Jeff Johansen

Research Proposal Paper

Food has a much greater significance to humans across the world than it does to other

animals. In the mediterranean specifically, the use and creation of food is much more advanced

and in-depth than animals simply feeding on plants or grain on a farm. Food, or culinary

traditions to be more specific, are representative of the lives all people lead. People in the

mediterranean regions regard their food with the utmost of respect. Their food is their source of

pride for the country they live in and it develops their personal identity and furthers their cultural

development. For the people of Italy, change in cuisine that has been rooted for thousands of

years always seems like a bad idea. Further study reveals that passion and inspiration from other

cultures furthers the development of regional cuisine. The modern evolution of rigid traditional

cuisine is the greatest signifier of culture and personal identity in Italy. In a global sense,

everyone in the world should respect their food identity, whether it be from the cultural roots of

their ancestors or from people foreign to oneself. Food identity is the fundamental unifier

between all people, and we should use it for good.

The cultural value of food in Italy specifically is best represented by Chef Massimo

Bottura. Bottura is a three Michelin Star chef who owns a restaurant called Osteria Francescana

which has been proclaimed the second best restaurant in the world by San Pellegrinos top fifty

restaurant list. Francescana is a very successful restaurant now, but as Bottura will attest it was

not always so. Bottura says that when he opened Francescana the local[s]...were instantly

suspicious, convinced that no one could cook better than the way they had always cooked,
meaning exactly the way their mothers and grandmothers [...] had. (Kramer 3). The people of

the rich steeped town of Modena refused to eat anything out of the kitchen of Francescana.

Bottura embodied tradition, with respect, but just not the way that the Italians were used to.

According to Bottura, you [shouldnt] let tradition blind you. You let it set you free. [...] I put all

their traditions in one pot-- duck, pigeon, guinea fowl, chicken, veal, beef, pork, eel and frogs

legs with some kombu seaweed from Japan, for a wise cultural contamination-- and make the

broth. (Kramer 5). He embodies tradition by combining what he knows through classic and

gastronomic training with all the tradition he can find and puts it in a melting pot of culture, all

for one dish. His avant garde personality is prevalent and this free-mindedness is reflected in the

dishes he creates. He takes the traditional techniques and staples that have persisted through the

thousands of years of history Modena has survived and melds it with other traditions putting a

spin on these classics and altering them.

Botturas alterations infuriated the Italians who truly believed that there is only one way

to make every dish, Moms way. Italy was so resistant to gastronomic approaches and culinary

shift that grown men would refuse to eat their wives cooking and go home for lunch instead.

(Kramer 3), going straight home to Moms food. After nearly five years of no customers in the

dining room, Bottura was ready to close Francescana and seal away his seemingly condemned

idea of food with passion and true inspiration. Friends of Bottura said that, Hes building on the

genuine identity of Italian cuisine. But, to most Italians, identity has to do with borders, with

saying go no further. (Kramer 4). Because Bottura crossed this wall, the wall that literally

blocked the development of passionate culture, of the genuine Italian identity, he was thrown

to the wayside. Fortunately, with time, the people of Modena eventually found their way into his

twelve table dining room, led on by the swarms of outsiders and were enthralled by the history
expressed in his food. This led to the three michelin stars subtly standing on a plaque next to his

door and his rightful place in the top of San Pellegrinos best restaurants list. The mistakes that

the tradition keeping people of Modena and throughout the country of Italy have made in

general are some that we should learn from. Instead of throwing out the idea of traditionally

developed modern approaches to recipes, they should be embraced. Its funny to say, as telling

people to embrace abstract art before its inception would invoke a large amount of odd stares.

Embracing an art that values the culinary identity of the old tradition, or the Italian Old World

in this case, while building modern gastronomic approaches into the artwork is something that

should be valued.

