Elliot Taylor

October 12, 2015

Should We Leave Our Comfort Zone?

            There have been thousands of essays written about humans’ resistance to change and each writer tries points to a different explanation. Given the choice between eating a new food or something we have eaten before, chances are we will eat what is familiar. This devotion to familiarity has likely been present throughout human history. We saw in our readings from this week that it took a long time for several items to gain a foothold in European cuisine such as tomatoes and potatoes in Italy, asparagus in England, and Neapolitan pizza in Rome. However, in all of these cases, the food has caught on and found a market. People had to leave their comfort zones in order for these foods to penetrate new markets.

            Both tomatoes and potatoes took several hundred years to become a staple in Italian diet. According to Gentilcore, it took over 300 years for the tomato and potato to become a staple in Italian diet (2010: 2). Although Gentilcore attributes the increased popularity of tomatoes to being scientifically proven to be healthy (2010: 47), an argument should be made that this popularity would not have started had it not been for individuals trying this new food. Even when it was considered harmful, a few Italians ate tomatoes, forcing people to take notice of tomatoes. Although it took over 300 years for them to eventually gain popularity in Italian cuisine, it might have taken even longer had it not been for the few individuals who dared to try something new. When tomatoes started to be consumed by Italians, scientists became interested in studying the tomato. The curiosity to try something new led to the introduction of one of the most important ingredients in Italian cuisine.
            According to our reading by Castelvetro, asparagus had not yet become a popular food in England. Castelvetro informs the reader that he “never [ceases] to wonder why no one has yet taken the trouble to improve its cultivation” (53). That letter was penned in 1614 and by the late seventeenth century, asparagus had become domesticated in England. Trying something new led to the cultivation of asparagus in Britain. In fact, many people consider British asparagus to be the best in the world (What is it that makes English asparagus the best in the world?). Had it not been for those few daring British individuals to leave their comfort zone to try a new food, the world likely would not have English asparagus.

            Our reading by Matilde Serao depicts the opening of a Neapolitan pizza restaurant in Rome in 1884. In the opening paragraph, Serao describes the restaurant as “out of place… [and] it perished amid this Roman solemnity” (1884: 1). Despite its initial failure, Neapolitan pizza restaurants are now common in Rome with over 400 listed on Yelp. Like asparagus and tomatoes, the Romans tried something a new and it caught on in popularity.

            Obviously, it takes a while for cuisines to become popular and it normally requires people to be adventurous enough to try something new. Had it not been for the adventurous Italians individuals who ate tomatoes and potatoes, they might have never become part of the Italian diet. The same can be said for the Englishmen who tried asparagus and the Romans who ate Neapolitan pizza. In order for new anything to become popular, people cannot resist change; they must be open and receptive. If not, cultures are not exposed to new ideas or foods and new ingredients or items will not be incorporated into new societies.

Works Cited

Castelvetro, Giacomo, and Gillian Riley. The Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy: An Offering to Lucy, Countess of Bedford. New York City: New York Prospect, 2012. N. pag. Print.

Gentilcore, David. Pomodoro! A History of the Tomato in Italy. New York: Columbia UP, 2010. Print.

Graff, Vincent. "What Is It That Makes English Asparagus the Best in the World?" Daily Mail. Mail Online, 24 May 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Serao, Matilde. "On Naples, 1878-1884: Six Translations." EScholarship. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

"Yelp." Best Neopolitan+pizza in Roma, Italy. Yelp, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.