Gorgonzola: Italian taste in the world between banquets, exhibitions, and technology, 1850s–1930s

This article analyses how Gorgonzola cheese achieved widespread success among the upper and middle classes in continental Europe, the British Isles, and North America between the 1850s and 1930s. Drawing on social history, the history of science and technology, and cultural history, the article highlights the important role played by hotels, restaurants, clubs, and ocean liners, on the one hand, and the circuit of industrial and agricultural exhibitions, on the other, in the nearly simultaneous growth in popularity of Gorgonzola among the upper and middle classes. Joining the consolidated historiographical and sociological vein that examines the interplay among class, food, and social capital, the novel analysis of documents such as newspaper articles, restaurant menus, literary sources, and exhibition catalogues offers a new perspective on the unique Gorgonzola phenomenon.