A controversial theory: Croissants are not French and pizza sauce is not Italian. “Italian cuisine does not exist,” says a culinary historian

A historian The chef caused controversy after he claimed that Italian cuisine did not exist, sparking a debate about the origin and ownership of food and drawing the disapproval of his countrymen.

In his book, titled even “La Cucina Italiana Non Esiste” (“The Italian kitchen does not exist”), historian Alberto Grandi claims, among other things, that Italians only discovered tomato sauce when they immigrated to America, where tomatoes are native, in the 19th century. “Pizza has gone red in America. Before that it was plain focaccia, sometimes garnished with pieces of tomato,” he told La Repubblica newspaper.

It is not the first time that Alberto Grandi, who teaches business history and the history of European integration at the University of Parma, has appeared in the press to debunk stories about his country’s cuisine, reports The Independent.

In an interview last year, he said that everything from parmesan and panettone to carbonara and tiramisu is not fundamentally Italian. Perhaps his most controversial claim was that Wisconsin-produced parmesan is more authentic than Italian parmesan because it is closer to the original cheese produced in Parma-Reggio a millennium ago.

Coldiretti, a powerful agricultural body in Italy, described the article as “an attack on the symbolic dishes of Italian cuisine”, especially that
Italian cuisine was nominated as an element of intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO only last year.

In his defense, Alberto Grandi stated that he never questioned the quality of Italian food or products. And, although “to taste Parmigiano-Reggiano as our grandparents ate it, we should go to Wisconsin”, he didn’t say that italian parmesan isn’t still the best.

“The idea is that we confuse identity with roots, which we cross. (…) We talk about identity in the wrong way: cuisine is constantly changing”, the historian stated.

The tomato sauce on the pizza is not Italian

Although tomatoes are a central element of all European cuisines, they are a newer ingredient and certainly not one that originated in Italy. The Spanish discovered them in Central America in the 16th century and brought them to Europe in what is known as Colombian exchange: the transfer of plants and animals between the old and new worlds.

Without it, all cuisines would look and taste very different today. In Florida, for example, there would be no oranges. No hot peppers in Asia. No coffee in Colombia. No chocolate in Switzerland. No cigarettes in France…

The first attempts to make pizza appeared in the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans

The first traces of pizza can be found in the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, in the form of flat bread, which first appeared in Italy, in Naples, in the 18th century. To meet the needs of a growing population, street vendors in the city began selling flatbreads with simple toppings such as lard, garlic, salt, basil, and only occasionally cheese and fresh tomatoes.

Pizza Margherita was born when Queen Margherita invited a man named Raffaele Esposito to cook the dish that had become so popular among her people, and he paired it with slices of tomato, basil and mozzarella: the colors of the Italian flag.

Tomato sauce for pizza originally appeared in the USA

If fresh tomatoes were commonly used on pizza, Alberto Grandi suggests that “pizza rossa,” with tomato sauce, appeared when Italians immigrated en masse to the United States in the 19th century and took advantage of the expansion the canning industry here.

Pizza rossa became so popular in the US that, by World War II, there were more pizzerias in America than in Italy.

“When American soldiers landed in Sicily, they were surprised to find that pizzerias barely existed,” he wrote. It was also then that spaghetti alla carbonara was invented, using the bacon, cheese and powdered eggs that the American troops brought with them.

And the origin of pasta carbonara is contested, archive photo

Of course, the theories of the historian Alberto Grandi are inconceivable to Italians, especially to those in the gastronomic field, who say of him that he is only a “flat-earther of gastronomy”, that is, he has as much authority as those who claim that the earth is flat.

Michele Pascarella, who has won countless awards for his pizza (8th best in Europe), says it’s not about who makes a product first, but who makes it best. “Italy is a country with an enormous culinary culture, passed down from generation to generation, that doesn’t need to win any competition for who did it first in the world. Our cuisine is envied around the world and we really continue to make a difference today. Alberto Grandi is the «flat-earther» of gastronomy”, believes Michele Pascarella.

Croissants are not French

Croissants, indispensable in the breakfast of the French, are not French, says the Italian historian. They were invented in Vienna, Austria, where the crescent-shaped bread dates back centuries.

Croissants are not French, but Austrian

Some say they were given to Duke Leopold in 1227 as a Christmas present; others that the pastries that mimic the moon on the Turkish flag were prepared to celebrate the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the 1600s. Another theory holds that Parisians adapted the recipe after the first Viennese bakery closed in 1838. The most famous story is that Queen Marie Antoinette, born in Vienna, missed Austrian pastries so much that she had her French bakers prepare them for her.

Tempura is not Japanese and vindaloo is not Indian

Alberto Grandi also says that tempura is not Japanese and vindaloo is not Indian. Both have Portuguese origins.

Catholic missionaries brought Western-style cooking to Japan in the 16th century, while vindaloo comes from the Portuguese “vinha de alhos”, referring to the two main ingredients of the dish, wine and garlic. Vindaloo was originally a means used by Portuguese sailors to preserve fresh ingredients, but they enhanced it with spices and chillies when they arrived in Goa, turning it into one of the most popular – and spiciest – curries in the world .

Piri piri, the bird’s eye chili is not from Portugal

Portugal can’t claim its famous piri piri condiment, a la Nando’s, as its own, however. Like tomatoes in Italy, the bird’s eye chili used to add flavor is not native to Portugal. It was discovered in America in the 15th century and was brought to the African colonies to be cultivated before being sold in Asia and Europe. It did not reach Portugal until the late sixties.