Snippets from the Italian Scene La Cucina Italiana Turns 70!
The January 1999 issue of La Cucina Italiana, Italy's best (at least in
my opinion) food magazine, came with a reprint of the first issue, from
December 1929. It looks like a newspaper and begins with a Program Statement,
by Umberto Notari (the publisher, I believe), who says,
"The Italian people is a sober people, but this does not mean
it does not want to eat well. Sobriety and taste are not at odds, palate and
economy are not incompatible, cuisine and civilization are not unassociated.
Quite the contrary. "The greatest civilizations were developed by the
peoples who paid the greatest attention to the culinary arts and nutrition;
first example: Rome; second example: France. "The Italian regions whose
peoples -- the Emilians, Tuscans, Lombards, Piemontese, Veneti, Liguri
Neapolitans, and Sicilians -- have glorious, masterfully refined food
preparation traditions are the most adult when it comes to thinking and acting.
"This precious heritage must not be lost, but rather be spread to the other
regions for the national good. Cuisine is in fact not limited to aesthetics and
method; there is also a politics of cuisine: a social and economic policy.
"The table is a cornerstone of the family, much like the family is a
cornerstone of the State...."
The editorial is followed by the announcement of a Tasting Commission
established to taste and judge exclusively Italian foods (with a list of
companies that have sent products so far), and there is also a reverent article
on one of the Christmas Eves the King spent at the Front during the Great War,
written by his chef.
The overall tone of the issue strikes the modern ear as
anachronistically nationalistic but is a reflection of the times; it was
written in year VIII of the Fascist Era and most of the luminaries mentioned
were also in the Party hierarchy. However, there is some surprisingly current
commentary as well; The Rubrica della Massaia Moderna (the Column of the Modern
Housewife) is entitled "The decline of family cuisine." Things are going down
hill fast, we are told, for two major reasons: the hurried pace of life that
makes it impossible for all to assemble for the family meal, and the "mania
della magrezza" -- thinness mania. There are of course other reasons as well,
including changes in the role of women, who have "with a hard to understand
sense of snobbery distanced themselves from the stove," and the fact that
"family menus have become monotonous and we appear headed towards a
standardization of taste." All this leads to people's heading to restaurants,
which, according to the columnist, are enjoying a tremendous boom and doing
exciting things in the kitchen.
Though one would have to rework the tone, one could write a similar
editorial today: The pace of life continues to increase and according to a
recent news broadcast a majority of Italians now eat one if not both meals out
of the home. Though Italians are not as fanatical about cholesterol and fat
avoidance as some peoples (here the emphasis is on freshness and lack of
preservatives or pesticides), moderation is the key and most Italians under 45,
male and female, keep themselves trim and fit (knowing one will be donning a
bathing suit in the summer is a powerful incentive). Most Italian families are
double income and the women work as much if not more than the men; frequently
nobody has time to hit the stove and thus people turn to preprocessed foods or
order takeout. And, to cut costs and accommodate those who don't like
particular herbs or spices the food industry simplifies the dishes it prepares.
Restaurants with talented chefs, especially those that specialize in
traditional recipes, are booming. Sound familiar?
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