The proposal for this session was elaborated by Teresa Colletta and me after having attended EXPO 2015 in Milan the AISU conference in Padova "the food and the city". The idea was born in consideration that until the days of collective use, and subsequent private use, of refrigerating devices, a fundamental issue of urban life was how to store and conserve foodstuffs. Considering the extremely high value of food with respect to the average income, it was also necessary to make sure that conservation also ensured prevention of theft. The theme of conservation in this sector, since it is connected to a primary necessity, has become an integral factor of many quite disconnected areas of urban life: from production and transformation to the sale of foodstuffs, to defense on both a private and public level, to solving the problems of seasonal availability and rationing in times of hardship. Conservation of foodstuffs can therefore be considered a longstanding problem in the history of the larger urban areas and above all, in the merchant sea ports. The use of the underground in this respect is a typically urban phenomenon. Perishable goods required conserving and stocking and having often been transported a distance from their place of production, conservation had to be carried out in such a way as to preserve their basic qualitative characteristics. As well as those underground spaces created and adapted specifically for conserving the organic and organoleptic properties of perishable foodstuffs, the underground has also been used for certain transformational processes. In some cases, food transformation underground has resulted in such typifying qualities of the final product, that the same methods were employed even after the arrival of new refrigerating technology. Underground store rooms, cellars, cisterns, caves and ice houses etc. have been for a very long period a precious ally in the solution of critical problems regarding the conservation of foodstuffs. The use of the underground for the transformation of foodstuffs not only increased the possible time lapse between the production of the food and that of its transformation, and then of its ultimate consumption, but also influenced possible food types. This in turn influenced the eating habits and the cuisine of the urban populations. The necessity for ad hoc underground deposits has been the responsibility of both the public and private sectors, so different means and systems have been adopted in different urban areas. Frequently, however the architecture actually put into practice below the surface has been totally unrelated to that on the urban surface, often overriding any accepted European canon of urban development, health and safety. As far as a research into the conservation procedures for foodstuffs is concerned, separating these processes from an analysis of the rest of the urban complex runs alongside recurring attempts to identify an orderly urban plan amid the consolidated structure of the historical towns. These dual approaches stem from the fact that the public buildings reserved for the conservation of staple foodstuffs are the fruit of activities which are well separated from each other, and are likely therefore to be carried out in different urban areas. This separation can be accounted for thus: underground, because they are more easily defendable and even if distant from the urban centre, always well connected to merchant ports. The aim of the session is to gather as many examples as possible which analyse the role of the underground in the management of urban requirements in the foodstuff sector with a view to a long term comparative study which may answer the following questions: in what way has the underground been decisive in the ability of an urban conglomeration to maintain a provision of basic foodstuffs? What exactly is the role of the public sector in such an undertaking and what exactly is the role of the private sector? What are the techniques used to maximize the refrigerating capacity of the underground? Which urban areas have historically been preferred for these functions? What effects of the underground management of vital foodstuffs have reflected back on the civic lifestyle? What influence, historically, has the conservation of foodstuffs below ground had on the diet of the citizens themselves? The field of investigation is vast and encourages in particular those contributions which touch on the following themes: 1.Ice houses as a method of conserving food: taking the Arab civilizations as an initial example of the clear demarcation line between food for the wealthy and food for the poor. 2.The public defence of food underground. The underground as an ally in the fight against piracy of foodstuffs and as a support to commerce on the surface. Roadside trading posts, store houses for travelling merchants and underground stores, the experience of the merchant ports and the underground in the affirmation of the role of these ports in the sector of the commerce of perishable goods. 3.Underground deposits and the rationing of food in the urban areas. From times of famine to times of epidemic emergencies: the role of the underground in times of crisis. 4.The reuse of the cellars, grottos and cisterns for the conservation of essential staple ( corn, oil etc) foodstuffs. The particular methods of aeration and the loading and storage of the goods. 5.Private underground cellars : from those of the monastic orders to those of private palaces and stately homes.. 6.Typical products. From olive oil to Tuscan wine, from Parmesan cheese to sheep's cheese "di fossa" (matured in caves), the role of the underground in establishing a tradition of production. 7.Women in the city in the era before refrigerators. The cellar as an ally in the management of the family larder and domestic life. 8.The underground and the meat-eating tradition. From salami to the raising of pigeons for food, from the conservation of dried cod fish to the canning of salted sardines. Conservation procedures of protein foods such as butchering or trapping which are influenced by seasonality and the distance from the areas of production.
