Taken from Leonardo da Vinci's Secret Kitchen by Dave DeWitt - for reference purposes and not for any profit. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

We tend to think of the Renaissance as a glorious age of art, culture, and science, but it also had its dark side, where invasions, wars, and famines left a deep seared on it

City-state

"In Florence, Leonardo? Reach? Vinci is at the center of the most refined humanism. "Historian Alessandro? Allessandro Vezzosi wrote: "It was a wonderful world of literary and artistic fever, an extraordinary melting pot where the revival of interest in classicism, together with new influences from the north, greatly enriched the Tuscan tradition." "Da? At the time of Vinci's lifetime, Florence had a population of about 150,000 and was capable of rivaling other European powers such as France, England, the Holy Roman Empire, and Milan. There was no unified Italy or a common Italian language; On the map of what is now Italy, there were a number of city-states, including the Republic of Florence, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Siena******, and the Republic of Genoa. Each city-state has its own dialect, but this is the case from the fourteenth century when Dante ? Dante Alighieri began a gradual transformation when he wrote the Divine Comedy in both Tuscan and Sicilian. These city-states have been playing out a series of alliances, borders, and diplomatic relations for centuries. Ultimately, as a consequence, the positive side is that trade and finance flourish; On the negative side, the endless wars between city-states have had numerous devastating consequences.

In the Middle Ages, trade between Italian city-states, as well as between them and other ports in the Mediterranean and the north, declined enormously; At the beginning of the Renaissance, trade picked up because luxury goods needed to reach Italian ports such as Pisa, ******, and Venice by sea. This increase in trade has contributed to the influx of cash into the city-states, which in turn has stimulated a banking boom. Florence became the center of the financial industry in its region, and the banks that thrived in Florence opened their own branches in other cities, including those of the powerful Medici family.

There were two other important factors that had a profound impact at the beginning of the Italian Renaissance. In China, the Ming rulers stopped trading with foreign countries, so that the money originally used to buy Chinese luxury goods was diverted to the Italian city-states, so that the wealthy and dominant merchant class, as well as the papacy with a more abundant pocket, had the economic power to finance the creation of a large number of works of art and architecture. Artists like Vinci are deeply benefited.

In 1452, Da? The year of Fincher's birth saw the emergence of two major innovations of historic significance: the invention of the printing press and the publication of Gutenberg's Bible, which greatly contributed to the development of culture. In the decades that followed, as city-state publishing houses sprung up, a large number of affordable classics and other works of all kinds were published. In this way, not only institutions such as libraries, which act as repositories of knowledge, but even institutions that serve as treasure troves of knowledge, even include Da? An individual like Vinci, who has been a long-time researcher, can afford printed books without being deterred by expensive manuscript scrolls.

However, the beginning of the Italian Renaissance did lack an important element: peace. Chaos and instability are the hallmarks of Italian politics. Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was like a miniature continent, and the city-states were in fact warring states. Ironically, the great success of the Renaissance intellectual and literary circles took place in a world of violence and war. Milan and Venice, Florence and Pisa, Rome and Florence, Naples and Milan are all at war. Alliances eventually fell apart, and plunder, looting, and battles continued to scarve the city-states. During the Italian Renaissance, the old order of medieval society was broken and a new social form was formed.

The first gastronomic revival in Italy

The first gastronomic revival in Italy

One of the manifestations of the formation of a new social formation is the changing eating habits. The food of the Italian city-states before the Renaissance consisted mainly of wheat bread, olive oil, fish, eggs, various vegetables, meats such as lamb and lamb, and abundant wine; The same is true for the diets of southern France, most of Spain, and North Africa. Food historian Roy? Roy Strong commented on the new changes in the Renaissance as follows: "Basically, the norms inherited from the Middle Ages have been preserved intact, but in the course of nearly a hundred years in the sixteenth century they have been enlarged, improved, and perfected." People are still using those spices, but on a smaller scale. The use of these spices was an important means for people to flaunt their wealth, because they embodied value - for court cooking, it was the soul. ”

Italian wines

Italy has always produced high-quality wines, and ordinary red wines are very nutritious. In Italy, the most beautiful women eat with red wine and dip it in a small piece of bread, because they believe that it will make the body fuller (under all conditions, the plump woman is the favorite of the Venetians) and will be more colorful.

- Fiennes? Fynes Moryson, An Itinerary, 1617

Over the centuries, cooking techniques have been constantly reinvented, and our discussion of them is almost exclusively focused on the wealthy, because only the rich are free to choose their food. The choice of the rich can be bread and water, or cake and wine. As for the poor peasants, they certainly do not have the right to such a choice.

