Italian cuisine — , Tomato arrives · 493

Pasta, tomato and a fierce regional map: the most accessible European table in the atlas. Cucina italiana is a late national idea over older city kitchens. Tomato arrived from the Americas; pasta industrialised in the south; risotto stayed a northern rice craft. Nonna is the brand; the map is the truth.

Italian cuisine sits at spice 32 in this atlas. Neapolitan pizza and Spaghetti al pomodoro show the range better than a single heat number. Neapolitan pizza plus one regional plate — not only the export icon. Accessibility 92 reflects how completely pasta and pizza colonised English-speaking weeknights. Technique 84 sits in dough, risotto stirring and the refusal to drown a pasta in sauce.

The home pantry around Al dente and the labour behind Spaghetti al pomodoro rarely fit a takeaway box. Are restaurant versions "authentic"? Restaurant Italian cuisine is one register. Home pots and market stalls are others. Authenticity is a marketing word; technique is not. Cucina italiana is the local name used in this atlas beside Italian cuisine.