Lard is another thing that’s changed since the old days. So many people have switched to olive oil you can hardly find lard anymore. I asked Rita why. “Because no one works the fields anymore,” she said. “The appetite changes as the work changes.” She sounded like Michel Cabanac. The appetite in tune with bodily need. But Rita’s point was bigger than that. The whole world thinks Italians still eat a “traditional” diet, which simply is not true. They eat more meat, more cheese, more olive oil, less lard, less wine, and less pasta (but still a lot of pasta). Yet, somehow, the nation’s collective
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