If you grew up as I did, with grandparents who lived through the last world war, you know how incredibly resourceful they were. They could cook with almost nothing, they knew how to fix just about everything, and nothing went to waste because they could always find another use for it. I suppose they weren’t called the Greatest Generation for nothing. 

The ability to get by with limited means is not simply a product of wartime struggle, it has deep historical roots because Italy, despite its rich cultural heritage, has not always been a land of abundance. Even before the unification of the country in the nineteenth century, many of its regions were forced to cope with economic instability, foreign rule, and limited resources.