In the Middle Ages, it was believed that beef was only suitable for the lower classes, and not at all suitable for the rich to be on the table. During the Renaissance, the status of beef increased because veal (taken from cattle slaughtered as a minor) was favored. The right of the nobles to slaughter calves symbolized their wealth and prestige. On the contrary, some of the ingredients that we detest now were typical of the time: the nose, eyes, cheeks, liver, intestines, head, kidneys, belly, tongue, pancreas, crown, and similar parts of the fish, which explains why the authors of two classic Italian cookbooks of the time referred to the quirky "DishofTrout Intestines".

The Italian gastronomic renaissance was also influenced by the Middle East. During the Crusades, Europeans discovered Saracencuisine in the Arab world, some of which were little known or even unheard of in Western Europe. Food historian C. Annie? C. Anne Wilson wrote: "In the West, it was the aristocracy or the royal family that first introduced dishes inspired by Saracenic cooking." These brand new toppings include sugar, almonds, pistachios, rice, dates, citrus, pomegranates, roses, and spinach. A newly introduced technique is the simmering of a thick sauce with crushed almonds – marzipan, a sugar-coated almond batter, has become a common dessert.

In addition, the way food was prepared at that time was also heavily influenced by the ideas of classical writers. The "Four Liquids Theory", which was dominant in medieval medicine, was also used by people in the Renaissance in the form of linking food and medicine. This doctrine can be traced back to the ancient Greek physician Galen, whose basic idea was that living things have four elements, or four "bodily fluids": blood, yellow bile, mucus, and black bile. These four bodily fluids correspond to air, fire, water, and earth. Therefore, chefs need to balance the four characteristics associated with these four body fluids when cooking: hot, dry, moist and cold. It is believed that it is unhealthy to consume foods that do not take into account the balanced combination of these four body fluids, and there are certain foods that are specifically designed to balance the four fluids in the body. For example, people eat beef cooked because it is "dry" and "cold"; Pork is roasted to remove its "moist" qualities; Fish, on the other hand, are both "wet" and "cold", so it is hoped that they will be dried and warmed by frying them.

"Broadly speaking," the gastronomic historian Jean-Louis ? Flanderlin's (Jean?) Louis Flandrin wrote, "The most 'cold' and 'natural' meats need to be served with the hottest sauces. "Poultry meat occupies the most prestigious place in the food chain, so it is only necessary to add "Jance", a sauce made of white wine, apple cider vinegar, ginger and cloves, to cook them. The "four-liquid theory" also applies to the texture of handling food, and many dishes have crushed or minced ingredients, which can make multiple body fluids evenly mixed and easier to digest.

The reason why the "Four Liquids Theory" developed during the Renaissance was due to the fact that the cookbook writers who drew on a lot of past experience contributed to it. These people were also influenced by the imported food trade of the time. Food historian Ken? Ken Albala commented: "They have a similar attitude towards food – they are open, eclectic and very international. ”

Basic food from the Renaissance

Basic food from the Renaissance

Some writers who study Renaissance food believe that Italian food at that time could be divided into three main categories: bread, wine, and all the rest. In fact, this is only an accurate description of the diet of the peasant class, which is not the case in the courts of the principalities, and its composition is much richer and more diverse. Food historian Alan? Allen Grieco pointed to a little-known fact that at the time, wheat flour was surprisingly expensive compared to meat. Today, meat costs almost fifteen times as much as flour, while in early Renaissance Italy, pork was only twice as expensive as wheat flour and veal was only 2.5 times more expensive. There is also a direct social relation: "The lower the social status, the higher the proportion of income consumed on bread." ”

A similar connection applies to the consumption of alcohol. Louis? Louis Stouff, when studying the food budget of the Studium Papal in Provence, around 1365, found the following percentages:

Wine: 41%

Bread: 32%

Meat: 15.5%

Fish & Eggs: 5.3%

Spices, cooking oils and cheeses: 3.1%

Fruits and vegetables: 3%

Food writer Cleaved? Clifford A. Wright asked, "What can these data tell us?" The answer, of course, is that in Provence wine is food, and the much-hyped 'Mediterranean vegetables' are almost non-existent. "However, the low percentage of vegetables here may be due to the fact that most of the vegetables are grown in their own gardens and people don't have to spend money to buy them.

The joy of wine

The only time I've seen you rejoice...... When we tasted that wine, do you remember? You have forgotten all your sorrows...... That night, we laughed and we talked......

