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A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

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A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

By: Massimo Montanari, Gregory Conti - translator
Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
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THE MYTHS SURROUNDING THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE DISH, DEBUNKED

Did Marco Polo bring pasta back from China, or is that a myth?
How did the Neapolitan "macharoni" turn into the ubiquitous spaghetti?
Is it even an Italian dish?

Hundreds of shapes and thousands of recipes give expression to the culture and products of the country's regions. But spaghetti with tomato sauce remains Italy's identity dish par excellence.

Massimo Montanari goes in search of the dish's true origins, tracing its history along the multiple, intricate routes taken by its raw ingredients to merge and become a distinctive element of culinary tradition.

It took almost two thousand years and input from the Far East, the Arabic world, and the Americas, for the dish to take centre stage. Its development is the result of chance encounters, unplanned exchanges, and unpredictable intersections. As we dig in search of spaghetti's origins, we find its strands wrap right around the world.

"Learned and entertaining."– Il Giornale

©2023 Massimo Montanari (P)2023 Europa Editions (UK) Ltd. Food & Wine Gastronomy Italy Culinary Adventures Middle Ages
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Critic reviews

"When I tell you that I would travel far for a good ragu, you'll appreciate why I also devoured Massimo Montanari's A Short History of Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce, an anatomy of a culture on a plate, and delicious with it."
"Disentangling the serpentine strands of the story can be complicated, like working your way through a mound of spaghetti, but Montanari provides a focused overview. Although compact, the book is stuffed with rich ideas."
"Food historian Montanari reflect[s] on the meaning of roots, identities, and origins in this illuminating examination of one of the world's most famous culinary pairings. While this scholarly treatise may be better suited for those with big appetites for knowledge, it's full of delicious details."
"A very entertaining account of the cultural significance and history of the Italian dish... a fun, knowledgeable and well written book."
"Cultural historian Montanari has deconstructed pasta's history and come up with some surprising data.... [His] research will delight readers and provide plenty of fodder for dinner-table discussion."
"Delightful….a brief and hugely entertaining read."
"An utterly fascinating discourse on food history."
"Montanari traces the unstoppable rise of what would become the most famous dish in the whole world."
"A learned and entertaining volume."
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