Cibo, memoria e identità: l’Italia in cucina, ovvero l’italiano è sempre stato ciò che mangia

International audiencePellegrino Artusi was named the father of Italian cooking in the XX century. His work “Science in the Kitchen”, published in 14 editions between 1891 and 1911, brings together numerous local traditions to distribute them to the bourgeoisie of Italy, with the goal of joining the Country through the kitchen. The way presented by Artusi is integrate in a culture and ethics that were part of pre-existing food and gastronomic habits, a decisive element – incorporated over the centuries – of Italian national identity.The main objective of this paper, which develops from the Middle Ages to today, is to propose a reflection on the Italian national identity and on the memory, through the illustration of their relationship with food and cuisine before and after the unification of the Country, through a journey into cinema, fiction, recipe books and culinary tradition