Tomatoes were also viewed with suspicion initially in Italy and used only ornamentally. It wasn't until the 18th century that tomatoes really became accepted in Italian cuisine.
Reminds me of the risotto scene early in "The Big Night" (1996), which is also an interesting movie generally in the context of this discussion. The scene is about Italian immigrants trying to run a restaurant in America, and revolves around the kitchen dispute that happens when an American customer requests a side of spaghetti to go with the risotto.
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Tomatoes were also viewed with suspicion initially in Italy and used only ornamentally. It wasn't until the 18th century that tomatoes really became accepted in Italian cuisine.
They are a member of the nightshade family after all, which includes many poisonous plants.
They also were rather acidic compared to most foods people ate at the time. Acidity + pewter plates makes for a bad time.
I doubt any but the very rich could afford pewter tableware.
Nobody but the very rich could afford tomatoes.
Eggplant parm is such a fascinating dish for its mix of nightshades.
Relatedly, I've known Americans that rate Italian-American restaurants on their eggplant parm as their preferred benchmark dish.
I'd use risotto as the benchmark myself, but then again I loathe eggplant.
Reminds me of the risotto scene early in "The Big Night" (1996), which is also an interesting movie generally in the context of this discussion. The scene is about Italian immigrants trying to run a restaurant in America, and revolves around the kitchen dispute that happens when an American customer requests a side of spaghetti to go with the risotto.
Heh. I have French friends who eat rice with bread as for them rice is a vegetable.
To this day there remains a sharp geographic gradient. Northern italians do not use many tomoatoes - practically never red sauces.
Do you have a source for this? Because my experience tells me quite the opposite.
North-East italian here. Never knew that.