Cultural historian, philologist and anthropologist, his name is among the most famous Italian essayists in the world and his books have been translated in the main European countries, in the United States, in Brazil and in Japan. He dedicated himself to cooking literature, to the symbolism of food and to the social conditions in the use of food, focusing mainly on the folklore and food culture of the eighteenth century. Among his works there are Il pane selvaggio (1980), La carne impassibile (1983), I balsami di Venere (1989) and La terra e la luna (1989).