A central thesis of the book is that what we now call "traditional" Italian cuisine is often a modern invention.
: His seminal 1891 work, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well , is credited with creating a unified culinary language for the newly unified Italian state. La cucina italiana. Storia di una cultura
: In contrast, the Futurist movement later critiqued these traditions, famously launching a "crusade against pasta," which they viewed as a symbol of lethargy and weakness, in an attempt to modernize the Italian spirit. Migration and Global Identity A central thesis of the book is that