Reinterpreting urban underground spaces for the production and conservation of foodsfuffs in Modern and Contemporary History
Roberta Varriale
2016
Abstract
The proposal for this session was elaborated by Teresa Colletta and me after having attended EXPO 2015 in Milan the AISU conference in Padova "the food and the city". The idea was born in consideration that until the days of collective use, and subsequent private use, of refrigerating devices, a fundamental issue of urban life was how to store and conserve foodstuffs. Considering the extremely high value of food with respect to the average income, it was also necessary to make sure that conservation also ensured prevention of theft. The theme of conservation in this sector, since it is connected to a primary necessity, has become an integral factor of many quite disconnected areas of urban life: from production and transformation to the sale of foodstuffs, to defense on both a private and public level, to solving the problems of seasonal availability and rationing in times of hardship. Conservation of foodstuffs can therefore be considered a longstanding problem in the history of the larger urban areas and above all, in the merchant sea ports. The use of the underground in this respect is a typically urban phenomenon. Perishable goods required conserving and stocking and having often been transported a distance from their place of production, conservation had to be carried out in such a way as to preserve their basic qualitative characteristics. As well as those underground spaces created and adapted specifically for conserving the organic and organoleptic properties of perishable foodstuffs, the underground has also been used for certain transformational processes. In some cases, food transformation underground has resulted in such typifying qualities of the final product, that the same methods were employed even after the arrival of new refrigerating technology. Underground store rooms, cellars, cisterns, caves and ice houses etc. have been for a very long period a precious ally in the solution of critical problems regarding the conservation of foodstuffs. The use of the underground for the transformation of foodstuffs not only increased the possible time lapse between the production of the food and that of its transformation, and then of its ultimate consumption, but also influenced possible food types. This in turn influenced the eating habits and the cuisine of the urban populations. The necessity for ad hoc underground deposits has been the responsibility of both the public and private sectors, so different means and systems have been adopted in different urban areas. Frequently, however the architecture actually put into practice below the surface has been totally unrelated to that on the urban surface, often overriding any accepted European canon of urban development, health and safety. As far as a research into the conservation procedures for foodstuffs is concerned, separating these processes from an analysis of the rest of the urban complex runs alongside recurring attempts to identify an orderly urban plan amid the consolidated structure of the historical towns. These dual approaches stem from the fact that the public buildings reserved for the conservation of staple foodstuffs are the fruit of activities which are well separated from each other, and are likely therefore to be carried out in different urban areas. This separation can be accounted for thus: underground, because they are more easily defendable and even if distant from the urban centre, always well connected to merchant ports. The aim of the session is to gather as many examples as possible which analyse the role of the underground in the management of urban requirements in the foodstuff sector with a view to a long term comparative study which may answer the following questions: in what way has the underground been decisive in the ability of an urban conglomeration to maintain a provision of basic foodstuffs? What exactly is the role of the public sector in such an undertaking and what exactly is the role of the private sector? What are the techniques used to maximize the refrigerating capacity of the underground? Which urban areas have historically been preferred for these functions? What effects of the underground management of vital foodstuffs have reflected back on the civic lifestyle? What influence, historically, has the conservation of foodstuffs below ground had on the diet of the citizens themselves? The field of investigation is vast and encourages in particular those contributions which touch on the following themes: 1.Ice houses as a method of conserving food: taking the Arab civilizations as an initial example of the clear demarcation line between food for the wealthy and food for the poor. 2.The public defence of food underground. The underground as an ally in the fight against piracy of foodstuffs and as a support to commerce on the surface. Roadside trading posts, store houses for travelling merchants and underground stores, the experience of the merchant ports and the underground in the affirmation of the role of these ports in the sector of the commerce of perishable goods. 3.Underground deposits and the rationing of food in the urban areas. From times of famine to times of epidemic emergencies: the role of the underground in times of crisis. 4.The reuse of the cellars, grottos and cisterns for the conservation of essential staple ( corn, oil etc) foodstuffs. The particular methods of aeration and the loading and storage of the goods. 5.Private underground cellars : from those of the monastic orders to those of private palaces and stately homes.. 6.Typical products. From olive oil to Tuscan wine, from Parmesan cheese to sheep's cheese "di fossa" (matured in caves), the role of the underground in establishing a tradition of production. 7.Women in the city in the era before refrigerators. The cellar as an ally in the management of the family larder and domestic life. 8.The underground and the meat-eating tradition. From salami to the raising of pigeons for food, from the conservation of dried cod fish to the canning of salted sardines. Conservation procedures of protein foods such as butchering or trapping which are influenced by seasonality and the distance from the areas of production.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
