96456 - Food History

Learning outcomes

The course aims to illustrate the general outlines of the food history on an economic, social, political and cultural level, through the reading of documentary, narrative, literary and scientific sources that show the complexity of the food chain from production to consumption. At the end of the course the student will have acquired skills for orienting himself/herself in historical work.

Course contents

The course provides the general outlines of food history and food cultures, with special emphasis on Italian and European history between the Middle Ages and the Modern and Contemporary Ages. The list of topics is as follows:

1. Introduction to the course and the history of food: Birth of the discipline - Main lines of research - Sources for food history and culinary history and methodology for their use.
2. Birth and evolution of dietetic science in the West - Influence of medicine for a social history of food.
3. Food between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages - The intersection of Romans and invaders - The influence of Christianity - Toward a Food Europe.
4. Food production and rural land management - City supply and markets.
5. Food and social identities between the late Middle Ages and the early Modern Age.
6. Birth of written cuisine - Manuscript recipe books and their use as a source - The Italian case.
7. The invention of printing and its influence on the European dissemination of gastronomic culture - Platina and the birth of gastronomic writing.
8. Colombian exchange and the European reception of products from the Americas - Italian identity in the kitchen - Fundamental elements of persistence through the centuries.
9. European gastronomic evolution in the mirror of recipe books - The French culinary revolution of the Modern Age - Court cuisine and home cooking.
10. The Italian response, from Pellegrino Artusi to twentieth-century innovations - The construction of contemporary Italian gastronomic identity.
11. The agriculture-food pair in the social history of the last two centuries. Prof. Francesco Casadei participates.
12. Books to be devoured: food and literature in Italy - Final summary.

Readings/Bibliography

M. Montanari, La fame e l'abbondanza. Storia dell'alimentazione in Europa, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1993.

A. Campanini, Dalla tavola alla cucina. Scrittori e cibo nel Medioevo italiano, Roma, Carocci, 2012.

M. Montanari, L'identità italiana in cucina, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011.

The contents of these books will be supplemented by materials presented in class and downloadable from Virtuale.

Non-attending students are required, in lieu of the materials presented in class, to read a book of their choice from among:

M. Montanari, Il formaggio con le pere. La storia in un proverbio, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2010.

M.G. Muzzarelli, Nelle mani delle donne. Nutrire, guarire, avvelenare dal Medioevo a oggi, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013.

A. Capatti, M. Montanari, La cucina italiana. Storia di una cultura, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1999.

A. Campanini, I volti della cucina. Dispute antiche e moderne tra arte e natura, Roma, Carocci, 2021.

Teaching methods

Lectures, with exposition of topics and readings of documents.

N.B. For interested students, outside the course syllabus, there is an additional four-hour seminar by Prof. Francesco Casadei, who will offer an in-depth study regarding the history of agriculture in the Contemporary Age.

Assessment methods

Oral test. Are evaluated: the property of language, the understanding of the topics discussed, the ability to propose connections between different themes. The vote is expressed in 30/30. At discretion of the teacher, a mention of praise can be added.

Evaluation criteria and degrees. The achievement by the student of a full critical knowledge of the topics taught in the course and mastery of the specific language will be evaluated with excellence marks. A mnemonic knowledge of the matter and synthesis and analysis skills articulated in a language not always appropriate will lead to discrete evaluations. Inappropriate formative and/or inappropriate language will lead to just sufficient marks. Serious formative errors, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials provided by the course will be negatively evaluated.

Teaching tools

All lecture materials discussed in class, which will supplement the bibliography, will be made available to students.

Office hours

See the website of Antonella Campanini