The Italians were so skeptical of changing the way that their food is made, because their

food is their culture, their tradition and their history. Changing the way food is created in Italy

holds the same weight as trying to change any of those things. Changing culture is not easy, yet

food seems to do it everyday through the actions of chefs like Bottura. As he knows all too well,

even though food could be the second best in the world, if it does not respect the methods forged

by the ancient Italians, it is challenged. Although he did not abide by the normal technique of

strict Italian cooking, Bottura took as many traditions as he could find and mixed them into his

own tradition, which, according to his popularity among Italians and foreigners alike, is

transforming the Italian culture. To step into the high class food scene of any city in Italy today is

to enter a world of gastronomy. The Italians have so much respect, so much belief and so much

of their lives built around their food that they protect it. They are aware of the fact that food

defines their culture, as they cherish it. Very few nations in the world hold this respect, but they

all should do so. By holding this respect for food, cherishing and protecting it, and to share the

beauty and glory that is a nations food is ever so important in our worlds today. If warring
nations were able to cook for each other, to show each other how beautiful their ways of life are

respectively, to sit and observe the art that is their own foods together so much less death would

occur.

It is interesting to observe how the Italians are fascinated with the purity of their food.

It shows that their national pride is derived from their food, which is, in turn, representative of

their culture. Botturas mother is famous for saying Massimos cooking is fantastic. But I cook

better. (Kramer 5). This shows how deep the culture of old world food is rooted into the

citizens of Italy. The mother of a three Michelin Star chef believes that her cooking is better than

his because she follows the traditions and recipes that have been handed down to her for

generations, unaltered and missing the abundance of creativity and inspiration found in Botturas

art. This is what makes food culture and identity beautiful. It has diversity. Although a lasagna

could be named the worlds best lasagna, it doesnt mean that there is only one way to make a

lasagna. The Italian culture is found in the essence of the lasagna, the passion and work and care,

not the exact and precise choice of ingredients.

Creating food, like any art form, shows personal identity in many ways. From a more

creative aspect a chef can display his personal identity through the art that he puts on every plate

and the differences in every replication of a dish he creates. That is where the beauty in non-

industrialized food comes from. Every single version of a dish that the chef creates will be

different. If on one particular day he is feeling energetic he might add more heat or robust

ingredients to plate, or if he is feeling tired on another day he might mellow out the flavors to

create a less bold version of the same plate. Food in an art form that is not replicated exactly by a

machine but is the mirror reflection of every chefs personal identity. It can shift after years or

even on a day to day basis. Every chef needs to bring a lot of inspiration to all of the things they
make. The only way to find this much inspiration is to tap into all of their other passions, or the

things that they identify with, hence personal identity. This idea of holding this personal identity

shown through food creation as a valuable possession is driven home by the Italians of the past.

For centuries, southern Mediterranean countries such as Italy fought against food scarcity, wars,

invasions and unfavorable agricultural developments (Parasecoli 0) to defend the culture they

hold dear.

When looking at Botturas style of cooking, one can see the influences and parts of his

life from outside of the kitchen in each and every one of his creations. For example, he often

combines humble ingredients with rich and expensive ingredients in one dish, as this represents a

transition he went through in his life. When Bottura was young he lived in a family that rivaled

the Ferrari family with wealth, until his father disowned him, leaving the chef with absolutely no

money. The use of these ingredients commonly found in the cuisine of peasants combined with

expensive ingredients like truffles or saffron represent this transition in his life. Food displays all

of the passions of each chef, in one concentrated plate or series of plates. It's a picture of all of

his experiences and life choices crammed into one final image, an image that will take countless

hours to master, and always has a lifespan of no more than a few minutes.

From a more scientific aspect, the genre of meals that a person eats will classify them

into a loose Stereotype that shows who they are as a person. A study from 1981 revealed these

basic classifications. Part of the conclusion of this study reads: People who eat fast food and

synthetic food were classified as religious conservatives who often wore polyester clothing.

Health food personalities were characterized as antinuclear activists. Vegetarians were likely to

be perceived as pacifists who drive foreign cars. (Almerico 3), and continues with many more

personalities. The makeup of what is consumed shows what kind of person someone is, whether
it be an antinuclear activist or a foreign car driving pacifist. Another study done in 1995 took

groups of two nearly identical individuals and deemed one as a person who ate good foods, or

healthy organic products, and the other as a person who ate bad foods, or unhealthy synthetic

products and had them judged by a small focus group. Although both of the individuals looked

nearly the same and were of the same fitness, the focus group deemed that the individuals who

were labeled as the good food consumers were not as fat and more fit than the people labeled

as bad food consumers (Almerico). The food anyone consumes tells a long story about their

lives, who they are and how the society in which they live views them. Food is the biggest

signifier of culture and personal identity, but unfortunately, not all people believe it to be true.

