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The Tomato Conquers Italy
The tomato is central to Italy’s love affair with food. For Italy was conquered by the tomato. It was a slow conquest, but transformed by the tomato, Italian food conquered the world. This story, so little known, is told in full in David Gentiloni’s 2010 book, Pomodoro! A History of the Tomato in Italy. Like all good tales, it has unexpected twists and turns. The Context: A Food Culture Of course Italian food does not live by tomato alone, so we need a little context. The health benefits of the “Mediterranean diet” are often noted and Italian food has been adopted around the world. Food in Italy (as in many parts…
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Of Villages and Vesuvius: 1800BC
The ancient mount Vesuvius rises high above the Campanian plain. The plain – a great oval ringed by mountains – stretches north, east and south for hundreds of kilometres. Along its northern edge, the river Volturno, the longest river in Italy, flows to the sea. Below Vesuvius is a great bay: the Bay of Naples, although it will be well more than a thousand years before new arrivals from the Greek island of Euboea build a city here which will bear that name. We are Italy’s deep past, although the very idea of Italy is yet to be invented. Vesuvius is not the only volcano here. It is part of…
