The lucrative Mediterrenean trade in spices, silk and other luxuries from Africa and Asia were shipped on the galleys of the powerful city-states of Genoa, Venice and Florence, making them phenomenally rich. Medieval Italy, meaning primarily the northern Italian Peninsula, was one of the few regions in medieval Europe where the distinction between nobility and prosperous commoners were more or less irrelevant, the result of a significant, rich and self-conscious middle class. This meant that the level of culinary refinement and diversity was especially great when compared to the rest of the continent. Italian cuisine was, and still is, better described as a multitude of highly varied regional cuisines, each with long traditions and their own specialties. Italian dishes can therefore be considered either traditional or imported. Being the hub of a vast trade network meant that there was greater access to foreign luxuries to influence the local cooking. Still, there was a great deal of conservatism and in general far more of local Italian foodstuffs were exported to the New World than the other way around, though the impact of important products such as vanilla, corn, kidney beans, and of course, the tomato, which had a considerable impact on the cooking south of Naples, even if this transition took some time.[13]
Many Italian staples and internationally recognized favorites were invented and refined during the Late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance; pasta was on everyone's dinner plate by the 13th century, though it was commonly made out of rice flour rather than durum wheat; pizza, the medieval Italian term for "pie", and tortes came in many varieties with a wide range of toppings, ranging from marzipan, and custards to chicken, eel, or even hemp; polenta made from French green lentils or barley; risotto; and a myriad of local or regional variants of sausage and cheese which was eaten by more or less everyone. As early as the Middle Ages, the cheeses, in particular, appear to have been highly specialized, from a fresh Tuscan to an aged Milanese from Tadesca, wrapped and shipped in tree bark. Medieval Italians also used eggs to a higher degree than many other regions, and the recipe collections describe herb omelettes (herboletos) and frittatas. Grapes as tasty morsels and lemons as a cooking ingredient was ubiquitous and, of course, olive oil of every conceivable kind was the cooking fat of choice in all regions, including the north, for dressing salads, frying, seasoning, marinading and preserving meats.[14]
What was Italian food like before the introduction of the New World tomato?
Or just your standard carbonara. However, the tomato wasn't even introduced to Europe until the 16th century, by way the Spanish colonies where the tomato was already a common ingredient in the meals of indigenous Amerindian peoples like the Aztecs. With that in mind, what was Italian food like before the tomato? Was it indistinguishable from other European cuisines of the late Middle Ages? Did medieval Italians have a choice of foods incredibly similar to the ancient Romans? The latter had quite a variety of foods available to them, even for the poor and the plebs. I'm not so sure about medieval Italy, although grapes and olives were still surely in abundance.
There was obviously lots of bread and thanks to the Romans many different forms of bread.
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Originally Posted by Markas
