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

Lombard-style rice from Sgarpi

Start with a broth of stewed chicken, goose and cervellate (pork sausage), which is used to cook the hulled rice. Serve cooked rice on a clay, silver, or tin dish and sprinkle with cheese, sugar, and cinnamon bark. Top with a layer of fresh butiro cheese, duck breast and goose slices, and sliced Servillette sausages. It is then sprinkled with a layer of cheese, sugar and cinnamon bark to form three layers. Top with a moist layer of freshly melted "Butillo".

Food pantries for people in the Renaissance

Salt was a kitchen necessity during the Renaissance and was relatively expensive. There are two types of salt that are commonly used, one is refined salt used at the table, and the other is coarse salt that is suitable for cooking or marinating fish and meat. The vast majority of Italy's salt comes from the mines of Ibiza, which also supplies salt from Northern Europe. Regarding the importance of salt, Platina wrote: "Salt is indispensable on the table, otherwise all food will be bland and tasteless; It's like when we call a tasteless and boring man a fool because he lacks the essence in his character. "An interesting phenomenon is that Martino and Platina's recipes rarely mention salt. Although salt may have been added to the broth used to cook pasta, it is clear that both masters agreed that the diner should add the salt after the dish was served.

Speaking of pasta, food historian Cleaved? Clifford Wright mentions: "There is enough evidence that macaroni became widely known in the fourteenth century...... The early history of macaroni is largely related to Sicily. Although we can't say for sure whether Sicily was the birthplace of macaroni, we do know that it was eaten by the privileged class of nobles and Jews. "One thing is clear, the trend of eating pasta spread from Sicily to the entire Apennine Peninsula. Another food historian Odile? Odile Redon adds: "We always thought that it was Marco Polo who made pasta popular, but now we have to doubt this beloved legend because we have found records about maccaroni (maccheroni in modern Italian) in the literature before Marco Polo was born. "In the Middle Ages, there was also a pasta-makers' guild in Florence called the Lasagnai. Chapter 3 will give a more detailed introduction to pasta.

When it comes to dairy products, cow and goat milk is extremely perishable. As a result, cow and goat's milk sold by vendors in the city is sometimes diluted with water. In general, goat's and sheep's milk is produced more than cow's milk, especially in the more southern parts of the Italian peninsula. People in the north use butter more often than in the southern part of Italy; In the south, people use olive oil more for cooking. Cream is not mentioned in medieval or Renaissance cookbooks, and the reason for this remains a mystery to this day. Eggs are widely used; And sometimes people cook them in a fairly simple way, with one recipe even suggesting that they be cooked directly into the embers of the fire.

There are two main types of cheese, one is ricotta cheese like ricotta, whey cheese. - Soft cheeses, which are usually made in the spring, are often used as a filling for fried pies. The other is the hard cheese that is ground and sprinkled on vegetables and pasta – mostly made with sheep's milk. Cheese is also commonly served in pies, just like cheesecake, by melting "all the cheeses that you think are suitable for mixing together", mixing them with egg yolks and whipped egg whites, and baking them in a crust.

Braised chicken nuggets (Gratonata)

Cut the chicken and sauté it with lard and onion. Add a little water when stir-frying to help sauté; And stir-fry with a large spoon from time to time; After adding the spices, saffron and sour grape juice, start cooking. On the other side, take the egg yolks according to the ratio of four egg yolks for each chicken, stir well with the sour grape juice, and cook the egg yolk liquid in another pot. After that, whisk all the ingredients in a pan and cook them with the chicken pieces. At this point, turn off the heat and enjoy the delicious braised chicken nuggets.

—From "The Kitchen of the Fourteenth Century" (Librodellacucina delsecoloXIV)

Naturally, the Renaissance people kept various forms of pork fat in their pantry: fresh or salted pork belly (bacon), pork back fat, and lard. They are mostly used for frying and making puff pastry for pies, and lard can also be spread on top of the cuts in lean strips of meat for grilling.

Of course, in the Renaissance, no pantry was complete without olive oil. Olive oil is not only ubiquitous in cooking, but it is also used as a fuel, ointment and lubricant for lighting. Reach? Fincher spent most of his life surrounded by olive groves, and sketches of an olive oil press appeared in his notes. He tried to devise a better oil press to produce the olive oil that would work for his paintings. He also wrote a "prophecy" about olives: "Pouring down from the direction of the kingdom of heaven and giving us light and food." The answer to this prophecy is "the olive that falls from the olive tree." Although many planted olive trees in the immediate vicinity of their residences, the olive oil trade and professional olive oil merchants also existed at that time.