- Francisco? Francesco Datini to Sellau? Ser Lao Mazzei, circa 1400

Although the upper class did not spend much of their budget on bread, the royal kitchens of the court still baked fragrant bread, just as the peasants baked their own bread. When it comes to toasting, Platina has the following suggestions:

I recommend that all bakers bake bread like this: the flour is made of wheat semolina, finely ground, sifted through a high-quality sieve, placed in a bread pan with warm water, and then sprinkled with salt like the Ferrari people in Italy. Add an appropriate amount of yeast and place it in any moist place you can find to allow it to ferment. This is easy to make, but the only thing to keep in mind is that the amount of yeast must be moderate. Too much, and the baked bread will have a sour taste; Too little, the finished bread will not be fluffy, and it is difficult to digest and not good for health. The bread needs to be baked carefully in the oven, preferably with a little more time; Never bake too much in one day, as only bread made with fresh flour is the most nutritious.

The budget figures for bread and alcohol mentioned above do not apply to "bread pairings" (other omnivores that diversify the diet). Low-ranking shepherds spend only 14 percent of their total food spending, while the overseers who manage them spend close to 40 percent. "In short, bread is an increasingly prominent part of the diet of the lower classes of society," Grieco writes, "and on the contrary, this proportion decreases as the social hierarchy rises." ”

Unlike beer, wine has always been regarded as the drink of the nobility. Drinking water has the lowest status. There is a story about a traveler in the province of Emilia begging for water from a local farmer. "My sir," replied the good farmer, "water, even the fence will be eroded by it, but if you want wine, I will be glad to give you some." ”

Since the Italian Renaissance, people have begun to give wine more meaning than just a drink to accompany bread. Roy? "Nowadays, people carefully select different wines to accompany a variety of dishes – low-alcohol white wines with appetizers, red wines with roasts, and strong wines with desserts," explains Roy Strong. "Of course, different classes of people choose different quality wines. The peasants had to make do with cheap wine, which was made from pressed grapes and the virgin juice was used to make a high-end wine for the upper classes. "People choose wines based on their social status, occupation, age and physique." Food historian Odil? Odile Redon writes. White and dry red wines are more suitable for the upper class because they have a more "delicate" and "soft" taste; Red wine, on the other hand, is suitable for manual workers because it is nutritious and "just right" inexpensive. At that time, wine was often diluted with water to increase the volume and reduce the alcohol content.

A versatile vine

If not in all of Italy, but in Tuscany, the incomparable vines are the most valuable and useful products in the region. The vine is used for the following purposes: its fruit can be used to extract juice to make fine wine; Its branches can be tied into small bundles for firewood; Its branches and leaves can be fed to cattle, while the pits can be fed to pigeons.

- Robert? Sir Robert Dallington, 1605

Reach? Vinci is very much in favor of diluted wine? He wrote in his notes: "Alcohol should be diluted [with water], only a small sip per sip, and not on an empty stomach between meals." "So, Da? Finch is a gentle man and is not an alcoholic.

The spice trade in Italy

The spice trade in Italy

Jean-Louis? Flanderlin's (Jean?) Louis Flandrin observed: "In the long history of Europe, the importance of spices reached its peak in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries; It was also during that period, because of its variety, frequent use and large quantities, that spices played a more prominent role in cooking than in other periods. "The Republic of Venice is a major city-state involved in the spice trade. In the 11th century, Venetian-made ships arrived in the Holy Land of Palestine with Crusaders on board, and when they returned, they were loaded with large quantities of pepper and other spices purchased in Alexandria. Among them, a large Venetian ship returning from Alexandria alone could bring back 200,000 daqat worth of spices, and the total value of the Venetian spice trade is estimated to be in the millions of dacat a year.

As a result, Venice was a well-deserved center of spice trade, and pepper became the king of spices as Europe imported more than six and a half million pounds of pepper each year. Although pepper is not the only spice involved in the trade, it accounts for more than half of all imported spices. No other spice is worth more than one-tenth the value of pepper. Why do people love pepper so much? Henry? Henry Hobson explains: "At that time, the most common method of preserving food in Europe was salting, and there was no spice other than pepper that could go well with meat cured with a lot of salt." Salt and pepper were carnivorous tools in the fight against hunger, especially during seafaring or famine years when crops failed. ”

The perfect sauce with a strong flavor

To make a tangy sauce, you'll need cloves, cinnamon bark, cardamom, and hazelnuts heated over hot charcoal (the heated hazelnuts can be peeled by rubbing); A little crusted bread and sugar are also needed. Mix the above ingredients and lightly mash them with vinegar to create the perfect sauce for all grilled meat dishes.

