Summary (from the book): From what we cook at home to the restaurants where we dine, Italian food is the world's most popular cuisine. Not so long ago, however, Italian food was regarded as poor man's gruel-- little more than pizza, macaroni with red sauce, and red wines in a box. Here, John Mariani shows how Italian immigrants to America created, through perseverance and sheer necessity, an Italian-American food culture and how it became a global obsession.
He begins with Greek, Roman, and Middle Eastern culinary traditions that existed before the boot-shaped peninsula was even called "Italy." Mariani then takes readers on a journey through Europe and across the ocean to America-- alongside the poor but hopeful Italian immigrants who slowly but surely won over the hearts and minds of Americans by way of their stomachs.
Featuring evil villains such as the Atkins diet and French chefs, this is a rollicking tale of how Italian cuisine rose to its place as the most beloved fare in the world, through the lives of the people who led the charge.
Thoughts: The book focuses mostly on trends in America and Italy. A large part of the problem with the way Italian food was viewed was the lack of quality ingredients in America and the Italians simply preferring to stay at home and cook. The evolution of Italian-American favorites, such as chicken parmigiana and lasagna, came about due to the lack of ingredients in America. The book focuses mostly on the period of time from the late 1800s until today. He discusses the Northern Italian vs Southern Italian food styles, and how it was mostly the Southern styles that influenced what we think of as Italian-American food. The author does a good job of giving historical context as well, so that the reader understands why certain trends, such as the American counter-culture, were such an influence on Italian food.
The author spends a lot of time talking about different restaurants to the point that it felt like he was just throwing in restaurants because he needed some space filler. Some of his points felt very disjointed from each other. He does discuss the origins of certain brands, such as Chef Boyardee and Spaghetti-Os. I would have liked to read a bit more about the origins of some of the desserts because he did stress how desserts in Italy were restricted mainly to special occasions and tiramisu was practically unknown in Italy while it was all the rage in America.
This book did make me hungry while I was reading it, and there are some recipes included, though one would need to look in the index instead of the table of contents if they couldn't remember a certain recipe's page number.
Overall, it was enjoyable, and I rate it 3/5 stars.