In this chapter, Martino and Platina make a brief appearance, and then I will begin to introduce these Renaissance chefs and their best cookbooks.

Sweet spice powder

Sweet spice powder

The Operadell?artedecucinare is one of the most influential cookbooks of the Italian Renaissance. Sgarpi is the chef of Pope Pius V. In the book, Sgarpi recommends this mixture of sugar and spices to add flavor to the dish. Today, this sweet spice powder is still delicious with meat and poultry.

24 cinnamon sprigs

1 ounce cloves

1/2 ounce sugar

1/2 ounce dried ginger

1/2 ounce grated ground nutmeg

1/4 ounce Valley of Paradise (Moroccan cardamom)

1/4 ounce saffron

Pound the cinnamon sprigs into small pieces, mix them with the rest of the ingredients and put them in a spice mill, then grind them into fine powder. This mixture is stored in an airtight jar and can be stored for 3-4 months.

The final yield is 1/2 cup.

Tender artichokes, Parma ham with wide straight noodles

Artichokes, a vegetable that was all the rage in the early Renaissance, breathe new life into traditional old-fashioned dishes in this Italian dish, and here the artichokes themselves have undergone a wonderful rebirth – the young artichokes have appeared, which are now available at specialty food retailers at any time of the year. To prepare the tender artichokes, the head and tail are cut off and all purple or pink leaves are removed. The processed artichokes are steamed or boiled until soft, then cut lengthwise into four cloves.

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup shredded Parma ham

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup chicken broth

4 cups boiled hot wide straight noodles

1 1/2 cups cooked tender artichokes

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, or increase or decrease to taste

1/4 cup chopped black olives

Garnish with Italian parsley, cut well

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and stir-fry the ham, green onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the wide straight noodles and gently turn the pan. At this point, add the artichokes and stir well to keep the heat on. Finish with grated Parmesan cheese and black olives, garnish with parsley and serve.

Serves 4 people.

Tank stuffy chicken/hunter stuffy chicken

"Allacacciatore" translates to "hunter" and usually refers to stewed meat or poultry dishes. Nowadays, more toppings are often added to this dish, such as carrots, celery, onions, and tomatoes. However, this simple dish from Umbria retains the flavors of the early days and the ingredients used at the time. This dish can be served with rice or pasta.

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon freshly chopped rosemary

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, the amount depends on personal taste

2 1/2 pounds of chopped chicken

1/2 lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

In a bowl, the vinegar, rosemary, salt and black pepper set aside. Spread all the chicken pieces with lemon and season with salt and black pepper evenly and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and simmer the chicken pieces for about 30 minutes, turning them occasionally until the chicken is golden brown.

Pour the mixed vinegar over the chicken and heat quickly; Stir constantly to prevent residue from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the juice in the pot is only half boiled, the dish is ready.

Serves 4-6 people.

Grilled asparagus with cottage cheese

In Italy, asparagus is usually tied into small bundles and cooked upright in a kind of tall, narrow pot to ensure that the bottom of the asparagus can be fully simmered and the top can be steamed. Asparagus is a very popular spring vegetable, and grilled asparagus with cheese is a classic dish for cooking asparagus; But if you prefer, feel free to add spices or use other kinds of cheese, such as Fontina (Italian praline-flavored feta milk cheese).

2 pounds of asparagus, cut to fit in a pot, and bundled into 4 small bundles

1/2 cup freshly ground pecorino roman cheese

1/3 cup butter

To taste, salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Celsius.

Place the bundle of asparagus in a saucepan, add cold water and submerge to 1/3 of the way to the asparagus. Cover and boil until boiling, turn down the heat at this time, and slowly simmer the asparagus until the taste is "springy", this process takes about 5-7 minutes, the specific time depends on the thickness of the asparagus sprouts.

Remove the asparagus bundle from the water, unbundle it and place on an oval baking sheet. Sprinkle with a little cheese powder and keep warm in the oven.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and pour over the asparagus. Add the remaining cheese powder and salt and pepper to taste, then put it in? Bake on the grill for a short while until the cheese forms a light brown crispy crust.

Serves 6-8 people.

