Et Tu, Pasta

Anyway, Italian food. What is Italian food? Spaghetti Bolognese, lasagne with coleslaw and deep-pan pizzas filled with assorted culinary garbage? No. A thousand times no. On the subject of pizzas, by the by, in Britain at least they have gone the way of the once noble quiche, which before it got ‘wine-barred’ and abused was an exquisite dish until, as the late Elizabeth David lamented, it became a culinary dustbin. Whereas thinly rolled dough spread with chopped tomato and topped with anchovies and cheese and zapped into a wood-fired oven is heaven – you just don’t need prawns and artichoke hearts, mushroom and chicken tikka pieces in a pastry shell and even if you do you can’t call it a pizza.