The Age of Enlightenment marks an important change in the approach to food and dietary habits. New varieties of food begin to appear on the tables throughout Umbria, such as chocolate, originally from the Americas, made with cocoa beans. It starts to become popular in our territory only at the beginning of the XVIII Century.

Its production is discussed in the Encyclopédie, whose authors, acknowledging the importance of non-academic and non-intellectual knowledge, publish the illustrations here on display in the 1767 Lucca edition.

The increase in chocolate consumption is linked to the appearance of a new kind of gathering place, that is to say cafés, in which customers can consume chocolate as well as other kinds of food while enjoying the company of other patrons, exchanging opinions or simply chatting, following the principles of what historians call the “eighteenth-century sociability”. Even students, at least toward the end of the XVIII Century, can now consume chocolate at the Collegio, although it is still considered as a luxury and listed as an extraordinary purchase.

XVIII Century dietary trends sometimes show a more severe and almost strict quality, suggesting for example a vegetarian regimen that, according to the old tradition, was thought to grant great health benefits.

Despite the diffusion of exotic foods and the ability to develop new dietary habits, food remains a vital problem for the masses, especially during famines, when the production of cereals is insufficient and cannot guarantee an adequate production of bread.

The food shortages occurring during the second half of the XVIII Century acted as a stimulus for the development of the new economic sciences, initially focussed almost entirely on trade and commerce.

While Perugia was at the center of epoch-making political events – the Napoleonic Age, the Restoration and Italian unification - the Collegio della Sapienza Nuova had to undergo constant transformations, that often compromised its financial stability in order to be able to face the difficult events of the time.

The cooks, however, continued preparing food for the students and even composed daily menus that show a varied and nutritious diet. The Students’ dietary habits appear to be analogous to those of the local Middle-Class, whose members were rising in number, in opposition to the traditional social distinctions that wanted certain kinds of foods, such as game and wild birds, to be consumed exclusively by the nobles.

The documents in the University historical archives mirror the spirit of the century. On the one hand, we can see that Natural History texts continue to be written, now with a special attention to the methodical and taxonomic scientific classification methods, in accordance with the spirit of the times and also with Positivism. Agronomy courses are also added to the educational offer, and several scientific works debating the most efficient methods to produce animal or vegetable food are published. On the other hand, Middle-Class families try to learn how to better manage their assets and many become interested in the first works covering Home Economics that, among the notions regarding horticulture and craftsmanship, often contain recipes and culinary advice.