Page 20 - Southern Exposure - August '23

Page 20, Southern Exposure

booK review

Foods That Made History: The Big Names

Behind The World’s Favorite Dishes

By Nils A. Shapiro

Som e of t he m ost takes up several pages, dough in the oven … The flat bread was sold as street food
fascinating books I have here are just a few teaser in Italy for many centuries before cheese was eventually
reviewed over the years highlights to serve as a added.” When tomatoes were brought over from the
have been on the subject hint of what awaits you New World they were considered to be poisonous and
of food –Salt, Consider the in its pages. were used only as houseplants, except by poor people
Fork and The Secret History Giuseppe Cipriani who eventually began to eat the vegetable and found it
of Food, just to mention a opened his fam ous to be edible. Around 1889, “Queen Margarita of Italy –
few – so when I discovered Harry’s Bar restaurant who was on vacation in Naples with her husband, King
this title on the list of new in Venice in 1931. A Umberto I and the royal court – expressed an interest
publications it attracted great exhibition of the in tasting some of the local foods. A local pizzaiolo, or
my attention … and I am works of the Venetian pizza maker, named Raffaele Esposito, was summoned
delighted that it did. painter Vittore Carpaccio to the palace. His pizzeria was considered to be the best
This just released addition to the genre, by author (1472 to 1526) was held in Naples. In response to the Royal summons, Esposito
Rafael Agam – a notable chef who studied at Le Cordon in Venice in 1950. At loaded his donkey with dough and other materials, and
Bleu in Paris, has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants that time, “One of the made his way to the palace.
and now owns the successful Voila Swiss-French restaurant’s regular Esposito made three different pizzas. One in particular
restaurant in Israel – offers in one convenient paperback patrons was the beautiful Countess Amalia Nani caught the queen’s fancy.
volume a buffet menu of gastronomical history, delicious Mocenigo. She had been advised by her doctor not to “This particular pizza was a felicitous combination
entertainment and practical, useful recipes that will more eat cooked meat for a few weeks, and asked Cipriani of fine flavor and patriotic sentiment, for its colors were
than satisfy the literary appetite of any foodie reader. to prepare her a dish according to the doctor’s orders. those of the recently adopted flag of the united (well,
Chef Agam’s purpose in putting together this book is Cipriani had just been to the exhibition of paintings and almost united) Kingdom of Italy: Red (slices of tomato),
made clear in his introduction: was overwhelmed with the marvelous variety of shades white (mozzarella cheese, made from buffalo’s milk) and
“Historians of the past tended to focus on subjects more of red that he had seen in Carpaccio’s paintings. The green (fresh leaves of basil). The Queen was captivated by
‘important’ than food – war, famine, plague, navigation, dish he prepared for the countess, from thin slices of raw this dish, and it was immediately named after her. From
and the discovery of new continents. They didn’t bother beef interwoven with a pale mustard sauce, reminded that day forward, ‘Pizza Margarita’ was the flagship dish
much with recording the history of fine eating. Subjects him irresistibly of these splendid colors, and he named on the menu of Esposito’s pizzeria…and eventually, this
such as the international trade in spices, or the discovery it ‘Carpaccio’ in their honor.” simple dish of humble but ancient origins … made its way,
of the New World and its treasury of fresh culinary The Etruscans, a people who dominated Northern in one form or another, to all four corners of the earth.”
delights, might receive a certain amount of attention from Italy before the rise of Rome, were fond of eating a kind A final nibble of an example from the book will have
historians, but out of thousands of years of glorious feasts, of flat bread, embellished with a variety of additives and to suffice.
dedicated chefs, and revolutionary new dishes – not a flavorings … The name ‘pizza’ may be derived from the
great deal of solid information has come down to us.” Latin word picea, which describes the browning of the Book Review on page 21
Agam has set about correcting that by revealing the
fascinating stories behind the origins of 53 of history’s
most famous foods, organized into eight categories: First
Courses, Two-Legged, Four-Legged, Fish and Seafood,
Pizza and Pasta, Salads and Side Dishes, Pastries and
Desserts, and Beverages. Many black-and-white line
drawings are sprinkled throughout the text.
Included among the vast array of 53 foods – there is
space here to name just a few – are such famous dishes
as Eggs Benedict, Chicken General Tso, Beef Wellington,
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