I found myself identifying very much with the Europeans mentioned. So, because Italy is a mainly mountainous region, it suffers from not having very many pastures. And the pastures it does have have been prone to flooding and mishandling. Therefore, for centuries they have not had an abundant access to beef or pork causing them to have a diet that does not consist of much meat. This in turn has produced a tradition of eating that does not focus much on the meat, and when it does, it must always, ALWAYS, be eaten separate.
Posts Tagged ‘italy’
So, today I made a start at reading A Concise History of Italy
“Where can I find some meat in this place?”
Here is the pertinent text:
“…another, albeit, negative, feature of agriculture has been more permanent. This is the absence of rich pastures and therefore of good quality livestock, especially cattle. The resulting shortage of meat in the Italian diet was a source of frequent irritation to northern Europeans, who were not accustomed to eating vegetable-or fruit-based meals without beef or pork… The lack of pasture also made it impossible to rear strong horses, which meant that farmers had to rely on mules and oxen for traction. This, as much as the thinness of the topsoil or the conditions of land tenure, helps explain why so many of the technological innovations of the ‘agricultural revolution’ failed to take hold in Italy.” (emphasis mine)