The first star chef

One of the glorious achievements of the Renaissance was the rediscovery of the classical world of ancient Greece and Rome. This discovery was made mainly through the publication of books, as well as various attempts to recreate the ancient Greco-Roman world. In Da? In Vinci's time, another culinary classic was revived: Apicius's Dereconquinaria. Apisius was a Roman writer of the late fourth century AD, specializing in gastronomy and cooking. Previously, On the Art of Cooking was known only to scholars in the form of manuscripts. When the book was published as a book in 1498, its impact was far-reaching. "All of a sudden, a completely different style of cooking was in front of us," Roy? "It was a culinary custom belonging to a highly mature society in which people enjoyed the pleasures of the table and were willing to succumb to any temptation of appetite without a hint of guilt," Roy Strong wrote. Strong refers to the far-reaching influence of Apisius as "ancient, referring to ancient Greece and Rome." – Translator's Note: The Humanist Revival of Gastronomy". The Renaissance diet was influenced by it, reviving interest in truffles and other fungi, seafood and caviar, minced meat and sausages, and vegetables like asparagus and cabbage. These foods now have a "hint of Greco-Roman aroma" and are all the rage. Of course, with the resurgence of classical books such as On the Art of Cooking, there is another form of resurgence – the proliferation of gourmets who have devoted themselves to the beauty and pleasure of cooking. You know, during the Renaissance, there were probably more gourmets who could stand on the cusp and lead the popular taste than today.

Broth boiled fresh fava beans

The following recipe is from Martino, and a similar recipe appears in Platina's book, except that the broad bean is translated as "broadbean".

Soak the fava beans in hot water to peel them, just like peeling an almond kernel. After peeling, pour the fava beans into a fine broth and boil, then add a little high-quality bacon. When it's almost ready, add a little chopped parsley and mint leaves. The finished dish needs to have a slightly emerald color to make the diner's appetite tickle. You can also cook peas and other fresh vegetables this way, but you don't need to soak them in hot water beforehand as you do with broad beans. Allow the peas to stay fresh in their thin layer of pods.

Martino and Platina

Mademo Martino was the author of the Libro de Arte Coquinaria, written in 1460. Martino, a scholar chef who served at the court of Milan Sfza, did so at the time of the Dharma? Before Vinci arrives in Milan. He was also the personal chef of Pope Paul II and his successor, Sixtus IV. Roy? Accusing The Art of Cooking, Strong said, "It marks a new chapter in the history of cooking...... It presents a clear, smooth, well-organized, accurate and precise style that has never been seen in previous recipes, and it is an epoch-making book. ”

The Art of Cooking is not a "book" in the true sense of the word, but a manuscript tied up with a wooden board and calfskin, measuring 9×5.75 inches. The 85-page transcript contains 240 recipes written in Italian, not Latin. About a quarter of them come from older manuscripts, while the rest are Martino's original works.

Cooking of roast suckling pig

This recipe from Martino looks a lot like what many barbecue picnickers in the U.S. do today, except that the former also requires the whole suckling pig to be turned inside out and roasted.

First of all, you need to confirm whether the suckling pig is well cared for. The pig is then disemboweled, all entrails are removed, and rinsed at the length of its spine. Take the pork liver and chop it; Add a few herbs, a little finely chopped garlic, a handful of good bacon, grated cheese, a few eggs, ground pepper and a little saffron. Mix all the above ingredients well and place them in the belly of the pig; Then turn it inside out like a tench or carp, leaving the skin side inside; Sew the openings and tie them carefully. At this point, the suckling pig can be roasted on a slow fire using a grill or barbecue fork so that both the pork and the stuffing can be cooked. Prepare some spreads – vinegar, pepper and saffron. Take another two to three sprigs of bay, sage or rosemary and use them without stopping to sprinkle the sauce on the suckling pig while baking. Roast goose, duck, crane, rooster and chicken.

In creating The Art of Cooking, Martino abandoned the traditional practice of writing a cookbook – starting with fruits and sweets – and wrote directly about the recipes for meat dishes in the first chapter. Martino's ingenious recipes are the essence of Renaissance Italian culinary art. Strikingly, "Roy? "This marked a shift away from superstitious imports of spices and toward indigenous herbs such as mint, marjoram, parsley, garlic, fennel, bay, salvia and rosemary," Strong wrote. However, despite this, the dominance of spices in cooking continued until the middle of the seventeenth century. ”

Bruno, an expert on medieval culinary history? Bruno Laurioux commented on Martino's great achievement: "It is no wonder that Martino's Encyclopedia of the Art of Cooking is regarded as the vanguard of the art of gastronomy compared to the culinary writings of the last few centuries...... Martino's book is imbued with a creative and enterprising spirit that has kept it at the pinnacle of Italian cooking for more than a century. ”

None of Martino's earlier cookbooks contain detailed instructions on how to prepare a dish, because the main purpose of those books was to educate the general audience about a particular style of cooking and its superiority, and to persuade them to use the techniques that correspond to that style. In reality, however, this is not what a real cookbook is intended to be. Food writers write for themselves, and their notes are mainly about reminding them how to make the ideal dish with the given ingredients. At the same time, good chefs are equally comfortable when confronted with other people's recipes, creating the perfect dish with the right ingredients and the right program.

