How the “Nonna Effect” Explains Why We Are so Obsessed With Food Authenticity

And what that says about us as human beings

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Don’t mess with the food of my ancestors.

I hear it all the time at Rooted. Beautifully told stories of cooking with mum or grandma. Stories of recipes handed down from generation to generation, with na’ry an ingredient changed in hundreds of years.

I’ve read about fights in Italy over whose nonna made it best, streets practically running red with pomodoro sauce.

In other words, people care about the authenticity of their food.

I call it the Nonna Effect. When traditional “authentic” cuisine — symbolised by Grandmothers — becomes the only way to make a dish.

Some writers have suggested we shouldn’t worry so much about food authenticity, lest it stifle creativity and progress. But I’ve seen less discourse on why we are so wedded to food authenticity and tradition. What makes it so important that Italian men throw fits over broken spaghetti on social media?

What does the Nonna Effect say about us as human beings?

Your prehistoric ancestors loved their food (and what it represented)