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Al Dente

A History of Food in Italy
By Fabio Parasecoli
Series: Foods and Nations
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Brief Description
Italy is a mecca for food lovers. The home of pasta and pizza, it also boasts a dazzling array of wines, cheeses, breads, vegetables, and meats. Globally, Michelin-starred Italian restaurants and TV chefs celebrate Italian cuisine for its freshness and health benefits. Now in paperback, Al... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$7000

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Al Dente Al Dente provides the multilayered background to what is arguably the world's favourite cuisine.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Italy is a mecca for food lovers. The home of pasta and pizza, it also boasts a dazzling array of wines, cheeses, breads, vegetables, and meats. Globally, Michelin-starred Italian restaurants and TV chefs celebrate Italian cuisine for its freshness and health benefits.

Now in paperback, Al Dente takes readers on a journey through Italy's regions and food history, exploring how its cuisine evolved. Including historical recipes, Al Dente is a captivating history of perhaps the world's most beloved cuisine.

'Dense with passion and expertise, written exquisitely... infinitely enjoyable... destined for classic status.' Huffington Post

'Parasecoli's knowledge of his subject is encyclopedic... the sheer volume of information packed into Al Dente makes it a valuable contribution to the field.' TLS

'This cool analysis of the geopolitical background to the delights of Italian gastronomy is a welcome addition.' Gillian Riley, author of The Oxford Companion to Italian Food

Series: Foods and Nations

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  • Al Dente
    Italy is a mecca for food lovers. The home of pasta and pizza, it also boasts a dazzling array of wines, cheeses, breads, vegetables, and meats. Globally, Michelin-starred Italian restaurants and TV chefs celebrate Italian cuisine for its freshness and health benefits. Now in paperback, Al Dente takes readers on a journey through Italy's regions and food history, exploring how...
    By Fabio Parasecoli
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    Ask about German food and most people think of beer and sausage, or pretzels and Limburger cheese. However, the 82 million inhabitants of modern-day Germany do not all live exclusively on Oktoberfest fare. In fact, as in most modern countries, Germans have a long tradition of taking outside influences into their cuisine, and there is a wide variety of food...
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  • Feasts and Fasts
    Feasts and Fasts: A History of Food in India is an exploration of Indian cuisine in the context of the country's religious, moral, social, and philosophical development. It addresses topics such as dietary prescriptions and proscriptions, the origins of vegetarianism, culinary borrowings and innovations, and the use of spices. The book also explores the inseparable links between diet, health, and...
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    The once-obscure cuisine of Vietnam has become a favourite of many people from East to West. After millennia of adaptation and innovation with a pervasive Chinese influence, today's Vietnamese food is, surprisingly, a mixture of Vietnamese and French dishes, with the baguette being the most cherished part of the French culinary legacy. Introduced into Vietnam in the mid-nineteenth century, the...
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781836390800

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 14 July 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Reaktion Books

Illustration: 109 illustrations, 57 in colour

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 600g

Pages: 336

Collections

Cook Books & Recipes Cooking & Food Education & Reference Fabio Parasecoli New Release Cook Books Non-Fiction Series: Foods and Nations

About the Author

Fabio Parasecoli is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Food Studies Program, The New School, New York, the author of Bite Me! Food in Popular Culture (2008) and co-editor of the six-volume Cultural History of Food (2012).

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  • Gastronativism
    The Italian political right is outraged by halal tortellini and a pork-free lasagna served at the Vatican. In India, Hindu fundamentalists organise attacks on Muslims who sell beef. European anti-immigrant politicians denounce couscous and kebabs. In an era of nationalist and exclusionary movements, food has become a potent symbol of identity. Why has eating become so politically charged—and can the...
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