- From Libropercuoco, The Book of the Chef, circa 1500

Historian Wolfgang? Wolfgang Schivelbusch notes: "Spices are not only used in cooking, but also as valuable gifts like jewels or collectibles. Schfeelbusch further points out that the rich flavor of spices, exotic origins and unusually high prices have led people to associate them with heaven. Pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg symbolize the identity of the ruling class, and they show the world the power of the ruler, which is then eaten by the ruler. When entertaining guests, the more pepper is sprinkled on the plate, the more respect the guests will have for the host of the banquet. ”

People often think that in the past, a lot of pepper and other spicy spices were used in cooking to disguise spoiled meat, but this is not the case. For modern diners, the abundance of spicy spices used in dishes at that time was simply intolerable, but the chefs did not do it to mask the rancid smell of spoiled meat, as is widely suspected. The only indication of this extraordinary amount of spice is that wealthy families have sufficient reserves of meat, game and fish. In addition, the rulers of the time had a certain awareness of hygiene, and they forbade butchers to sell rotten meat, and stipulated that fish and meat that were not sold within a day of being caught or slaughtered must be salted. Several historians have also pointed out that the meat products consumed at that time were not too fresh.

The Renaissance Man Who Loved Meat (Part I)

The Renaissance Man Who Loved Meat (Part I)

Renaissance Italians consumed a lot of meat every day, much more than modern Americans did, and this amount was enough to trigger protein shock for Italians, who now rely on pasta. For example, at a "family dinner" in Mantua in 1532, eight gentlemen were served, and in addition to salads, breads, fruits, and desserts, eighteen plates of pheasant salad, five steers, ninety sausages, meatballs, a delicious liver dish, five ducks, three tongues, five prosciutto and mortadella pies, fifteen quails, fifteen Milanese sausages, and a stag - And these are just the first courses.

- Berengariodelle Cinqueterre of the Cinqueterre

According to Renaissance cookbooks, chefs at that time struggled to buy all kinds of spices that were commercially available. Two cookbooks in England, known as the Harleian Manuscripts (circa 1430) and theHarleian Ms. 4016 (circa 1450), are known as the Harleian Manuscripts (circa 1450), suggesting that chefs should not hesitate to add plenty of spices to 90 percent of their fish and meat dishes. The most frequently mentioned spices in these two books are ginger, black pepper, nutmeg bark, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger (galingal). "The medieval ruling class loved rich dishes," said Wolfgang? Schfeierbusch commented, "The higher the social status of the family, the greater the amount of spices used. Martino and Platina, members of the aristocratic class, also emphasized the use of a large number of spices in their recipes. This is definitely a form of conspicuous consumption by the upper class, as it is obvious from their recipes that the use of spices is closely related to wealth, status, and prestige. It's true that spices are used aggressively in the kitchen, but it's never accidental. The amount of spices used is carefully arranged under the hierarchy and is placed alongside the grade of the food.

There is another reason behind the fact that spices were used in large quantities in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance - they have medicinal properties. Each of the kitchen spices was first introduced as a medicine before being used in cooking. From the thirteenth century to the beginning of the seventeenth century, almost all physicians recommended adding a lot of spices to the cooking of meats so that people could digest them better. During this period, it was widely believed that digestion was also a form of cooking, which took place in the stomach and was done with the body's "animal heat". Because of this, spices, which are considered "hot", are just right to help with digestion. It is judged that pepper has the fourth level of "hot" and "dry", while cloves, galangal, and cardamom belong to the third level; Cinnamon bark, cumin, long eggplant and nutmeg are the second grade, and so on.

Interestingly, although spices aid digestion, people who are sick are forbidden to come into contact with them. Patients with fever should not use spices as hot and dry spices can worsen the condition. The patient's food is generally cooked with sugar added in place of spices, as sugar is the "mildest" condiment.

Of course, the basic reason for the use of spices in cooking in any era is that they can add flavor to dishes and make light foods taste good; However, spices can also be sterilized - the above two theories are inseparable. Jennifer? Billing (Jennifer Billing) and Paul? Paul W. Sherman in their book The Bactericidal Function of Spices: Why People Love Spicy Food. MicrobialFunctionsofSpices:WhySomeLikeItHot) suggests that what is documented in the recipe is a never-ending competition for food between us and the parasites. Everything we do in cooking: washing, drying, cooking, salting, seasoning, is to avoid contamination of food by these parasites, after all, most of the spices used for seasoning have a bactericidal effect. The authors conclude: "We believe that the most fundamental reason for using spices in cooking is to destroy the bacteria and fungi produced by food. ”

