Delizia!, John Dickie
Delizia!, John Dickie
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Delizia!
The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food

Author: John Dickie

Narrator: Simon Vance

Unabridged: 12 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/02/2023


Synopsis

Buon appetito! Everyone loves Italian food. But how did the Italians come to eat so well?

The answer lies amid the vibrant beauty of Italy's historic cities. For a thousand years, they have been magnets for everything that makes for great eating: ingredients, talent, money, and power. Italian food is city food.

Delizia! is much more than a history of Italian food. It is a history of Italy told through the flavors and character of its cities.

A dynamic chronicle that is full of surprises, Delizia! draws back the curtain on much that was unknown about Italian food and exposes the long-held canards. It interprets the ancient Arabic map that tells of pasta's true origins, and shows that Marco Polo did not introduce spaghetti to the Italians, as is often thought, but did have a big influence on making pasta a part of the American diet. Most important, it explains the origins and growth of the world's greatest urban food culture.

With its delectable mix of vivid storytelling, groundbreaking research, and shrewd analysis, Delizia! is as appetizing as the dishes it describes.

About John Dickie

John Dickie is senior lecturer in Italian, University College London, and is the author of Darkest Italy: The Nation and Stereotypes of the Mezzogiorno, 1860-1900.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeremy on October 24, 2020

You might think, what with my interest in food and living in Italy, that I would have devoured this book when it first came out, but I didn’t, and I don’t know why. It is so glorious, in so many respects. Most importantly, it gives the lie to the idea that Italian food is a food of poverty or someho......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on June 30, 2019

I first encountered the work of John Dickie through his TV series 'Eating History: Italy', and this tapped into my fascination with popular/social history and my love of (Italian) food. He presented an entertaining, informative and coherent overview of how food and cooking was contextualised with th......more

Goodreads review by Freca on March 30, 2021

Già lo dicono in quarta di copertina, non è un libro di ricette, assolutamente ma un saggio sulla storia della cucina italiana. Si arriva fino ad i giorni nostri esplorando i gusti, l'uso dei condimenti ma soprattutto si analizza l'intrinseco rapporto fra pietanze e territorio e Ancor più fra cibo e......more

Goodreads review by Berna on August 31, 2017

Una entretenídisima historia sobre el origen de lo que entendemos como cocina italiana desde la Edad Media hasta el presente (que por supuesto es un invento moderno como casi todo). Hay muchísima información que jamás se hace pesada y que Dickie además relaciona con otros eventos históricos (la form......more

Goodreads review by Jack on August 12, 2018

Well-researched, deftly written, detailed, and entertaining overview of the history of "Italian", or rather the many regional dishes collectively known as "Italian", food. Particularly enjoyed the descriptive language.......more