Of course, there is another possible reason why those cooking manuals that predate Martino do not record sufficiently detailed information: people want to keep professional secrets. Like pharmacists, doctors, probes, soothsayers, woodcarvers, painters, and silk dyers, chefs soon realized that their prestige (and the benefits they could receive) was directly proportional to the expertise they possessed—and that knowledge and information would not have become commodities to be freely shared. In today's society, the belief in consumer capitalism flaunts individualism, and its essence is the consumption power to constantly catch up with trends; Renaissance individualism, on the other hand, was driven more by the spirit of striving for excellence. This means that people are looking for something new that has not been discovered, rather than having something that everyone has. Even books, one of the first handmade products that could be mechanized in large quantities, were sometimes printed in different ways to maintain a certain uniqueness – for example, the same edition of a book would have a different cover design.

Martino's marzipan tartlets

After the almonds are carefully shelled and peeled, they are pounded to as fine as possible, and the pounded almonds do not need to be sifted. It should be noted that almonds need to be soaked in cold water for more than one day and one night before processing, so that the almonds will be sweeter and more delicious and white in color. In addition, the treated almonds can be peeled by simply rubbing them by hand. When pounding the almonds, you can add a little rose dew to prevent it from becoming too greasy. To make a truly sweet marzipan tart, it's best to use equal weight of white sugar and almonds, and if you like, a pound of sugar and almonds will do. Stir them well with one to two ounces of rose dew. At this point, take a few wafers made of sugar, soak them in rose dew, and arrange them to make a border for the pie; Add the almond sugar mixture, fill it flat, sprinkle with some rose syrup and sugar and flatten it with a small spoon. Finally, put it in the oven or fireplace and bake it slowly, just like you would with any other pie. At the same time, pay attention to adjust the temperature in the furnace and check it from time to time to prevent baking. Remember, it's best to make the pie a little thinner and not too thick.

However, what if it weren't Bartolomeo, the librarian of the Vatican (Holy See)? The bold "plagiarism" of Saki (also known as Platina), Martino's writings would not have had such a profound impact. Platina's DeHonesta Voluptateet Valetudine, written between 1465 and 1468, is considered to be the first officially printed cookbook. The first edition of the book was printed in 1472 (some believe it was 1475). Twenty and forty of the book's 250 recipes are directly derived from Martino's writings. Nonetheless, Platina's book has many unique features, such as the description of vanilla. It is important to note that Martino and Platina both know each other well and are likely to have worked together for some time. Platina pays tribute to Martino in his book: "Martino from Milan? Martinode? Rossi) is the culinary prince of our time, and it was from him that I learned all about cooking. "At that time, there was no such thing as plagiarism, and in the literary and fine arts worlds, writers and artists usually borrowed from each other without saying anything.

The title of Platina's work "voluptate" means pleasure, and its etymology is "voluptas", which means sin in Middle Latin. Platina is here to preach that the physiological pleasure of eating can be correct and reasonable under the right conditions. In this way, Platina legitimizes the need to eat and drink – eating and drinking is no longer just a physiological act, and we should emphasize more that they can bring both physical and emotional pleasure. Thus, On Right Happiness and Good Health is a modern and secular work that is not confined to the Christian tradition and is very practical, even on the subject of cleaning dishes. With this book, Platina put cooking books on the literary scene and made food and dining a popular topic among literati. Platina quotes extensively from Cato, Virgil and Apisius in his book, so that it is a revival of the classical Roman kitchen in addition to its modernity. And Da? Vinci's private collection includes a copy of Platina's treatises. Vinci is linked to the gastronomic world of the early Renaissance – an issue that will be discussed in more detail later.

Red chickpea bisque in Platina

Wash at least one pound of chickpeas in warm water. Place the washed chickpeas in a pan without adding water, and mix in half an ounce of oats, a pinch of oil and salt, twenty grains of crushed pepper, and a small amount of ground cinnamon bark by hand. Turn on the heat and add a gallon of water, sage, rosemary, and chopped parsley root. After boiling, continue to simmer until there are only eight cups left in the pot, at this time you can drip in a small amount of oil, and the dish is ready.

