Case Study

Name:

Date:

Tittle: Risotto, “Claimed” country of origin: Italy

Table: Ingredients for making Risotto and their Centers of Domestication

List of ingredients	Centers of Plants and animal domestication
Rice (grains)	South and Southeastern Asia
Chicken (stock)	South and Southeastern Asia
Dry white (wine)	Native
Onion (Bulb)	Southwest Asia
Garlic (cloves)	Native
Cow (Butter)	Southwest Asia
Olive (oil)	Native
Celery (stalk)	Native
Cow (Parmesan Cheese)	Southwest Asia
Salt	Native

Basic Statistics

Ingredients (10) = 100%

· Native/indigenous (5) = 50%

· South and Southeastern Asian (2) = 20%

· Southwest Asia (3) = 30%

Map

Essay

There are so many theories that attempt to explain the origin and domestication of agriculture. For example the rubbish/dump heap theory, hypothesizes that dump sites might have acted as breeding sites for different plant species (Abbo et al., 2005). This may have led to the start of practicing agriculture and later on through trade the diffusion of those cultivated crops and reared animals to other regions of the earth was enhanced. The more people from different cultural divide travelled and interacted, the more the diffusion of agriculture happened. For instance, expansion diffusion happened when onions that are thought to be first domesticated in Southwest Asia found its way to regions like the Mediterranean. As much as the agricultural expansion and diffusion happened; there are some food that are still associated with a particular community and it forms part of their cultural identity. For example risotto dish, although it is popular wide, it is identified with Italian culture as a traditional Italian food. In fact it is well-known as a staple in the Italian diet.

Risotto dish is made from several ingredients including: rice, chicken stock, dry white wine, onions, garlic, unsalted butter, olive oil, celery, parmesan cheese and salt. 50% of these ingredients are native to Mediterranean region and they include; dry white wine, salt, olive oil, celery and garlic. Whereas 30% of the ingredients originated from Southwest Asia, they include: Onions, butter, and Parmesan Cheese. Chicken and rice originated from South and Southeastern they contribute to 20% of the ingredients. Most of these exotic ingredients found its way to the Mediterranean through relocation diffusion; for example when traders moved to different regions of the world, they carried with them the planting materials. Whereas, other exotic ingredients were introduced to Mediterranean regions by expansion diffusion, where it corresponded to the nearby locations for example plants and animals introduced to West Africa from East Africa.

Rice is a good example of an exotic ingredient that was introduced to Mediterranean region through expansion diffusion. Archeological and genetic evidence indicates that rice was first domesticated in South and Southeastern Asia in 2500 BC (Muthukumaran, 2014). In Mediterranean, rice cultivation dates back to 7th Century. Studies suggest that the rice was first introduced to Egypt from South Asian, and then it gradually spread to countries along the Mediterranean basin (Ferrero, 2005). Similarly, another exotic ingredient that was introduced to Mediterranean region is onions. Studies suggest that onions are native to Asian and their cultivation can be traced to at least 5000 years. Around 3200 B.C onions spread to onions and were later introduced to Mediterranean region by Romans and it quickly became a popular vegetable (Mehta, 2017).

On the other hand, the introduction of an exotic ingredient like butter (cows) to other regions from their center of origin and domestication happened through relocation diffusion. The existing archaeological and genetic evidence suggests that India and Near East were the two main sites for domestication of cows. Through relocation diffusion, herding and farming routines were spread to other regions including the Mediterranean region (Beja-Pereira et al., 2006). Additionally, chicken stock is another important ingredient used to make the risotto dish. Studies indicates that domestication of chicken began way back to at least 2000 B.C. and their origin can be traced back to Southeast Asia; because of presence of the jungle fowl, their wild relatives (Gregladen, 2008). Just like cows, chickens too may have been introduced to Mediterranean region through relocation diffusion. For instance, if the traders moved from Southeastern Asia to Mediterranean region, they may have moved together with their chicken and introduced the practice of chicken rearing to that region.

Although, researchers like Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov did extensive work in trying to determine the center of origin and domestication for most of the plants and crops; the diversity of crops and animals we see today in different plants of the world is largely attributed to the agricultural diffusion. After the early human culture of hunting and gathering came to an end, civilization advanced rapidly and agricultural societies emerged. With barter trade people began to exchange goods within their community and the later on the practice continued as different communities and regions exchanged different commodities. This further enhanced the agricultural diffusion.

In conclusion, the diversity and distribution of various plants and animals is a result of long history of domestication and cultivation. The spread and diffusion of agriculture has been attributed to several factors including movement of people from one region to another for trading purposes and in the process planting material were exchanged. The introduction of the different plants and crops in the different regions led to long lasting transformation of environmental, socio-cultural and human dynamics. Hence, globalization we see today. As a result, of the different ingredients that was introduced to Mediterranean regions, it made it possible to develop risotto dish. And even if this dish is associated with the Italian culture, it still represents globalization that brought about by cultural and agricultural diffusion.

References

Albano Beja-Pereira, David Caramelli, Carles Lalueza-Fox et al., (2006). he origin of European cattle: Evidence from modern and ancient DNA. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0509210103

Aldo Ferrero (2005). Ecological and Economic Sustainability of Rice Cultivation in Europe and the Mediterranean region.

Gregladen, (2008). The Origin of the Chicken. https://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/29/the-origin-of-the-chicken

Indu Mehta (2017). Origin and History of Onions. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS)Volume 22, Issue 9, Ver. 13 (September. 2017) PP 07-10

Muthukumaran, S., 2014. Between Archaeology and Text: The Origins of Rice Consumption and Cultivation in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, 24(1), p.Art. 14. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/pia.465

Shahal Abbo, Avi Gopher, Baruch Rubin & Simcha Lev-Yadun (2005). On the Origin of Near Eastern Founder Crops and the ‘Dump-heap Hypothesis’. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10722-004-7069-x