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Gennaro Carillo
The measure of taste: through the classical world, the Mediterranean Diet and temperance

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The interview explores the relationship between food, philosophy, and literature. Professor Gennaro Carillo reinterprets the figure of Dante through the sin of gluttony and recalls Platonic symbolism. The discussion then moves to Proust’s sensory memory, arriving at a critique of contemporary culture: the overexposure of food in the media and the figure of the “TV chef,” contrasted with the philosophical measure symbolized by the hourglass.

Interview by: Daniela Salvatelli
Video by: Claudia Bardiglia
Video Editing by: Viviana Lanci
Document by: Letizia Infurna, Claudia Bardiglia
Subtitle ita/eng by: Daniela Salvatelli, Letizia Infurna, Claudia Bardiglia, Viviana Lanci, Francesca Pia Granata
Translation by: Daniela Salvatelli, Letizia Infurna, Claudia Bardiglia, Viviana Lanci, Francesca Pia Granata
MedEatResarch – Center of Social Research on the Mediterranean Diet of the University of Naples Suor Orsola Benincasa, head by Marino Niola and Elisabetta Moro
Realized: 01/12/2025

Gennaro Carillo

Year: 1967
City: San Giuseppe Vesuviano (NA)
Education: Laurea in Giurisprudenza conseguita presso la Facoltà di Giurisprudenza dell'Università degli Studî di Napoli "Federico II"
Titolo di Dottore di ricerca in Filosofia e Teoria giuridica, sociale e politica conseguito presso la Facoltà di Giurisprudenza dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II"
Profession: Full Professor of History of Political Thought, History of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, History of the Classical Tradition, and Law and Literature at Suor Orsola Benincasa University
Language: Italian

Video table of contents

00:05-00:40 Introduction
00:41-04:33 Dante and gluttony
04:34-05:42 His relationship with food
05:43-07:36 Pythagoras’s cup
07:39-08:28 Red or white wine?
08:30-12:01 His Proust’s Madeleine
12:02-13:28 Temperance and Mediterranean Diet
13:29-14:43 His love for the sea
14:44-17:34 The sea as a teacher
17:35-19.30 Naples and food
19:31-22:28 The overexposure of food
22:29-24.03 Tv chefs
24:05-25:56 The hourglass as a measure
26:00 conclusion