In Da? In the Finch era, spices were more popular than ever, but that didn't last long. One problem that has always constrained the Venetian spice trade is the tortuous route of transporting spices such as pepper - from India to Egypt and Syria, via the Isthmus of Suez to Alexandria, and after being loaded and transported to Venice, it is expensive to transport it across the Alps to Central and Northern Europe. When the Venetians made exorbitant profits in this trade, merchants from other countries began to enter the spice trade. Clearly, the way to eliminate trade intermediaries was to open a direct sea route from India to Europe. So when the route to India was discovered, the Portuguese, and later the Dutch, took the spice business from the Venetians. And this fact has led to a significant drop in the price of spices, and more people can afford to buy them. In this way, spices are no longer as mysterious and exotic as they used to be, and they become commonplace. In addition, dietitians in the middle and late Renaissance advised more careful use of spices, and as a result, spices, which were all the rage, gradually declined in Europe.

There were many spices available to Renaissance cooks, but there were three types of pepper: black pepper (Pipernigrum), long pepper (Piperlongum) and long tomato (Pipercubeba). The chef's cupboard may also contain cinnamon, melegueta, cumin, nutmeg, mace, saffron and cloves. Chefs usually use powdered spices, add them to vegetable juices or sauces, filter them and re-pour them over dishes. Can I use this method to ensure that the spices do not lose their original properties during the cooking process with the food? flavor, thus maximizing the preservation of the rich flavor of the spices.

Other condiments and herbs used during the Renaissance were parsley, fennel, marjoram, mint, sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, dill, basil, garlic, shallot, and onion. Although the last three were considered the least "noble" of vegetables, they were also found on the tables of the nobility.

The grade of animal meat

In Renaissance Italy, educated people believed that everything in the world was born of earth, water, air, and fire, and that its order was determined by the "Great Chain of Being". From the time of Lucretius to the time of Copernicus and the Renaissance, most cultures accepted this concept of the structure of the universe. The "Great Chain of Being" is made up of many hierarchical links, ranging from the most basic lower elements (such as rocks) to the "ultimate perfection" (referring to God). According to this view, the hierarchy of plants and animals depends on their position in the chain. Tuber plants such as onions are at the bottom of the list, while mystical creatures like the phoenix, due to their pyrophytic nature and status second only to God, are at the top of the chain. Every animal or plant is inferior to its superiors and at the same time nobler to its inferior, so that no two animals or plants enjoy the same degree of dignity.

The lowest organisms in aquatic life are benthic-fed shellfish aquatic organisms, such as oysters and clams; On them are shrimp, crabs, and lobsters; Fish are one of the upper levels. The highest class of aquatic animals are whales and dolphins, and by that time humans had mastered the art of capturing them. Whales and dolphins swim on the surface of the ocean, so they are thought to be struggling to breathe air, and because of this, they are endowed with a certain degree of nobility.

History of Bologna

Mortadella is the most famous sausage in Bologna, dating back to the sixteenth century. Today, the sausage is produced in the regions of EmiliaRomagna, Lombardy, Veneto, Tuscany, Marche, Latim and Trento.

In the chain of existence, between dolphins and birds are terrestrial animals, of which at the bottom are pigs, lamb is in the center, and beef, especially veal, is at the top of the series. In this way, the birds of the air are the most exclusive food, and the order is that duck and goose (waterfowl) are at the bottom, chicken is in the center, and songbirds are at the top. Allan? Allen Grieco explains the use of this hierarchy at court banquets as follows:

At banquets, for example, in 1466 south of Nina? The name of the Medici is Bernardo? At the feast held by Bernardo Rucellai, the host served veal to the guests of the estates in the two villages, and the most important guests were steers, chickens, and other poultry. In terms of the hierarchy of meat, mutton (most likely the daily food of the merchant class at the time) was below veal, and pork had the lowest status. Pork, especially salted, was looked down upon at the time, most likely because it was the most frequently consumed meat of the lower classes.

The Carnivorous Renaissance Man (Part II)

The Carnivorous Renaissance Man (Part II)

In January 1492, at the Anna in Ferrara? Anna Sforza and Afaro? Alfonzod? Este), people ate 45,000 pounds of meat in a week. How can you afford this huge amount of meat? Ercole, the father of Afaro? The Duke of Este took some extraordinary measures to increase his income in order to ensure that this grand and luxurious wedding was completed smoothly. These include the imposition of additional taxes and the mandatory repatriation of art and ornaments from remote areas.

