Editing Minestrone

{{Short description|Thick soup of Italian origin}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox food
| name             = Minestrone
| image            = Homemade minestrone.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = Homemade minestrone
| alternate_name   = ''Minestrone di verdure''
| country          = [[Italy]]
| region           = 
| creator          = 
| course           = ''[[Italian meal structure#Formal meal structure|Primo]]'' (Italian course)
| type             = [[Soup]]
| served           = 
| main_ingredient  = [[Onion]]s, [[carrot]]s, [[celery]], [[potato]]es, [[cabbage]], [[tomato]]es, [[legume]]s ([[bean]]s, [[chickpea]]s, [[Vicia faba|fava beans]])
| minor_ingredient = [[Pasta]], [[rice]]
| variations       = 
}}

[[File:Minestrone soup.jpg|thumb|Minestrone]]
'''Minestrone''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|ɪ|n|ə|s|ˈ|t|r|oʊ|n|i}}, {{IPA|it|mineˈstroːne|lang}}) or '''''minestrone di verdure''''' is a thick [[soup]] of [[Italian cuisine|Italian]] origin based on [[vegetable]]s.{{efn|It is characterized by the mixture of different vegetables and not very fine pieces (otherwise it is called {{lang|it|passato di verdure}}).}} It typically includes [[onion]]s, [[carrot]]s, [[celery]], [[potato]]es, [[cabbage]], [[tomato]]es, often [[legumes]], such as [[bean]]s, [[chickpea]]s or [[Vicia faba|fava beans]], and sometimes [[pasta]] or [[rice]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.lacucinaitaliana.com/italian-food/hacks/the-best-minestrone-soup
|title=Flawless Minestrone!
|date=16 January 2020
|publisher=La Cucina Italiana
|access-date=18 June 2024}}</ref> Minestrone traditionally is made without [[meat]], but it has no precise recipe and can be made with many different ingredients.

==Etymology==
The word ''minestrone'', meaning a thick [[vegetable soup]], is attested in English from 1871. It is from [[Italian language|Italian]] ''minestrone'', the [[augmentative]] form of ''minestra'', 'soup', or more literally 'that which is served', from ''minestrare'', 'to serve',<ref name=etymonline>{{cite web |last=Harper |first=Douglas |title=Online Etymology Dictionary: Minestrone |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=minestrone&searchmode=none |access-date=17 November 2012}}</ref><ref name=m-w>{{cite encyclopedia |title=minestrone |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minestrone?show=0&t=1353179675 |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |access-date=17 November 2012 |year=2012}}</ref> and [[cognate]] with ''administer'' as in 'to administer a remedy'.

Because of its unique origins and the absence of a fixed recipe, minestrone varies widely across [[Italy]] depending on traditional cooking times, ingredients, and season. Minestrone ranges from a thick and dense texture with very boiled-down [[vegetable]]s to a more brothy soup with large quantities of diced and lightly cooked vegetables; it may also include [[meat]]s.

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]], although the meaning has now come to be associated with this particular dish.

==History==
Some of the earliest origins of minestrone pre-date the expansion of the Latin tribes of [[Rome]] into what became the [[Roman Kingdom]] (later [[Roman Republic]] and [[Roman Empire|Empire]]), when the local diet was "vegetarian by necessity" and consisted mostly of vegetables, such as [[onion]]s, [[lentil]]s, [[Cabbage#History|cabbage]], [[Garlic#Culinary uses|garlic]], [[Vicia faba|fava beans]], [[Edible mushroom#History of mushroom use|mushrooms]], [[carrot]]s, [[asparagus]], and [[Turnip#Origin|turnips]].<ref name=MagnaRoma>{{cite book|last1=di Mattia|first1=Francesca|last2=Zucchelli|first2=Federico|title=Magna Roma, cibi e bevande di Roma antica|year=2003|publisher=Scipioni|pages=9–16 }}</ref>

During this time, the main dish of a meal would have been ''pulte'', a simple but filling porridge of [[spelt]] flour cooked in salt water, to which whatever vegetables that were available would have been added.<ref name=MagnaRoma/>

It was not until the 2nd century BC, 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,<ref name=MagnaRoma/> 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 ''pulte'' became a meal largely for the poor.<ref name="uchicago1">{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Apicius/5*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Apicius, De Re Coquinaria — Book V|website=Penelope.UChicago.edu|access-date=4 February 2018}}</ref>

The ancient Romans recognized the health benefits of a simple or "frugal" diet (from the [[Latin]] ''fruges'', the common name given to cereals, vegetables and legumes) and thick vegetable soups and vegetables remained a staple.<ref name=MagnaRoma/>

Marcus [[Apicius]]'s ancient cookbook ''De Re Coquinaria'' described ''polus'', a Roman soup dating back to 30 AD made of [[farro]], [[chickpea]]s, and fava beans, with onions, garlic, lard, and greens thrown in.<ref name=Wasserman>{{cite book|last=Wasserman-Miller|first=Norma|title=Soups of Italy: Cooking over 130 Soups the Italian Way|year=1998|publisher=William Morrow|location=New York|isbn=0688150314|edition=1st}}</ref>

As eating habits and ingredients changed in Italy, so did minestrone. Apicius updates the ''pultes'' and ''pulticulae'' with fancy trimmings such as cooked brains and wine.<ref name="uchicago1"/>

The tradition of not losing rural roots continues today, and minestrone is now known in Italy as belonging to the style of cooking called ''[[Peasant foods|cucina povera]]'' ('cuisine of the poor'), meaning dishes that have rustic, rural roots, as opposed to ''cucina nobile'' ('cuisine of the nobles'), or the cooking style of the aristocracy and nobles.<ref name=Werle>{{cite book|last=Werle|first=Loukie|title=Italian Country Cooking: the Secrets of Cucina Povera|year=2008|publisher=Metro Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4351-0126-5}}</ref>

==Regional variations==
''Minestrone alla genovese'' is a variant typical of [[Liguria]] which makes greater use of herbs, including [[pesto]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vahrehvah.com/indianfood/lentil-minestrone|title=Lentil Minestrone |work=Welcome to Vahrehvah |access-date=2018-02-06|language=en-US}}</ref>

''Imbakbaka'' or ''mbakbaka'' is a type of stew in [[Libya]] made with pasta, chickpeas, bzar spice, and meat. It originated through [[Italian Empire|Italian colonization]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210116-libyan-imbakbaka/ | title=Libyan Imbakbaka | date=16 January 2021 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category-inline}}
{{Portal|Italy|Food}}
* [[List of Italian soups]]
* [[List of legume dishes]]
* [[List of vegetable soups]]
* ''[[Pasta e fagioli]]''
* ''[[Ribollita]]''

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Soups}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Italian cuisine]]
[[Category:Maltese cuisine]]
[[Category:Italian inventions]]
[[Category:Italian soups]]
[[Category:Vegetable soups]]