowly gave place to regional delicacies that were elegant and easy using locally found ingredients.
But the foreign influence that Italy had already experienced helped it to develop its culinary prowess and ultimately become the great industry it has become worldwide. From the ordinary peasants food pizza to the housewives delight the ever versatile pasta and all other easy on the pocket and easy on the stomach food identifies Italy to the people who know almost nothing about the country.
The next century saw a change in the trends of Italian food preparation which might be termed as a kind of return to the roots. The regionalism of Italian cuisine got more weightage instead of the cuisine of France, Austria and Spain which till that time were the rulers of most of Italy. Middle-class housewives were the target audience of the cookbooks released around this time. As the century advanced the cook books increased in popularity, size and frequency.
The peasant diet of these times comprised of heavy foods, essential in the times when food was needed to generate energy for the daily hustle. It was also thought that peasants had crude stomachs which were incapable of digesting sophisticated foods and it was supposed by some that peasants ate inadequately because they were habituated to eating poorly, as the consequence from the fact that many peasants had no choice but to eat decomposed foods and stale breads in order to stay alive.
The nineteenth century saw the art of cooking slowly moving out the kitchen of the nobility and slowly approaching the hearth of the ordinary household. Elaborate recipes using foreign ingredients slowly gave place to regional delicacies that were elegant and easy using locally found ingredients.
But the foreign influence that Italy had already experienced helped it to develop its culinary prowess and ultimately become the great industry it has become worldwide. From the ordinary peasants food pizza to the housewives delight the ever versatile pasta and all other easy on the pocket and easy on the stomach food identifies Italy to the people who know almost nothing about the country.
