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There is a kind of thread tying most of today’s newsletter items together. More on that in the final piece.

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You cannot avoid the past in Rome, but if you’re interested in the history of food there’s been nothing to see since the pasta museum shut its doors. A new museum, at the bottom of the Palatine Hill and facing the chariot-racing stadium, has put food history back on the tourist map. I was very fortunate to get a guided tour from the director, Matteo Ghirighini, a few days before Garum, as it is called, opened its doors to the public.

I learned so much, including the French origins of a Roman street food and the most convincing origin story yet for perhaps the most contentious pasta dish.

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No apologies for devoting a lot of space to protein in one form or another. It is an important topic that we need to understand better.

Insect meal and cultured milk

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The discovery of truly wild tomatoes in Mexico recently allowed researchers to finally tell a story of tomato domestication that fits all the available evidence. The feast of diversity that resulted in traditional tomato varieties, however, is not mirrored in genetic diversity. In fact, modern, scientifically-bred tomatoes are more diverse than traditional varieties, and almost a quarter of so-called traditional varieties are “tainted” by modern genetics.

Jose Blanca, one of the researchers involved in these two recent discoveries, told me more about what they found and what it means. Take a listen.

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I have a problem with podcasts that goes way beyond making my own. It is that I can really only listen when I am walking, flying, boating or training. Any other time, my attention is distracted by something and I lose the thread. That means I don’t have much time to listen. I do make the time for things that ought to be worthwhile, and sometimes I am glad I did. This is one of those times.

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Aaron Vallance’s writing at his website 1dish4theroad has twice been shortlisted by the Guild of Food Writers, not bad for someone who admits to having had great difficulty doing his English homework at school.

I first became aware of Aaron’s food writing through Curry and Kneidlach: A Tale of Two Immigrant Families, a story on his website co-written with Shahnaz Ahsan, and I’ve followed him ever since. A visit to London gave me the chance to meet Aaron in person and get an insight about what food and writing mean to him and how they relate to his practice as a doctor.

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Things have been a bit topsy-turvy lately, so please accept a newsletter instead of a podcast episode this week. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Organic disasters

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I’m still bleating on about the naming of things, and I suspect nothing will ever stop me.

Cattle denazification

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Jessica Kehinde Ngo recently wrote an impassioned piece bemoaning the fact that “the plantain has long been eclipsed by its banana cousin”. That alarmed me a little, as did the question immediately afterwards: “Where can the curious go to learn about its fascinating transnational history?”

For Jessica, “[e]ach bite of plantain connects me to my roots, though I am many miles from my father’s homeland”.

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This newsletter is half hypothetical and half rooted in reality. Which is which? I couldn’t possibly say.

What price patriotism?

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Discussions about food often “bump up against philosophy,” according to David Kaplan. He is a professor of philosophy at the University of North Texas, and he thinks we could do a better job of thinking about food.

His book Food Philosophy: An Introduction shows us how, and we had a terrific conversation about it.

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In last week’s podcast, I asked whether we should distinguish food poverty from poverty, pure and simple. Following up, this week’s newsletter is largely about the cost of food.

As I write this, dawn is breaking on a day when Americans are predicted to eat 1.42 billion chicken wings, which this year are set to cost somewhere between 14% and 20% more than last year. What does that do to the price of 1.42 billion chicken legs? How about whole chickens with wings and legs intact?

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Give Directly is a charity that was started by students at Harvard and MIT after their research showed that a lot of philanthopy was both very inefficient and not very effective. Unconditional cash has greater impact, at lower cost, than skills training, microcredit, farmer field schools and just about every other form of aid.

But does cash enable people to improve their food security and nutrition? That’s what I wanted to find out from Give Directly staff in Uganda and Malawi.

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Back in the swing of things now, alternating podcast episodes and newsletters.

STOP PRESS: This just in (see item 3 below): An African immigrant’s pizza wins global raves — and overcomes Italian prejudices.

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Way back when, Neolithic people discovered that they could eat milk that had gone sour with impunity, even though ordinary milk upset their digestion. Thus was the culture of yoghurt born, helping those Neolithic farmers to move into northern Europe. Fast forward 10,000 years or thereabouts, and the bacteria that soured milk were held to be responsible for the extreme longevity of Bulgarian peasants. That theory gave birth to a craze for Lactobacillus bulgaricus, as it was known, now increasingly popular in China.

All this and more I learned from Yoghurt: A Global History, a recent book by June Hersh. What I still don’t know is why those Neolithic people were even trying to drink milk, if it upset their stomachs. They were keeping sheep and goats, sure, but why were they milking them? Ideas?

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I had fully intended to release a podcast today, but the honest truth is that I’m not ready. I am still trying to get more guests lined up for the next season and I did not want to launch prematurely. In the meantime, here’s some reading matter.

The vegetarian’s vegetarian

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I hope you had a good break over the holiday season, if you had a break at all. I know I did. So, here we go again, with my hand-picked selection of food and farming stories from around the internets.

Traffic lights versus batteries

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The 5th edition of the Biennial of Photography on Industry and Work in Bologna focussed attention on food. All of the 11 exhibitions were really interesting and well curated, not least because they were often in glorious spaces that are not normally open to the public. But there was one that really caught my eye because it offered literally a new view of the foundations of America’s appetite for cheap beef.

Almost as soon as I got home I arranged to chat to the artist, Mishka Henner, about his work.

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Lots to get your teeth into in this issue, from public relations idiocy to the idiocy of ideology.

