BEFORE you dig into that plate of succulent pasta thinking of it as ‘real' Italian food, you might want to have another look at what history says about the origins of this quintessential Italian staple. Though the credit is often given to the Venetian merchant Marco Polo for bringing home pasta from his journeys to China in the 13th century, it is in fact, the Arab Muslims - who ruled Sicily 300 years before Marco Polo was even born - that introduced foods that would later on go on to become integral parts of the Italian cuisine. This astonishing revelation was made by Sergio Grasso, a visiting food anthropologist and food writer from Venice, who brought the facts ‘home'- quite literally. Speaking on a range of topics like ‘The Arabic roots of pasta', ‘Mediterranean diet, health and sustainability', and ‘Arabic influence on the Italian cuisine', Grasso was a guest speaker at “The Mediterranean – A journey through the history of Italian food”, a 5-day festival that ran from June 1-5 at the Il Villagio Restaurants and Lounges in Jeddah. “About 30 percent of Italian food has Arabic origins. Moreover, it is believed that frying is a Chinese technique, but in reality, the technique was transferred to China by the Arabs when they conquered it,” remarked Grasso. Elaborating on the Arabian-Italian link, he added: “During their reign, the Arabs brought in many foods, such as, pasta, rice, lemon, spices, sugarcane, artichokes, the Italian names of most of which have Arabic derivatives. For example, the Italian word for artichoke derives from the Arabic Al-Kharshuf. The eggplant, believed to be originally from India, was introduced to Italy via Spain by the Muslims.” Considered to be the most important Arabic import, pasta is now widely accepted to have been an Arab invention. “The Arabs carried pasta as a dry staple during their conquests of Sicily. An Arab geographer, Al-Idrissi, wrote that a flour-based product in the shape of strings was produced in Palermo, then an Arab colony,” said Grasso, who is in Jeddah for the first time. According to Mahmoud M. Al-Maeena, co-founder and husband of the restaurant's founder Nashwah A. H. Taher, members of the Al-Idrissi family are presently still living in the Kingdom. A visiting chef from Siciliy, Gian Maria Le Mura - who is also a lecturer at Catania University, Italy - also spoke during the food festival and said he is launching in July a ‘wireless restaurant' in Italy, which is the first in Italy and the second in Europe, and that he hopes to launch similar restaurants in the Kingdom as well. “In a wireless restaurant, you will have tables equipped with monitors that will let you choose ingredients for your dish, look at the chefs working in the kitchen, and understand the whole process of serving and being served,” said Le Mura. Calling Saudi Arabia the ‘father of most Italian cuisine', he added that he also intends to introduce ‘real Mediterranean diet here that is healthy as there is no tradition of diets in the Kingdom.' He said the Arabs also brought with them a sweet tooth to Italy. “Cassata, the most famous traditional sweet from the province of Palermo, Sicily, comes from Arabic ‘qashatah' (in Latin, caseata means anything made of cheese). Moreover, Marzipan, another Italian confectionary made with almonds, sugar and egg yolk, comes from the Arabic word martaban meaning a closed box to keep riches,” said chef Le Mura, adding that gradually the food was ‘contaminated by Italian culture.' The festival was organized with the support of the Italian Consulate in Jeddah, and also celebrated the Italian Republic Day on June 2. Describing it as a ‘very good event', Adriana Maria Santacesaria, the Italian Consul General, said: “This is an evidence of the excellent tradition shared between Saudi Arabia and Italy. Such events are not only gastronomic events, but signify exchange of good relations, friendships, identities and ideas.” He expressed hope that initiatives like these take place in the future as well “in order to develop cordial relations”. Commenting on Arab cuisine, Grasso said the cuisine “sadly is not very diverse and regional. Unlike the many identities that Italian food has, Saudi Arabian food is identical as many years ago the people of this country were united under the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Holy Qur'an, thus their cuisine also has a singular identity.” Asked what cuisine is the guest chef's most preferred choice, Le Mura said he doesn't have any favorites and that what is more important for him is to unite people through food. And now for some indulgence. Here is chef Le Mura's signature recipe that he provided exclusively to Saudi Gazette: Forsette veli cake (Cake seven veils): Lemon sponge cake • 120g butter • 100g icing sugar • 120g egg yolks • 140g lemon juice • 280g egg white • 120g sugar • 20g of rice flour Cream butter with sugar. Incorporate the yolks one at a time, and add the lemon extract. Add sifted rice flour. Mount the eggs with the icing sugar to combine with the first mixture. Bake in the oven at 170 ° C for about 20 minutes. Disc of the corn-blown praline • 60g white chocolate • 60g milk chocolate • 20g butter • 30g almond paste • 70g corn flour Temper the chocolate and butter in Aggiungi cream, almond paste and the corn-blown glaze. Mix well and shape two discs. Cook on the stove.
