heidinay's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.25
Surprisingly dense and deep at times, especially in the first few essays, but also incredibly informative and broken up into digestible chunks. A pleasant kind of history, for once.
yagirlvic's review
5.0
Really good and entertaining read - wasn’t boring like most essay/research non-fiction books. Quite educational
lorialdenholuta's review
4.0
I always enjoy learning about the origins of food and drinks that are usually taken for granted. In my childhood, spaghetti and tomato sauce was served once a week, without fail. It was one of those 'budget stretcher' dinners that most mid-century American middle class families relied on. To this day, it's a comfort meal that I enjoy very much. My knowledge of the origins of this dish were limited to "Marco Polo discovered pasta" and "People thought tomatoes were poisonous until some brave person ate one and then everyone did."
This book debunks both those notions, and many more. They are replaced with an elegantly told, richly embellished, thoroughly researched history lesson that will open your eyes about the origins of pasta, and how tomatoes finally lost their bad reputation.
Don't be put off when I say that author Massimo Montanari untangles the strands of spaghetti's history in an academic research paper style, complete with the required abundance of footnotes. Hard-core history buffs will appreciate that he's cited his references, but the more casual, curious reader shouldn't feel compelled to scrutinize them. Just read, and enjoy all the historical details and trivia bits as they reveal themselves. Plus, there's the bonus of knowing there will be no final exam when you're done!
My thanks to author Massimo Montanari, Europa Editions, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.
This book debunks both those notions, and many more. They are replaced with an elegantly told, richly embellished, thoroughly researched history lesson that will open your eyes about the origins of pasta, and how tomatoes finally lost their bad reputation.
Don't be put off when I say that author Massimo Montanari untangles the strands of spaghetti's history in an academic research paper style, complete with the required abundance of footnotes. Hard-core history buffs will appreciate that he's cited his references, but the more casual, curious reader shouldn't feel compelled to scrutinize them. Just read, and enjoy all the historical details and trivia bits as they reveal themselves. Plus, there's the bonus of knowing there will be no final exam when you're done!
My thanks to author Massimo Montanari, Europa Editions, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.
lilyofthevalley_reads's review
It was super dry and really overly written (in a non-interesting and non-engaging academic style).
kairosdreaming's review
4.0
*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's Copy from NetGalley.
So this really was a short history of spaghetti and tomato sauce, and some various things that go along with such a dish. I wouldn't call this "light" reading, despite being short though. In fact, I'd say this was written more to an academic standard (which makes sense, the author is a professor), than for a casual reader.
With that tone in mind, the book delves into various parts and histories of the makeup of a plate of spaghetti and tomato sauce. The shaping of the ingredients; ancient noodle making, cooking methods for those noodles, the advent of dropping it into salted water. It touches on the utensils used to eat the dish (very brief telling of the origin of the fork). And of course the evolution from what used to be put on noodles, to how tomatoes became the ingredient of choice.
It was interesting, albeit brief, and that academic spin did make it a bit more intense to read than some of the other food histories I've read out there. But because of that briefness it was approachable from that regard. Care was given to the histories and the ingredients and my favorite part was learning about lasagna and some of the origins that overlapped there.
If you're deep into the studies of food history, this is one you're not going to want to miss!
Review by M. Reynard 2021
So this really was a short history of spaghetti and tomato sauce, and some various things that go along with such a dish. I wouldn't call this "light" reading, despite being short though. In fact, I'd say this was written more to an academic standard (which makes sense, the author is a professor), than for a casual reader.
With that tone in mind, the book delves into various parts and histories of the makeup of a plate of spaghetti and tomato sauce. The shaping of the ingredients; ancient noodle making, cooking methods for those noodles, the advent of dropping it into salted water. It touches on the utensils used to eat the dish (very brief telling of the origin of the fork). And of course the evolution from what used to be put on noodles, to how tomatoes became the ingredient of choice.
It was interesting, albeit brief, and that academic spin did make it a bit more intense to read than some of the other food histories I've read out there. But because of that briefness it was approachable from that regard. Care was given to the histories and the ingredients and my favorite part was learning about lasagna and some of the origins that overlapped there.
If you're deep into the studies of food history, this is one you're not going to want to miss!
Review by M. Reynard 2021
nineteenpoundsofbones's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
4.0
The writing style was a lot denser and more academic than I expected from the cover. That was fine, it wasn't so difficult, but it was different than I expected.
What the author was trying to do was encourage us to think about how complicated history can be, how even the simplest things come from complex and interrelated factors, how the idea of "origins" itself is incredibly complex, and to do all that by showing just how many different things happened to get Italy eating spaghetti with tomato sauce.
Well worth reading if you want a short, deep think about history.
What the author was trying to do was encourage us to think about how complicated history can be, how even the simplest things come from complex and interrelated factors, how the idea of "origins" itself is incredibly complex, and to do all that by showing just how many different things happened to get Italy eating spaghetti with tomato sauce.
Well worth reading if you want a short, deep think about history.