There are viewpoints concerning culture or Cultural identity that believe culture is

better signified by things other than the food found on peoples plates. An article from the

Academic and Business Research Institute (AABRI) goes on to say that ones social class,

standing in the community, and profession signify culture more than food. (Almerico 6) This is

wrong. As mentioned in the above paragraph, food signifies the social class of people and their

standing in the community or view in society. Even though these things may be signifiers of

culture and personal identity, their parent signifiers converge to food, therefore leading to the

conclusion that food is the biggest signifier of the culture and identity of anyone one person or

nation.

Unfortunately, it seems as if the time where social class and profession will signify or

reflect culture more than food is rapidly approaching. Looking specifically to the meat sector

across all of Italy, it is obvious that the culture shown through food is starting to dissipate. Many

artisanal methods and traditions for butchering and creating meat products are being destroyed

by the industrialization of the food system. Culture and personal identity cannot be found
through machine made food, created the exact same way by machines, it is found through these

artisanal methods. A group called the Presidia initiative is, however, working to preserve this

culture. As Simmons says, Presidia products are those in danger of going extinct, and are being

protected and re-promoted to not only support biodiversity but also to defend a regional culture.

(Simmons 1). Without an initiative like this, much of the ancient preserved culture in the Italian

meat sector would be completely lost.

There is a quote from the Greek and Roman historian Plutarch, that says We do not sit at

the table only to eat, but to eat together. There is more to the food on a plate than chemicals and

nutrients. There is passion. It is not solely the quality or choice of ingredients that makes one

chefs food taste better than anothers, but it is the culmination of those ingredients with his

passion. Food interlinks so many cultures as well, it is the universal language across the world.

Bottura especially interlinks many cultures into one of his dishes, called Black on Black, with

which he links the cultures of music and cuisine. Black on Black is a filet of tuna seared in

pulverized sea urchin shell and littered with ashes, served in a bath of squid ink so that the

moment the dish is served nothing but black can be seen. When the tuna is cut into the bright

white of the fish against the black of the ink resembles Monks avant garde piano keys. If we can

identify with people across the planet through the sharing of something so simple as food, why

do we not value its underlying complexity? Culinary actions, from the seedlings on an OMRI

farm to the development of flavor in the flame should be actions respected and deeply valued by

any culture, no matter the people. Food identity should be seen by all people like the Italians,

valued at the highest of standards. We as people need to use this identity to strengthen this

beautiful world that we live in. By building bridges through our food, sharing what we have and

know, learning technique from all other cultures, sharing technique with all other cultures, we
can create relationships that will better this world. By using our food identity to level with all

people of all cultures, to break bread if you will, we can positively impact the lives of every

person on this earth. Food is a language that links all people and all cultures together, I urge you

to use this language for good.

Adkison, Lindsey. Group a Celebration of Italian Culture. The Brunswick News, 7 Mar. 2011,

Accessed 28 Mar. 2017.

For The Love Of Cheese, Diners Unite In Italy. All Things Considered: NPR, National Public

Radio, 27 Oct. 2012, Accessed 28 Mar. 2017.

Marter, Marilynn. Savoring Two Decades `Cooking Up an Italian Life'. Philadelphia Inquirer,

26 Apr. 2001, Accessed 28 Mar. 2017.

Kramer, Jane. Post-Modena. The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2014,

www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/11/04/post-modena. Accessed 4 Apr. 2017.

Parasecoli, Fabio. Al Dente: a History of Food in Italy. London, Reaktion Books, 2014.

Simmons, Amelia. Meat Culture in Italy. Sustainability, Williams College, 2013,

sustainability.williams.edu/food-highlight/2597. Accessed 4 Apr. 2017.

Almerico, Gina M. Food and Identity: Food Studies, Cultural, and Personal

Identity.Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies ,

citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.645.8411&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Accessed 4

Apr. 2017.