We've all heard the story of the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who supposedly "invented" the sandwich. In fact, it was his servant who concocted a lunch with a slab of meat placed between two slices of bread. All the Earl had to do was eat it, and the name stuck. The history of the sandwich goes back thousands of years before the Earl took his first bite.

A recipe in the ancient Roman cookbook, Apicius, De re coquinaria (Apicius, on the Art of Cooking) details a dish called Isicia Omentata, made of minced meat, pepper, wine, pine nuts and garum, which could be seen as an early version of a sloppy Joe. The Apicius is thought to have been compiled sometime before 400 AD.

There are 20 regions in Italy and all of them have at least several types of panini. From Rome, Lampredotto (stomach lining), Porchetta from Lazio region, Puccia Pugliese in Pugliia, Panino Mortadella from Bologna, Naple's Panuozzo di Gragnano, to Panelle (fried chickpea) in Sicily.

In Italy, the options for panini are endless... and delicious.

A closing word... A pet peeve of mine that lots of Americans get wrong:
Panino is used to describe ONE sandwich.
Panini is plural, used only for more than one sandwich.

--Jerry Finzi

We all know the Swiss Army knife with knife blades, toothpick, comb, scissors and more folding out from its case. The Swiss are fairly innovative, but this is one invention that the ancient Romans might have beat them on.

This example of a Roman multi-tool was used nearly 2000 years ago and discovered in an unspecified Mediterranean site. This intricate design dates from around 200 AD and is made of silver, with an obviously rusted iron knife blade. It has implements that fold out for use: knife, spoon, fork, spike, spatula and small tooth-pick.

Some believe this was an eating and grooming instrument carried by Roman troops, but more than likely, because it was made of silver, it was used by a higher ranked official of the Legionnaires or possibly a political figure--definitely a wealthy Roman traveler.

It is in the Greek and Roman antiquities gallery at the Fitzwilliam Museum, in Cambridge, England.

--GVI

Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City was the first establishment to use the name "restaurant". They were the first restaurant to have printed menus. They were the first restaurant to offer a cookbook. They were the first restaurant to serve women sitting without men at their own table (how shocking!)

Delmonico's was also the first dining establishment in America to price individual dishes à la carte, as was the custom in Paris. Before this, American inns served one price and only one dish--no menu. Everyone was charged the same fixed price whether they ate more or less than other patrons. They were also the first to open (for a while) the Delmonico Hotel, without the standard "room and board" pricing, but charged for room and meals separately.

They were the first restaurant considered to be "fine dining", attracting celebrities and presidents alike. By 1862, Chef de Cuisine, Charles Ranhofer some of the most famous American dishes such as Eggs Benedict, Baked Alaska, Lobster Newburg and Chicken A la Keene (yes, not "King").Ranhofer published his cookbook, The Epicurean," in 1894.

Giovanni and Pietro Delmonico immigrated from from Ticino, Switzerland, their family roots being in the Trentino region of the Italian Alps. The brothers opened their first restaurant in 1827 in a rented pastry shop at 23 William Street, selling classically prepared pastries, fine coffee, chocolates, bonbons, wines and liquors as well as Havana cigars. In 1831 they were joined by their nephew, Lorenzo Delmonico, who was responsible for the wine list and developing its unique menu. In the coming years, Lorenzo learned every aspect of the restaurant business and was the driving force behind its impeccable standards of both product and service.

In 1834, the brothers earmarked $16,000 (worth $500,000 today) from their profits to purchase a 220 acre farm in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The brothers built an imposing Italian villa at the farm but primarily used the land to cultivate vegetables unknown to Americans for their restaurant, such as endive, sorrel, eggplant, asparagus, Lupini beans, tomato and artichoke. But of course, Delmonico's has become world-renowned for their aged steaks.

Their first three restaurants were all destroyed by fire after which they purchased a triangular lot in Lower Manhattan and opening their landmark restaurant at Williams Street in 1893. Marketing geniuses, they claimed the two Corinthian columns at the portico were "salvaged" from Pompeii (many dispute this claim).

They weren't attempting to serve Italian cuisine by the looks of their original menus, but to offer an upscale "European" menu, which in all parts of Europe during the 17th - 19th centuries were mainly based on Parisian fare. As their popularity with New York's elite grew, the Delmonico family opened other restaurants under the name, operating up to four at a time. In total they had opened 10, illustrating the determination of this family.

The popularity of their restaurant (with its high priced menu) drew both local and national politicians, financiers such as Vanderbuilt, luminaries like Mark Twain and Italian inventor Tesla. Domenico's was (and still is) a place to discuss the financing for inventors, presidential campaigns, hob-nob with opera stars and authors... definitely now a place for the hoi polloi or common workers of Manhattan

There is a chain of restaurants called "Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse" in New York State and Florida that has nothing to do with Delmonico's in New York City. In contrast, this corporate creation is a mashup of Beefsteak Charlies and Olive Garden for the middle class of culinary appetites. The food is a bit high priced for its chain restaurant selections and quality, the steaks are garden variety, about the same as Outback or a bit less, and the menu is cluttered with Italian-American dishes with big, sloppy portions.

As for the lack of classy decor, just take a look at the stereotypes of what an Italian-American is supposed to be plastered on their walls... caricatures of past "Italian" pop icons such as Sinatra or Andrew Dice-Clay along with with big-busted babes. There is a plush booth canned the "Sinatra" and an "Italian Wanna-bee" room, with caricatures actors who play Italians, but aren't. The piped in music is Sinatra, Perry Como, Tony Bennett or Dean Martin and other Rat Pack types. If this is your idea of what an Italian restaurant is supposed to be, have at it. They saw you coming anyway.

If you care about the true Italian culinary heritage, stay clear of these joints.

--GVI

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Bronx's Arthur Avenue: The Biggest Little Italy
The Art, Science and History of Coffee in Italy
Espresso Master, Renato Bialetti Dies at 93

Evangelista Torricelli was born Oct. 15, 1608 in Faenza, Romagna. He was an Italian physicist and mathematician who invented the barometer, a device that measures atmospheric pressure, commonly used in forecasting changes in the weather. The catalyst for inventing the barometer was spurred on my a suggestion by Galileo that Torricelli use mercury in place of water for his vacuum experiments. 

After reading his papers in 1641, Galileo invited Torricelli to Florence, where he became the aging astronomer's secretary and assistant during the last three months of Galileo’s life. After Galileo's death, Torricelli was appointed as his successor as professor of mathematics at the Florentine Academy.
 
Two years later, pursuing the suggestion by Galileo, he filled a glass tube 4 feet (1.2 m) long with mercury and inverted the tube into a dish. He observed that some of the mercury did not flow out and that the space above the mercury in the tube was a vacuum. Torricelli became the first man to create a sustained vacuum. His observations proved that the variation of the height of the mercury from day to day was caused by changes in atmospheric pressure. He never published his findings, however, because he was too deeply involved in the study of pure mathematics. Since atmospheric pressure also changes with altitude, Torricelli's barometer also could be used as an altimeter.

Torricelli died Oct. 25, 1647 in Florence at a mere 39 years old.

As a further honor, Torricelli had both a crater on the moon and a submarine named after him...