It's a reference to Alberto Grandi and his theses about the origins of many popular Italian dishes that are perceived as "traditional" but did not become mainstream until after WWII (and that Italian cuisine before that was much more regional and less homogeneous).
I think there's something to those arguments, but it is worth noting that he's not really a "food historian" as he's often described but a professor of economics and management.

Me: *walking down the hallway before going to bed*
Cat: Absolutely fucking not.