An Italian Feast includes over 800 recipes from the 109 provinces of Italy's 20 regions. "You've got to distinguish between the historic cuisine [of Italy], the food of the rich, and the food of the common people," says James Beard Award-winning food writer Clifford A. Wright.

Up until the mid-20th century, Italy didn't have a middle class, so there was either the elevated cuisine of the aristocracy or, at the opposite end of the social spectrum, the food of peasants. La Grassa, the well-known nickname for the city of Bologna in Emilia-Romagna, translates to "the fat" and refers to the richness of the cuisine.