Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American

Blurbs

Like a bowl overflowing with pasta on some nonna's table, there's more than enough goodness to go around in Ian MacAllen's loving tribute to the immigrant food that helped change America. You'll read Red Sauce and understand the history of a certain strain of Italian cuisine and how it shaped our palates, but most importantly, you'll be hungry for more.

— Jason Diamond, author of “The Sprawl" and "Searching for John Hughes”

There's nothing more American than pizza—so much so that Ladies Home Journal once compared it to eating an apple pie. This, of course, might come as news to its Italian creators. In this fascinating work, Ian MacAllen expertly unpacks how America fell in love with Italian food. Filled with humor and fascinating tid-bits, Red Sauce will give you something excellent to talk about over your next plate of spaghetti.

— Jennifer Wright, author of “Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes That Fought Them”

With this entertaining and appetizing cultural history, MacAllen, like a resourceful chef, offers his readers something entirely new: the compelling story of how Italian food entered the American kitchen, and how it evolved from a foreign oddity into a ubiquitous staple.

— Nicholas Mancusi, author of “A Philosophy of Ruin”

At a time when the food media seem to have forgotten the appeal and importance of Italian-American food, Ian MacAllen’s Red Sauce is a restorative whose diligent research and engaging writing puts everything in perspective and shows why Italian-American food continues to be a favorite both here and abroad.

— John Mariani, author, “How Italian Food Conquered the World” and “The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink”

Ian MacAllen’s Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American is a delightful read! Clear, entertaining, and insightful. Well researched and includes historical recipes. It is a significant contribution to understanding Italian American foodways. P.S. I love red sauce!

— Andrew F. Smith, author of “The Tomato in America: Early History, Culture and Cookery”

An entertaining and authoritative account of Italian-American cuisine and the restaurants that popularized it. The catalogue and description of sauces is by itself a work of art.

— Paul Freedman, Yale University

Red Sauce Online

To find out more, join the mailing list, or read the blog, visit RedSauceAmerica.com

For a sneak peak at the book, check out the Red Sauce Blog

Publisher Details

Rowman & Littlefield

Pages: 224 • Trim: 5½ x 8½

978-1-5381-6234-7 • Hardback • April 2022 • $32.00 • (£25.00)

978-1-5381-6235-4 • eBook • April 2022 • $30.00 • (£22.95) (coming soon)

Subjects:History / Europe / Italy, Cooking / History, Cooking / Regional & Ethnic / Italian, History / United States / General

Publisher Website