Fortunately, these hierarchical distinctions did not hinder the development of cooking and recipes; In fact, both Martino's and Platina's writings delved into most of the ingredients available at the time, without being constrained by the hierarchy of high or low that corresponded to the ingredients. Most of Martino's meat recipes are about veal, but he doesn't ignore the lower-grade meats:

About the making of sausages

If you want to make delicious sausages with pork or other meats, the meat you choose must be both fat and lean, detendoned and chopped into small pieces. For 10 pounds of meat, add 1 pound of salt, 2 ounces of washed high-quality fennel seeds, and 2 ounces of coarsely ground black pepper, stir them well, and let them sit for a day. Take an appropriate amount of cleaned casing, pour the meat in, hang it and smoke it to dry.

It is worth noting here that despite the low status of pork, it is considered suitable for sausages. Wealthy people eat all kinds of meats except pork, even those that doctors believe are harmful to the human body, just to show off and satisfy their own sense of superiority. Other foods that are considered "harmful" include fruits, venison, river fresh, lamprey and porpoise, but they are cooked and seasoned in a variety of ways to reduce their harmfulness and make them fit for consumption. For people living within sixty miles of the coastline, the lowest-ranking animals they eat daily are aquatic shellfish; The most fanciful food one can eat is peacock meat that has been cooked and decorated with colorful wings, sometimes with a fire-breathing device, as detailed in Martino's recipe in Chapter 6.

In addition to poultry and veal, some spring-specific dishes made with suckling pig (the most exclusive pork), baby goat meat and lamb are also popular. Lamb is most often eaten in the summer. As for the consumption of game meat during the Renaissance, it seems that researchers have different opinions. One researcher believes that game meat was uncommon at the time, while another claims that it was widely eaten in the countryside and was rarely found in the imperial court. In my study of Martino and Platina's recipes, I found that the two masters often mentioned wild boar, bears and roe deer, but if songpoultry and hare meat were not included, there were very few recipes based on game.

But how do you cook these meats? Here are Martino's recommendations:

Both steer beef and female beef need to be cooked. Calf is suitable for cooking, but the tenderloin is best grilled, and the loin is suitable for meatballs. Lamb is suitable for cooking, but its shoulder and leg are suitable for roasting. Steer pork, no matter how it is cooked, is not good for health. Goat meat served with garlic sauce is especially delicious in January. All types of rabbit meat are suitable for grilling, and bear meat is best served as a pie.

During Lent and on Wednesdays and Fridays, fish is the best choice because meat is not eaten. The most commonly consumed freshwater fish (both fresh and salted) are bream, herring, carp, salmon, barracuda, eel and sturgeon, while the most common marine fish on the table are sole, mackerel, tuna, cod and redmullet. At that time, the supply of fresh fish was not very stable, and it was difficult to maintain the freshness of the fish due to long-distance land transportation, so almost all the fish eaten by people living inland was salted.

From cabbage to grapes

Scholars have studied the food expenditures of the royal families and monasteries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and the types of food purchased, mainly on the basis of the accounts of the time, in which no records of vegetables appeared, since the consumption of vegetables was not part of the market economy at that time. Just like eggs, honey, and vegetables, they are all produced and sold in-house, and rarely appear in the market as commodities along with fish and meat. The following vegetables were commonly cultivated in the gardens of low-status farmers and in the delicate royal gardens: cabbage, leeks, spinach, broad beans, lettuce and turnips. Other vegetables are closely associated with Arab culture, such as asparagus, artichokes, pumpkin, melons and eggplants. Of course, there are other vegetables, such as corn, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers, which were introduced to Italy after 1500, but it took a long time for the Italians to use them in cooking. This process is described in detail in Chapter VII.

In summer and autumn, people often eat a variety of fresh vegetables; In winter, cabbage is the king of vegetables - because it is easy to preserve and has an abundant supply in winter. Boiled cabbage with salted pork is a typical rural home cooking. Dried vegetables such as dried peas, dried pods, dried chickpeas, and dried lentils are also used for cooking in winter, which are usually stewed with the original beef juice to form a thick soup. Other winter foods include dried bamboo shoots (dehydrated and reduced during cooking) and dried fruits (such as raisins, figs, prunes, and various nuts).

About peas

Peas are the most noble of the vegetables, especially the ones that are quite delicious even to the pods. Peas are suitable for cooking with herbs to create a variety of dishes with a variety of flavors. When cooking a flavorful pea dish, we need to simmer the peas in a good broth until they are half cooked and add the hard ones at the end? Season with bacon grease, chop the bacon grease with a knife or use a tamper mortar until it is as thick as butter.

