THE ITALIAN CUISINE The Origins of the italian Cuisine: Magna Grecia and the Etruscans The history of Italian cooking begins with Magna Grecia, where the culture of the Greek colonies popularized the art. The daly fare was simple and sober (pork, salted fish, cickpeas, lentils, lupins, olive pickles and dried figs) but at banquets the food was more varied and plentiful (soups, game in vinegar and honey sauces, sweets with almonds and walnuts) and also took on ritual and symbolic meanings. The Etruscans too had a simple diet based on the cereals favored by the fertile region (present-day Tuscany). The richest Etruscans were particularly fond of excellence and the pleasures of the table: The ancient Romans tell of sumptuous feasts.   Roman Cuisine in the Republican Era Romans of the Republican Era were a sober poeple of frugal dietary habits: they usually had two meals a day, prandium and supper. The custom of a breakfast of cereal, honey, dried fruit and cheese was gradually introduced. For a long time the most widely consumed foods were boiled cereals (a kind of mush), legumes such as broad beans, lentils, chickpeas and lupins, vegetables of various types, bread and cake. The diet also included fish, game from the hunt (only eaten on festive days and there was no raising of livestock), milk, cheese and fruit.   Roman Cuisine in the Imperial Age The Romans had two main daily meals, but they aften added a breakfast af bread soaked in wine, grapes, olives, milk and eggs. The midday meal was a light affair of cold dishes. Dinner was the main meal: a feast of hors d'oeuvres (mixed seafood) followed by game, pork, veal, goat, fowl and, especially, fish and finally sweets with a honey base, fresh and dried fruit. These courses were accompanied by sweet, scented wines, as well as often havimg interludes for entertainment. cuisine had thus become a refined pleasure and, for some, a show of wealth and originality, as in the famous banquets of Lucullu and Trimalchio.   Cuisine in the Middle Age The cuisine of the Barbarians who invaded Italy from the 5th century A.D. was considerably different from that of the Romans and was based on plentiful roast meats, stuffed pastries and oven-baked pies.However, for the Italian population reduced to poverty and servitude, food was rather poor and consisted of cereals, milk, cheese and vegetables. Gradually, culinary art began a revival (especially after 1000 A.D.)in the agricultural centers around the monasteries where the famished and terrorized population had taken refuge. The general tendency was to make food healthier, more appetizing and digestible, eliminating elaborate preparation and introducing more fresh fruit and vegetables.   Gastronomical Revival in the Feudal Courts Around 1200 A.D. life in the courts became less difficult, commerce and social life resumed and the feudal lords frequently organized celebrations, feasts and tournaments. At the most important meals, the courses were legion but cooked and served with no variety or cohesion. There was an endless series of roast meats seasoned with a garlic sauce (garlic, herbs, sweetmeats and almonds). The meal was finished with cheese and fruit. There was little change from roman cuisine, but the spices of the East were beginning to arrive in greater quantity and their exotic aromas starting to scent the food - a prelude to coming refinements.   The Spice Trade There was already a spice trade in the Early Middle Ages, but this really intensified after the Crusades and demand was as much for cooking as for medicine. Alongside the fascination of rarity and high price, spices had other more practicaland important qualities: the preserving of meat and fish for longer periods and the flavoring of otherwise bland foods. there was also an obligatory route for spices fixed, as with otther prized merchandise, by cutoms and taxes.For many years the last lap of the journey was the monopoly of the great Venetian merchants and bankers.   The Culinary Discoveries of the great Explorers Among the many goods brought to Europe and Italy by the explorers there were some foods whose importance was understood only in time. First, there was maize, widespread in North Italy, which, at the time of the grat famines of the 17th century, became the base for the most common dish: polenta (a sort of meal mush). Then there were potatoes, tomatoes, and beans.Rice from Asia was an istant success and joined pasta as the nation`s first course. Venetian merchants imported sugar from the Orient and this, initially very expensive, was used in medicine and only later in cooking. Last there was coffee, of Turkish origin, and also first used as a medicine.   Cuisine in the renaissance The 15th and 16th centuries were a particularly fortunate time for Italin cuisine. With respect to the preceding period, thre was a greater variety and richness in the preparation of foods: soups, grilled, roast and boiled meats, meat pastries, fish, vegetable (also in oil) and refined salads, almond-based sweets, pine-nuts and candied fruits; cane sugar (then still expensive) began to replace honey. Renaissance court banquets were famous for their enormity and refinement, whilst the food of the common people remained rather simple: beans, lentils, chickpeas, buckwheat (used to prepare soups and porridges) as well as eggs, cheese and mutton.   Culinary Art and Etiquette in the Renaissance Italian cuisine reigned supreme from the end of the Middle Ages to the 17th century and had a notable influence abroad. In particular, Catherine de` Medici popularized Italian recipes (especially sweets and ice cream) in France on her marriage to the future King Henry II. It was also in this period that the first menus and rules for courses were printed and table manners were improving, albeit very slowly. Within this latter context, the Italians were the educators of Europe and the famous 'Galateo` by Monsignor Della Casa was quickly translated and distributed abroad. The principal innovation was the use of individual cutlery. Cuisine in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries The upper classes of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries enjoed a refined cuisine. Every official event became the pretext for sumptuous feasts where the courses were abundant and the servings enormous:charcuterie hors d`oeuvres and delicate French-style soups were followed by numerous meat and fish dishes, vegetables purees, intricate sweets and fruit, all presented with the utmost care, particularly in the rapidly spreading restaurants. However, the food of the common people remained frugal and monotonous, based on bread and vegetable soups, beans, cabbages and potatoes. Cheese and eggs were widespread as were polenta and pasta made from flour and eggs. Foreign Influences and the Spread of New Foods From the 17th to the 19th century many new dishes arrived from France: consomm‚s,crepes, purees, jellies, gravies and delicate, tasty sauces such as mayonnaise and bechamel. The presentation of the food was very important and was executed with great refinement. Even English cooking found its typical dishes becoming widespread abroad: roast beef, pudding and, above all, tea which however remained less popular than coffee or chocolate (from America). The most elegant places were never without coffee, which in fact became so popular as to give rise to locales where it was the most consumed drink: the coffee house or caf‚. 20th Century Cuisine In the last few decades Italian cuisine has altered as a result of rapid and profound changes in lifestyle. The involvement of industry in the food sector and the subsequent improvements in preparation, conservation and distribution has led to modifications of the old system and a raising of food standards but perhaps at the cost of a certain loss of flavour in meats and freash vegetables. Italian cooking, with its adaptability in preparation, has remained resistant to this, as well as keeping up with the pae of 20th-century life. Italy therefore remains a country with a noble culinary tradition and is renowned abroad as such.