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Food as Culture
The culture of food began when man learned to transform the fruit of the
earth through cooking. It happened about 8,000 years ago in Mesopotamia;
this culture slowly moved west with the migration of people towards the
Mediterranean. The journey took thousands of years and brought us all the
experiences, discoveries, and inventions of these people who made history.
The empires, invasions, and wars that characterized the development of
Western Civilization have left us with traditions, cuisines, customs,
sometimes bizarre and curious, but still rich with precious information for
us, men of the 21st century.
Food as culture is a series of 3 lectures divided as follows:
Food as Culture I
Homo Sapiens - The “Fertile Moon” Mesopotamia, and the migration -
the discoveries of bread, beer, wine, cheese, and the cultivation of the
olive tree - the different journeys of people and olive oil on the coast of
the Mediterranean.
Olive Oil cultivation in Crete, Greece, Sicily, and Tuscany.
This lecture is accompanied with an exhibition of unique paintings featuring
one of
three
different ingredients: bread,
cheese, or wine.
The lecture will be supplemented by further information on the history of
the same topic.
Food as Culture I plus exhibit on bread
Bread was man’s first
important discovery. The ancient Greeks were so proud of it that they liked
to be called “bread eaters”. The men of the Mediterranean used bread
in many ways: as food, serving plates, dishtowels, ornaments, and as an
important part of Christian rituals. In Western culture, especially in
Italy, bread became a symbol of friendship, peace, and anything good. The
simple cuisine of our ancestors made great use of bread from antipasto to
dessert.
Food as Culture I plus exhibit on cheese
The oldest document discussing cheese was preserved, and I hope it will
continue to be, in a museum in Baghdad; it dates back to 3000 B.C. Bitto,
form the Celtic word bitu, which means eternal, and Etruscan Pecorino
Toscano were created over 3,000 years ago, along with Caciocavallo, which
spread from southern Italy, all across the Mediterranean, and as far as
Turkey and Russia.
The art of making cheese is the most ancient method of conserving food; for
this reason cheese nourished humanity for many millennia, entering into the
culinary traditions of all the Mediterranean populations. Cheese is
nutritious and rich; still today, it has many rapid, healthy, and appetizing
culinary uses.
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Food as Culture I plus exhibit on wine
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Food as Culture II
Magna Grecia - Etruscans - the Empire - Barbarians -Renaissance
Insert: Pasta
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Food as Culture III
Discovery of America - cooking with new ingredients - hot peppers - French
cuisine - the cooking of Monsù - the cuisine of the 1800s - the cuisine of
World War I - the cuisine of World War II and later cuisine in the US
Insert: Hot peppers – Cacao – Coffee – Potatoes - Tomatoes
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The lady
with the toothpick
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