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As John Dickie’s fascinating Delizia amply demonstrates, Italian food has enjoyed a cultural imperialism that few other than national cuisines have achieved. Subtitled The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food, Dickie’s thoroughly researched (but highly accessible) book demonstrates that more chefs are in thrall to Italian cuisine (and its tried and trusted ingredients) than to that of any other nation, and while pasta remains a standard food for those whose pockets are empty, Italian cuisine graces the menus of some of the world's most exclusive restaurants.
Dickie is particularly adroit conjuring up many aspects of Italian culture (his Cosa Nostra was a nigh-definitive study of a less cherishable aspect of Italian culture) and here he combines scholarship and enthusiasm to great effect. Part of his agenda is to dispel the advertising industry perception that the vineyards and olive groves of Tuscany (with their sun-tanned, contented workers) represent the whole story of Italian food. Not the case, says Dickie, and it’s in the urban heart of the Italian city that the elements of the nation's cuisine are forged: the cookery talent, the all-important financing and even the ingredients. Control of all this, as the author notes, represents considerable power, and we are taken on historical journey throughout all of Italy, in the time and space: from mediaeval Milan to fascist Rome, from Renaissance Ferrara to 19th-century Naples. What makes this particularly involving is the fashion in which Dickie juggles his obvious scholarship with the sheer, undeniable pleasure this affords both him (and, concomitantly) us. Delizia may well transform every trip you take from now on to an Italian restaurant. --Barry Forshaw
Financial Times, October 13, 2007
mouthwatering ... [Dickie's] book is sheer pleasure
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