Available in English for the first time today, A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce tells the story of tomato sauce and spaghetti. Montanari is looking at the history of tomato sauce from the perspective of Italians in their native Italy.

The book was previously published in the Italian and is now available in translation from Europa Editions, translated by Gregory Conti.

Montanari takes a global view of the spaghetti and tomato sauce. He’s seeking out origin myths for Italian spaghetti and tomato sauce. It is a hyper-focused book, although he does look at peppers and onions as well.

The thin volume offers a deep look at the early recipes available in Italian cookbooks including those published in dialect. His research into Italian recipes is thorough, although the book remains primarily focused on tomato sauce, with a few tangents into other early condiments like cheese.

Overall the book offers a succinct look at the history of Italian tomato sauce. There isn’t much about the evolution of complex sauces that involve the tomato, but that isn’t really the point. It is, as advertised, an examination of when spaghetti and tomato sauce met.