History of Minestrone Soup

Soup is considered to be as old as the history of cooking. In times when food was scarce, dumping various ingredients into a pot to boil (potage) was not only cheap, it was filling. Its simple constitution made it accessible to rich and poor alike, and simple ingredients made it easy to digest for the both the healthy and sick. Each culture adopted its own variation with the ingredients on hand---Spanish gazpacho, Russian borscht, Italian minestrone---but the basics remain the same.

Some of the earliest origins of minestrone soup pre-date the expansion of the Latin tribes of Rome into what became the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire, when the local diet was "vegetarian by necessity" and consisted mostly of vegetables, such as onions, lentils, cabbage, garlic, fava beans, mushrooms, carrots, asparagus and turnips.

During this time, the main dish of a meal would have been "pulte" or puls in English, a simple but filling porridge of spelt flour cooked in salt water, to which whatever vegetables were available would have been added. It wasn't until the second century B.C., when Rome had conquered Italy and monopolized the commercial and road networks, that a huge diversity of products flooded the capital and began to change their diet, and by association, the diet of Italy, most notably with the more frequent inclusion of meats, including as a stock for soups.

Spelt flour was also removed from soups, as bread had been introduced into the Roman diet by the Greeks, and Rome had opened their first commercial "fornaio", or bakery, in 171 B.C and puls became a meal largely for the poor. However, the ancient Romans recognized the health benefits of simple or frugal diet (from the Latin fruges, the common name given to cereals, vegetables and legumes) and vegetables, as well as thick vegetable soups, remained a staple.

Marcus Apicius's ancient cookbook De Re Coquinaria described polus, a Roman soup dating back to 30 AD made up of farro, chickpeas, and fava beans, with onions, garlic, lard, and greens thrown in. The Roman army is said to have marched on minestrone and pasta e ceci (or a European kind of beans and pasta), the former making use of local and seasonal ingredients, the latter due to the longevity of dried goods.

However, as eating habits and ingredients changed in Italy, so did their minestrone. The introduction of tomatoes and potatoes from the Americas in the Mid 16th Century changed the soup by making available two ingredients which have since become staples.

Like many Italian dishes, minestrone was probably originally not a dish made for its own sake, like, for example, the ancient Roman green onion soup "Patella Lucretiana", or Lucrezio's dish, though this point is argued. In other words, whereas one might set about gathering green onions, anchovies, herring sauce and honey, as called for by the recipe for Lucrezio's green onion soup, one did not gather the ingredients of minestrone with the intention of making minestrone, as evidenced by the fact the name "minestrone" did not appear until the fourteenth century. The ingredients were pooled from ingredients for other dishes, often side dishes or "contorni" plus whatever was left over, rather like the "pulte".

There are two schools of thought on when the recipe for minestrone became more formalized. One argues that in the 1600s and 1700s minestrone emerged as a soup using exclusively fresh vegetables and was made for its own sake (meaning it no longer relied on left-overs), while the other school of thought argues that the dish had always been prepared exclusively with fresh vegetables for its own sake since the pre-Roman "pulte", but the name minestrone lost its meaning of being made with left-overs.

Due to its unique origins and the absence of a fixed recipe, minestrone is not particularly similar across Italy: it varies depending on traditional cooking times, ingredients, and season. Minestrone ranges from a thick and dense texture with very boiled-down vegetables, to a more brothy soup with large quantities of diced and lightly cooked vegetables that may include meats.

In modern Italian there are three words corresponding to the English word 'soup': zuppa, which is used in the sense of tomato soup, or fish soup; minestra, which is used in the sense of a more substantial soup such as a vegetable soup, and also for 'dry' soups, namely pasta dishes; and minestrone, which means a very substantial or large soup or stew, though the meaning has now come to be associated with this particular dish.
Minestrone alla Genovese is a variant typical of Liguria, which contains greater use of herbs, including pesto.

Every family in Italy makes its own variation of minestrone, which means literally “big soup,” from the word “minestra.” One may insist on using spinach, while another may argue for leeks and swiss chard. One may put parmesan cheese on the served plate, another may prefer just a few drops of olive oil. The vegetables are to some extent interchangeable (use swiss chard instead of spinach, or extra onions and no leeks).

Few soups cause as many arguments as Italian minestrone soup does. Even its history is debated - is there a specific recipe from days gone by, or has it always been a type of "leftover" soup? Is there a "classic" version of the recipe, or is it regional and seasonal as pasta often is? Should the broth be thick and starchy, or should it be light and fresh? There is no set recipe for minestrone, since it is usually made out of whatever vegetables are in season. It can be vegetarian, contain meat, or contain a meat-based broth (such as chicken stock).

Almost all Italian minestrone soup will contain beans, such as navy, cannelloni or Great Northern beans. Also, pasta is a common addition, typically something small like macaroni, tortellini or even broken up spaghetti. Lastly, any good minestrone will have tomatoes, regardless of whatever other vegetables you add. The tomatoes add a lot of flavor to the broth, so if you are using canned tomatoes make sure to use the liquid too.

The rest is pretty much up to you. If you have left over veggies, toss them in. Got something in the garden you want to use? Go for it! Found a sale on frozen peas? You can use those too!

However, the tradition of not losing rural roots continues today, and minestrone is now known in Italy as belonging to the style of cooking called "cucina povera" (literally "poor kitchen") meaning dishes that have rustic, rural roots, as opposed to "cucina nobile" or the cooking style of the artistocracy and nobles. Minestrone is one of the cornerstones of Italian cuisine, and is just about as common as pasta on Italian tables.

Recipe for Classic Minestrone Soup