If we need an example of how Irish society can become painlessly polyglot, we need only look at how receptive we have been to the foods of the world over the past 10 years. We eat, at the beginning of the new century, in a global style, mixing myriad influences to create what we like. And of all the culinary influences which have swept through our kitchens, none has been as pervasive or as persuasive as the many strands of Italian cooking.
We almost take it for granted that our supermarkets will stock arborio (risotto) rice and polenta. We expect to find focaccia and prepared pizzas - indeed, the commercial food icon of the 1990s was none other than Goodfellas pizzas, produced in a factory in Kildare.
We are fussy about the age of our Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and seek out buffalo mozzarella for our salads. Our obsession with olive oil verges on the preposterous, and pancetta is as commonplace in many kitchens now as bacon. Frittata is taking over from the omelette, and to serve anyone spaghetti bolognese nowadays would be seen as naff.
Last year Jamie Oliver, whose style is moulded by the faux-Italian cooking of Rose Gray and Ruth Roger's River Cafe cookery, sold 90,000 books in hardback. Carluccio and all his products have taken over many Irish delis. And if I had to pick any one figure as the most influential, serious, cookery writer of the past 10 years, that cook would be Marcella Hazan.
There is no mystery as to why we have sought out the true tastes of Italian food. The style of the food is informal, and the techniques much less didactic than French cooking. Italian food stresses the provenance of the ingredients used, which suits the concerns of our modern shopping. It is food which is concerned with enjoyment, rather than status.
Above all, Italian cooking seems somehow able to be both ancient and modern, as our recipes show. The stew of beans and tuna is deliciously ageless. The risotto with courgettes is as modern as it gets, and shows both the elegance and simplicity of great Italian cooking. The funky sandwich shows how old hearth-breads can be brought right up to date.
Risotto with Courgettes
ADA Boni was one of the great codifiers of Italian food, and her book Italian Regional Cooking, a collection of articles which first appeared in the women's magazine Arianna, was one of the first texts to reveal the culinary riches of the various Italian provinces. Signora Boni's recipe is an example of what risotto is all about - an elegant, restrained starter dish which showcases good rice, stock and the leading player, the courgette.
All too often, ill-informed cooks have misconstrued risotto as a catch-all dish, which has to have a mass of ingredients which they then top out with some prawns as if they were cooking a paella. Always remember the beginning of Stanley Tucci's marvellous movie, Big Night, when Primo, the chef, fulminates against customers who always want spaghetti with meatballs, and cannot appreciate the elegant simplicity of his perfect risotto.
1lb small courgettes
2oz butter
2oz finely chopped bacon
1 small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic
2-3 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper
1 1/4 lbs risotto rice about
3 1/2 pints boiling meat stock
3oz grated parmesan
Wash the courgettes and slice them thinly. Melt the butter in a large pan and saute the bacon, onion and garlic until the onion is golden. Discard the garlic, then add the courgettes and parsley. Cook slowly until the courgettes are brown, season with salt and add the rice. Fry this for five minutes, stirring all the time. Add a cupful of the boiling stock, cook it until it is absorbed, then add another cupful and continue in this way until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed.
Check the seasoning, stir in the parmesan and leave the risotto to settle for two minutes over a low heat before serving.
An excellent "spring" risotto can be made in the same way, using almost any vegetable in season, including potatoes and mushrooms. Serves six.
White Beans with Tuna
This is the version given by Elizabeth Romer in her lovely book, The Tuscan Year - Life and Food in an Italian Valley, published back in 1985.
"Fagioli col Tonno can either be served as a luncheon or supper dish or as a first course and the following quantities for a main dish for four people will serve six at the beginning of a meal. You will need:
400g or 14 oz of dried white beans
1/2 glass of olive oil
Two tins of tuna in olive oil
salt and freshly round black pepper
1/2 raw onion, chipped into small pieces
Small amount of chopped parsley if the colour pleases you
"Prepare and cook the beans. Drain well and tip into a large, flat serving dish. Pour the oil over the beans, which should not be overcooked - they should retain their shape and have a faint bite. Drain the tuna well and break it into chunks with a fork. Arrange the pieces on top of the beans. Season with ground black pepper and sprinkle on the chips of onion and the parsley if you have a fancy to."
Pizza alla Romana
Italian cooking offers an irresistible template for modern cooks to improvise on, and the American chef Viana La Place here shows just what can be done with what is basically a grilled cheese sandwich.
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 focaccia, about 12cm/5in square, sliced in half horizontally
85g (3oz) fresh mozzarella, drained on kitchen paper, sliced
salt to taste
2 tomato slices, large enough to cover the mozzarella
2 basil leaves
Very lightly moisten with olive oil both sides of each slice of focaccia.
Arrange the mozzarella on one piece of the bread, leaving about 1cm (half-inch) at the edges to prevent the mozzarella from melting on to the grill pan. Salt the mozzarella to taste. Arrange the tomato slices over the cheese and place the basil leaves on top of the tomato. Cover with the other piece of focaccia.
Lightly brush a ridged frying pan with oil and bring the heat to medium high. Place the sandwich in the pan. Weigh down the sandwich with a heavy pot to flatten it. Cook the sandwich on both sides until the cheese melts and sear marks appear.