They also were rather acidic compared to most foods people ate at the time. Acidity + pewter plates makes for a bad time.

I doubt any but the very rich could afford pewter tableware.

Nobody but the very rich could afford tomatoes.

Eggplant parm is such a fascinating dish for its mix of nightshades.

Relatedly, I've known Americans that rate Italian-American restaurants on their eggplant parm as their preferred benchmark dish.

I'd use risotto as the benchmark myself, but then again I loathe eggplant.

Reminds me of the risotto scene early in "The Big Night" (1996), which is also an interesting movie generally in the context of this discussion. The scene is about Italian immigrants trying to run a restaurant in America, and revolves around the kitchen dispute that happens when an American customer requests a side of spaghetti to go with the risotto.

Heh. I have French friends who eat rice with bread as for them rice is a vegetable.