Tactile Pajama Parties.
I feel like that should clue you into the insanity that is the Futurist movement. I don't think I'll every quite understand the Futurist movement, I don't think it's meant to be understood, it's just that wild. Futurism was a movement that had a focus on speed, violence (especially the glorification of war), and modernity. The 1800s were the perfect time for this kind of movement, there were all sorts of technological advances (the train, preservation, and steam power to name a few) that help modernize the world and made it more efficient and quicker to get around in the world.
The Futurists had already made their way through almost every other art form with little to no success and so they took a last chance gamble with the culinary arts, and failed spectacularly yet again. The Futurists were simply too outrageous for the Italians. The whole idea of the futurist culinary experience was to be multi-sensory, eating with your hands, touching a pad that had various textures, having perfume sprayed at you, and the visual stimulation of their restaurant (Taverna del Santopalato) itself with its modern, metal look. The nail in the coffin however was when Marinetti, the leader of the movement abolished pasta because it was 'too weighty and bulky for the speed and dynamism of modern life.' If there is one thing you don't mess with in Italy, it would be pasta. The amount of pasta I have consumed here is bordering on gluttony. Pasta is so important to the Italians they've even made it fast food like! On a recent trip to Venice our first stop was lunch at Dal Moro's-Fresh Pasta To Go. We went to a shoebox of a restaurant that had no tables and was tucked into the maze that is Venice. You can see them making fresh pasta in the window, all shapes and sizes. You get to customize what shape of pasta you want, what sauce and any add ons! Its quick, fresh and they use natural ingredients.
Although Marinetti's reasoning behind abolishing pasta seems to fit within the Futurist mindset, the real reason he did it was to try and gain Mussolini's favor. Mussolini was a politician who liked to have every aspect of society under his control, and food was no different. To Mussolini food was yet another political tool that he could use to reach his goals. Mussolini wanted Italy to be self-sufficient and not rely on other countries for food imports, one of these imports was grain. Mussolini's "Battle for Grain" is probably one of his most well-known feats, the government pushed farmers to grow grain so that Italy wouldn't have to import it anymore and even drained swamps and destroyed vineyards to make more land to grow this grain on. They also promoted the eating and growing of rice as a substitute Marinetti abolishing pasta and promoting the eating of rice went right along with what Mussolini wanted, Marinetti did so with the false hope that Mussolini supporting the Futurist movement.
At the end of the day all I can say is that I'm glad I didn't have to experience the culinary trials of the Fascist or the Futurists, imagine a world without pasta!
Ciao for now!
Veni. Vidi. Mangia.
I feel like that should clue you into the insanity that is the Futurist movement. I don't think I'll every quite understand the Futurist movement, I don't think it's meant to be understood, it's just that wild. Futurism was a movement that had a focus on speed, violence (especially the glorification of war), and modernity. The 1800s were the perfect time for this kind of movement, there were all sorts of technological advances (the train, preservation, and steam power to name a few) that help modernize the world and made it more efficient and quicker to get around in the world.
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| Image Source |
The Futurists had already made their way through almost every other art form with little to no success and so they took a last chance gamble with the culinary arts, and failed spectacularly yet again. The Futurists were simply too outrageous for the Italians. The whole idea of the futurist culinary experience was to be multi-sensory, eating with your hands, touching a pad that had various textures, having perfume sprayed at you, and the visual stimulation of their restaurant (Taverna del Santopalato) itself with its modern, metal look. The nail in the coffin however was when Marinetti, the leader of the movement abolished pasta because it was 'too weighty and bulky for the speed and dynamism of modern life.' If there is one thing you don't mess with in Italy, it would be pasta. The amount of pasta I have consumed here is bordering on gluttony. Pasta is so important to the Italians they've even made it fast food like! On a recent trip to Venice our first stop was lunch at Dal Moro's-Fresh Pasta To Go. We went to a shoebox of a restaurant that had no tables and was tucked into the maze that is Venice. You can see them making fresh pasta in the window, all shapes and sizes. You get to customize what shape of pasta you want, what sauce and any add ons! Its quick, fresh and they use natural ingredients.
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| I got the pesto with chicken sausage. I told them to give me whatever pasta shape they thought was best and they gave me rotini. It was absolutely delicious! |
Although Marinetti's reasoning behind abolishing pasta seems to fit within the Futurist mindset, the real reason he did it was to try and gain Mussolini's favor. Mussolini was a politician who liked to have every aspect of society under his control, and food was no different. To Mussolini food was yet another political tool that he could use to reach his goals. Mussolini wanted Italy to be self-sufficient and not rely on other countries for food imports, one of these imports was grain. Mussolini's "Battle for Grain" is probably one of his most well-known feats, the government pushed farmers to grow grain so that Italy wouldn't have to import it anymore and even drained swamps and destroyed vineyards to make more land to grow this grain on. They also promoted the eating and growing of rice as a substitute Marinetti abolishing pasta and promoting the eating of rice went right along with what Mussolini wanted, Marinetti did so with the false hope that Mussolini supporting the Futurist movement.
At the end of the day all I can say is that I'm glad I didn't have to experience the culinary trials of the Fascist or the Futurists, imagine a world without pasta!
Ciao for now!
Veni. Vidi. Mangia.
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