- Kiacomo? Giacomo Castelvetro, ABriefAccountoftheFruit, HerbsandVegetables of Italy, 1614

Since Roman times, there has been a proverb that warns people not to eat salads - "even the best salad leads to a bad meal" because salads are "cold". Still, lettuce or spinach is often mixed with fresh herbs and served with salt and olive oil to "heat" these cool dishes. Interestingly, there are very few salad recipes in Renaissance recipes. Some gastronomic historians believe that Martino's reticence about salads stems from the fact that salads are a matter of course for a chef of his calibre.

Although some consider fruits to be "harmful", they have a higher status than all other plants in the great chain of existence, and are therefore considered suitable for the upper classes. Most of the fruits grow on trees or shrubs, and they are taller than onions and other plants, and it is for this reason that fruits occupy the highest point in the hierarchy of plants. Grapes, figs, and stone fruits like peaches have been part of Mediterranean culture for nearly a millennium, but citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons were brought to southern Europe by the Arabs from India and became widespread in Italy from about the thirteenth century onwards. At that time, people ate oranges the same way we do today, and lemon juice was the best ingredient for fried or grilled fish dishes.

In addition to being used for winemaking, people also make verjuice from grapes that are unripe and slightly sour. Dried grapes can also be made into raisins. However, the vast majority of grapes are still used to make wine. Vinci has been involved in the wine industry. In the late autumn of 1497, when the Last Supper was about to be completed, Da? Vinci is working for Ludvico? Sfcha's court served and received a piece of land from the latter. That land is about three miles away, and there is a vineyard in it, up to? Vinci calls it "my paradise outside the walls of Milan". Not much is known about that vineyard, except that it was about 220 yards × 55 yards, and that it reached until his death. Finch kept it all along. Reach? From the fact that Vinci also rented out a house on the property, we can infer that he probably also leased out the vineyard to share in the profits from the sale of the wine. Until the twenties of the nineteenth century, up to? Vinci's vineyard is still in place, but it has now been transformed into a city garden.

Echoes of vegetarianism

Echoes of vegetarianism

As we already know, root crops like onions and garlic have always had a low status, but they can also be found on the tables of the court, down to the common people. However, when garlic is used in dishes with a popular type of meat, such as poultry, garlic becomes less expensive and more "noble". The focus of any lavish feast is meat, but in the sixteenth century Montaigne wrote in his Travel Journal of Italy: "The people of this country are not accustomed to eating too much meat." "Chefs in Italy elevate fruits, vegetables and pasta to the same level as meat, while in the UK, France and Germany, meat is absolutely dominant. Fish is eaten on Ramadan days, so certain types of fish are considered the best substitute for meat, such as sturgeon. In the Opera, Sgarpi recorded twenty-three recipes for cooking sturgeon, and the fasting feasts mentioned in the book were all based on this special fish. Eels are also highly valued, as they can survive for several days after being caught in straw baskets, making them easy to transport. "Fish is no less satisfying than the meats that best satisfy people's taste buds," writes Sgarpi, "and in fact it is the most delicious food that nature has given us." ”

Cheese is another food that can be used as a substitute for meat. From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, this once "peasant food" grew in stature, from the first days of fasting to later Lent, from Ash Day to 40 days before Easter. -- Translator's notes are getting more and more attention. The Summa Lacticinorum (1469) was the earliest work on dairy products, and its author, Pantaleone ? Reach? In the book, Pantaleoneda Confienza wrote: "Kings, dukes, counts, marquises, barons, soldiers, nobles and merchants (all consume cheese). "Cheese is also often an integral part of royal feasts; Messisbugo recommends "hard, fatty cheeses" such as pecorino (feta milk cheese); Sgarpi's favourites are "freshly sliced Parmesan cheese" and mozzarella (parmesan cheese). As early as the mid-15th century, their predecessor Platina mentioned that there were two cheeses that were "equally divided" in Italy: Marzolino from Tuscany and Parmesan from Parmesan. Interestingly, cow and goat's milk was not used as an everyday drink at the time, but as an ingredient in cooking or cheesemaking. According to Platina, "Goat's milk is the best...... Ewe milk is the next best thing, while cow's milk is in third place. "This may be because there were no refrigerators at the time, and milk was difficult to store for a long time.

Cheese from the ancient Roman period

Cheese from the ancient Roman period

Pecorino RomanoDOP (Roman hard feta cheese) is one of the oldest living cheeses, originating in the Roman era of Latim. It was one of the components of the daily ration of the Roman army. More than 67 million pounds of pecorino romaño cheese are now produced annually, mostly in Sardinia.

