The Recipe as Canon: A Semiotic Analysis of Pasta alla Norma

Abstract

This article examines the Sicilian dish pasta alla Norma as a case study in culinary canonicity, through a semiotic analysis of its representation in recipes. Drawing from a corpus of regional cookbooks, it explores how the dish is codified via ingredient selection, preparation sequences, and aesthetic presentation. Recipes are treated as programmatic texts: they not only transmit culinary knowledge but also establish and regulate the relationship between normative tradition and social variation. The study argues that the dish’s identity is reinforced by a founding anecdote—its myth of origin—which stabilises its expressive form and legitimises its canonical status. Through this lens, pasta alla Norma is shown to function as a semiotic object: a model of culinary perfection whose form is ritualised, symbolically charged, and culturally intelligible. In contrast, other aubergine-based pasta recipes are characterised by openness and variability, highlighting the discursive power of the recipe as a site of norm production.