Point by point, a Toronto historian traced Italian immigration to the United States and Canada by tasting more than 710 pizzas for his doctoral thesis.
“Food history is always a very accessible and interesting way for people to jump in and start exploring the past,” University of York researcher Alexander Hughes told the ‘Toronto Star’ on Thursday. .
He thus used pizza as a “lentil” to study the evolution of the cities of Toronto and Buffalo between 1950 and 1990, through this dish initially confined to Italian households, which nevertheless became the popular food found today on every street corner.
The researcher was thus able to observe the development of the two cities which shared many similarities in the 1950s, such as their percentage of Italian immigrants and their economic production.
However, if Toronto quickly became a “prosperous and multicultural metropolis with strong economic production” – quickly reflected by many high-end or franchised pizzerias – Buffalo remained dominated by small family restaurants, suffering in particular from “the industrialization and prolonged population loss,” he said.
No less than 712 spikes
Even if it was not necessary for the American history student to consume a slice in each of the 712 historical pizzerias visited, the thirty-something decided to turn his thesis into a taste experience, recording his progress as he went.
“I actually became lactose intolerant during the project. I don’t know if it’s because I ate too much pizza or just reached the age, ”he said, specifying however that this was not enough to slow down his search.
Instead, he started taking lactase enzyme supplements regularly to alleviate the problem.
Today, the 30-year-old still enjoys a slice of pizza here and there, even if he says he has drastically reduced the pace. Her favourite? Il Paesano Pizzeria, located in Etobicoke, Toronto.
“Unfortunately, there’s no way to taste the past,” he admitted. Even though I will eat at these pizza places, it’s not necessarily what was served in the 50s, 60s, 70s. I’m sure the recipes have changed over time.”