Italians prefer to use a variety of vegetables in their cooking than people in other parts of Europe, and this tendency has always been criticized by Bocostanzo? In 1569, Costanzo Felici wrote a treatise on edible plants, De?insalataepiantecheinqualunquemodovengonopercibodel?homo (Salad and Plants That Become Food for People), in which he wrote: "The people who live on the other side of the Alps consider salads to be the exclusive food of greedy Italians. It was the Italians who robbed the food of the lower animals that fed on green leafy grass. Nevertheless, all the great cookbook authors since Martino have documented recipes based on vegetables and herbs, such as soups made with cabbage, fennel, pumpkin, lettuce, fava beans, peas, marjoram, mint or parsley, pies and fritters.

Kiacomo? Giacomo Castelvetro was an Italian who went into exile in England as a Protestant. In 1614 he wrote a book on "root vegetables, leafy greens, and fruits eaten by the Italians," which was not published until after his death. In the book, he claims that "Italians eat more vegetables and fruits than meat", giving the following reasons:

The main reason is that our lovely Italy is far less obsessed with meat than France and the island (England). Because we Italians have to put a lot of effort into finding new food to feed the large population that lives in such a small area. There is another factor, as force majeure as the one mentioned earlier, and that is that Italy is in high temperatures for nine months of the year, making us tired of eating meat.

The most popular vegetable in the late Renaissance was artichokes. Although artichokes are not mentioned in Martino and Platina's books, it appears in the writings of Messisbugo and Scapi. Costanzo? In the treatise mentioned above, Felic wrote: "They are fruits that grow among the thorns of the grass, and are now well known. People have always been crazy about them, so now everyone is familiar with them. Among those great men, they are well-known vegetables. Artichokes were eaten raw and "roasted on the grill or over a fire, or stewed in a rich, mellow broth." Paul? Paolo Zacchia wrote in his 1636 book, Foodfor Lent: "Cooked artichokes are good to swallow; Roasted artichokes are suitable for digestion and absorption; Artichokes cooked with truffles (seasoned with mint, mint, a small amount of minced garlic, pepper, oil and salt, according to the chefs) awaken the palate. ”

Both Martino's and Platina's cookbooks had many vegan recipes, which was a significant step forward at the time. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that only the poor ate vegetables, and most of them were boiled into soups to eat. During the Renaissance, in order to stay healthy, people began to promote the eating of vegetables, which were said to use the stomach of diners to free themselves from the burden of digesting meat, in order to maintain their mental freedom. Italian cookbook authors have broken new ground in the history of cooking by subverting the old stereotype of the rich eating meat and the poor eating vegetables since the Middle Ages.

Obviously, in Renaissance Italy, one of the most important vegetarian foods was pasta. Some types of pasta have been around since ancient Roman times, such as lagana, which is now lasagna. In the Middle Ages, chefs experimented with different ways to cook different shapes of pasta, and this continued until the Renaissance. The ancient Romans roasted pasta, while Renaissance cooks cooked the dough with water, milk or broth. They also use pasta that has been dried, which makes it easier to preserve. It is the process of dehydration and drying that turns pasta from a handmade food into a commercial product. The central cities for the production of commercialized pasta are mainly Sicily, Liguria and ******; Many early cookbooks refer to pasta as "******". See Chapter 3 for a detailed description of macaroni (a generic term for dehydrated pasta).

Martino was the first chef to suggest how to make and cook vermicelli (also known as "little crawlies"):

Knead the dough as above, then use your fingers to make thin strips like little crawlies; Leave them in the sun to dry, which will last for two or three years. To cook, the thin noodles are cooked for half an hour in broth or rich, high-quality chicken broth, served on a plate and served with grated cheese and spices. If it's a meat ban day, cook it with sweetened almond milk or goat's milk. However, since milk does not take as long to cook as thin noodles, you can cook thin noodles in water and then cook them in milk as you would like to cook rice. The same goes for lasagna, tria, and formentini. With the exception of those cooked with milk, all pasta dishes are served with a saffron-like golden color.

It is worth noting that Renaissance cooks cooked pasta for a long time, as it seems that they did not yet have the concept of aldente. It wasn't until the 17th century that chefs suggested that cold water should be poured while the water was boiling during the cooking process, and this method of temporarily stopping cooking would give the noodles a firm texture. Chefs used pasta in their cooking at the time, with Skappi suggesting "boiled duck with macaroni and pasta, an ancient Roman dish" and "boiling the fat goose and filling it with annolini". Of course, these were dishes that would only appear at banquets at the time, where pasta was either served as a side dish or just a part of the main course. For farmers, pasta with butter, cheese, sugar and cinnamon bark, or topped with a spicy sauce, is the main course of their meal, and it is also a typical vegetarian meal.