Nigeria, Dec. 16 -- Does Italian cuisine exist? Not according to Alberto Grandi, daring food historian and professor of economic history at the University of Parma. With much dedication, he has focused on myth demolition in the business, spraying traditionalculinary targets with such works as Denominazione di Origine Inventata (Invented Designation of Origin: The Lies of Marketing on Typical Italian Products) and his DOI podcastbegun at the insistence of his friend Daniele Soffiati.

A running theme in his work is a familiar one to anyone in the business of finding the purported lineage of a dish. Look more closely, and you find a dish of more recent invention, not ancient, ceremonial derivation. Grandi does take a leaf out of the work o...