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Down the River Tiber from Rome is the huge archaeological site of Ostia Antica, which used to be the main port for the city. It’s all ruins now, of course, and open to the elements, but still incredibly suggestive. As you stroll around under the umbrella pines, it’s hard not to daydream about what things might have been like a couple of thousand years ago. In my case, with very little formal education in the matter, those daydreams are pretty foggy. When I get to something I know a little about, like a bakery, the fog clears a bit and I can begin to see some details.

With a genuine expert, however, things really come to life, so I was absolutely delighted to be able to visit the Mulino di Silvano at Ostia Antica with Farrell Monaco, who has studied, and brought back to life, the canonical bread of Ancient Rome. She brought the bakery back to life for me.

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In general, things that delight, instruct or entertain are the order of the day here. Occasionally, though, I find it necessary to point to stuff I really do not like. This is one of those days, in part.

It isn’t the science, stupid

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Perhaps you’ve heard stories about the history of the potato in Europe. Ignorant peasants shun the potato until a wily aristocrat — or even the monarch — plays a trick on them to open their eyes to the true value of the humble etc.

Mea culpa — I believed the story and even retold it myself on occasion. So I naturally slapped my forehead, hard, when I heard Rebecca Earle give an online lecture about the history of the potato and resolved to talk to her myself.

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It was nice to wake up this morning with the sun shining, although it will be awful to drink my tea this afternoon in the dark.

Still, I do love the constancy of change.

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Rachel Roddy’s new book is An A-Z of Pasta: Stories, Shapes, Sauces, Recipes.

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A mixed bag, and that’s the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it.

I hope you do too.

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After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, a young chef brought the tandoor oven and his tandoori chicken from Peshawar to a new restaurant he opened in Delhi, the Moti Mahal. There, he created , butter chicken; tandoori chicken in a sauce that combines tomatoes, butter and cream.

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Advanced technology is a wonderful thing — how else would I be able to communicate with you all? — but there are some problems that just aren’t amenable to technical fixes. Also, history will decide.

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The California Roll was only the beginning. Or at least, the beginning of global domination, after a couple of thousand years of quiet evolution. In the mid 1980s, sushi was the poster child for the average Westerner’s idea of hard-to-understand foods.

Interconnected

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And we’re back, after a terrific summer break.

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An unforeseen circumstance dashed my hopes, and perhaps yours too, of a new episode of the podcast today. But there’s no point in being your own boss if you can’t occasionally give your staff a break. Next week, and that’s a promise.

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The temperature suddenly dropped by about 10 degrees C a couple of days ago, a sure sign that I need to get back to producing episodes of the podcast. I hope to have one for you next week. In the meantime, here’s this week’s roundup of food news.

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My thanks to the people who wrote to tell me that garlic noodles is indeed a dish worth pursuing, and especially to Lenore, a supporter, who pointed me to her favourite online recipe. I have yet to try it, but I will, and I will report back.

First, though, this week’s collection of food-related trifles.

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Is it voyeuristic to want to learn about things you are unlikely ever to experience? Obviously I don’t think so, or I wouldn’t be doing what I do. Either that, or “voyeuristic” needs to be rescued from its shameful reputation. Three items speak to that, and one to non-local concerns.

Flavours of autism and food

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Nice to have a little uptick in subscribers this past week. Welcome, and thanks to Susan MacMillan, whose newsletter Taking Stock is one I enjoy reading.

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Straying somewhat from the beaten track, I blame the heat here, which has scrambled my brain. I take some solace from the observation that there are many other scrambled brains out there.

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At last, somewhat authoritative figures on the aggregate costs of cheap food. Will they change anything? You tell me.

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Some older items this week, which nevertheless are still well within their eat by date. Also, lots of historical contingency. And I’m still looking for writing about unhyphenated African food.

Consider the fish finger …

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It is so annoying when a headline or link promises a story that ought to be interesting and then fails to deliver. Normally, I just give a snort of derision and move on, but not today. And please, I really do want to read more about the foodways of countries in Africa.

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Greetings from sunny Puglia, where some of the dead olive trees have been cleaned up and there are clear green shoots on newly planted trees. This is a slightly truncated edition with an eye on cereals, because holidays.

A peculiar pasta

Counterfactual

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India, like most places on Earth, suffered its fair share of famines over the centuries. When Indian politicians gained independence in 1947, they promised that they would do better for their citizens.

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Why shouldn’t people in Alaska have strawberries year-round, if that’s what they want? And why shouldn’t students in Delhi latch onto an abominable street-food if that’s what they want?

Arctic strawberries, lettuce, zucchini and tomatoes

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Chris Otter’s book Diet for a Large Planet shows how the British Empire, starting in the late 18th century, outsourced much of its food supply, paving the way for the modern food system.

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This week’s haul has prompted me to mull over how hard it is fully to understand other discourses. It’s good to be reminded how little I know.

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That’s the title of a new book from Jess Fanzo, a globally-recognized thinker on food systems and professor at Johns Hopkins University.

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If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

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Arun Kapil first started selling spices from a farmers market stall in Cork, Ireland. That was about 15 years ago. This past month, Green Saffron, the company he started, opened a spice hub warehouse in Holland which, he says, will be landing about 200 tonnes of fresh spices from India, without compromising on quality.

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What is it about countries that makes them want a national dish? Or, indeed, a national myth?

Rants from Down Under

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A little less than a year ago I talked to Professor Jeremy Haggar about his successful search for in Sierra Leone. A hundred years ago, it had an extremely good reputation, but was shoved out by much more productive robusta coffee. Although they found a few plants, probably not more than 100 in total, they were disappointed that there were no coffee berries on the bushes.