S11 Ep39: Kilometre 0 - Imbroglio! The Big Italian Food Lie

Ask most people to think of Italy and what’s the first image that will come to their mind? For cycling fans it could be the Giro - but, generally, throughout the world, that picture in the mind’s eye is as likely to be of food as it is, say, the national flag, the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Colosseum.

In recent years, it’s been noticeable for journalists on the race that the Giro has leaned further into the notion of Italy as a sort promised land of the finest food and wine on the planet – no longer just ‘the hardest race in the most beautiful place’, per the sales pitch, but also the one where you’ll eat the best meals.

Italian recipes are genuine, humble in origin but luxurious in taste – and also ancient. So at least we’re always told. And yet recently one professor in Italy, Alberto Grandi of the University of Parma, hit the headlines all over the world and caused outrage at home by claiming that a lot of it was lies, mythology, either a misremembering of the past or a deliberate attempt to distort the truth.

In this episode of KM0, Daniel Friebe speaks to, among others, Grandi and John Dickie, the author an acclaimed history of Italian food, Delizia!, to find out what Grandi has claimed and whether, indeed, we’ll ever look at pizza, pasta and cappuccino in the same way again.

In addition to this episode, we’ll also post Daniel’s full interview with Alberto Grandi (with subtitles) on the podcast’s YouTube channel.

The Cycling Podcast is supported by Science in Sport.

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The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.