Introduction
Nothing is accidental in the way human beings settle and
live in a given area. Thousands
of different ways to interact with available resources and
optimize their use have shaped
the different areas and local cultures. Two key elements extraordinarily
reflect these
different ways to settling in an area: food and buildings.
Two fields that meet the basic
needs of all human beings: eat and find a shelter.
In this short course, we will see how local cooking in inland
Abruzzo has developed a
deep “knowledge” during the centuries, which allows
meeting the basic need of human
beings: filling their stomach. This problem is not trivial
at all in densely populated areas
with poor resources.
In fact, we can establish five subsequent targets –
with decreasing priority levels – in the
century old fight of Abruzzo people against hunger:
Filling their stomach with anything voluminous – even
if not nourishing – to reduce, at least temporarily,
hunger pain;
Eating the basic food made of carbohydrates to obtain indispensable
energy;
Add some more or less “noble” proteins to integrate
the diet;
Preserve food to make them available also in “scarcity”
periods;
Develop recipes, food and ingredients to make eating more
pleasant.
Nowadays, the fifth point in the list above increasingly absorbs
our interest; however,
we should not forget it is a recent conquest for the population,
while in the past it was
reserved for limited elite of privileged people.
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