A philosopher, historian and humanist, Platina was born in 1421 and his origins are unknown. He was a high-ranking official in the Library of the Holy See, but had previously been imprisoned and sentenced by Pope Paul II. Platina was a member of the College of Abbreviators, a humanist group in Rome. Paul II ordered the dissolution of the order, and Platina sent a letter to the Pope in protest, and in September 1464, an enraged Paul II imprisoned Platina in CastelSant? Angelo) prison and threatened him with death. Platina's imprisonment lasted until January 1465, when he was freed with the help of Cardinal Gonzaga, but his entanglement with Pope Paul II did not end there.

In 1468, Paul II arrested numerous members of the Roman Academy. From what is known, it seems that "the translator of Platina's writings, Mary? Ella? Mary Ella Milham writes: "This informal organization brought together many aspiring people from different strata of Roman society...... They all had a passion for ancient Rome and were known by their classical names within the Academy. Therefore we suspect that they may well have participated in some pagan rituals and even worshipped pagan gods. The "infidels" were imprisoned on charges of plotting to assassinate the Pope, some of whom were tortured. "Platina's right arm was badly injured as a result of the torture, and he is in dire need of recuperation and treatment after his release." Millam writes, and then she goes on to point out that Platina is innocent of these accusations: "There is no evidence that the Roman Academy is anti-Christian, although there have been grotesque acts from time to time. ”

Platina's stir-fried broad beans

Start by boiling the fava beans with onions, figs, sage, and several other herbs you love until soft; Then stir-fry in a greased pan. Once sautéed, place on a flat plate or dish to form a cake shape, and sprinkle with spices.

In 1469, Platina was released again, and Paul II died in 1471. His successor, Sixtus IV, valued Platina very much. Platina quickly became the darling of the new pope and wrote TheLivesofthePopes to repay the pope's grace. In 1475, Sistus (who ordered the construction and decoration of the Sistine Chapel) appointed Platina as the first administrator of the Vatican Library, which had a collection of thousands of volumes.

Historians have not been able to determine the exact date of the book "On Right Happiness and Good Health," but they all agree on one thing: it was before Platino's arrests. Therefore, a fairer date of publication is usually set at 1465. In the early summer of 1463, Platina, together with Bishop Gongsage, met with Cardinal Ludvico in Albano. Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan was a guest at his home. At that time, it was Martino who was the head chef of the Trevisan family. It is speculated that Martino gave Platino a manuscript of the Complete Book of Culinary Arts, which provided the material for 40 percent of the later book On Proper Pleasure and Good Health, which covers 95 percent of Martino's cookbook. Platina wrote: "Whoever [cooks] should take the man from Nova Como (Martino) as his best example; He was the star chef of our time, and from him I learned the art of cooking. ”

In a letter dated to Giacomo? Amanady? In the letter (and the most thought-provoking) of Cardinal Giacomo Ammannati Piccolomini, Platino made the following comments:

Before my (first) imprisonment, I wrote the little book "On Right Happiness and Good Health". I hand it over to you, who are generous, in the hope of obtaining the shelter of a sponsor. As you know, the book is about the business of all the food merchants, even the little inns, and is therefore a rather greasy and dirty topic. However, all those who are skilled in cooking have a certain talent, because the food itself is a work of ingenuity. Because of this, such people must be proficient in cooking. In addition, all those who wish to make it their lifelong career must be familiar with all this. Of course, the latter analysis is indeed a tedious and not very elegant subject for me, so I will try to make it perfect, and as far as I understand it, this effort cannot fail. There is no doubt that noble people mostly have good judgment about such things and will take them to the next level; Therefore, even if it may cause you unpleasure, I am anxious to present this book to you (and it may be an inspiration to those who are ingenious if you will) in order to obtain your valuable comments and criticisms, and to ask you to comply with the requests I have mentioned above.

And the poet Jacopo? Jacopo Sannazaro criticized Platina this way:

You have written about the character, habits, life and death of the popes

What a vivid historical significance

Now, Platina, do you write essays to teach? Cook millet grains

Just for the popes

Cardinal Bartolomeo of Rome? Cardinal Bartolomeo Roverella, archbishop of Ravenna from 1445 to 1476, was under his patronage and support that On Right Happiness and Good Health became the first book on gastronomy that Fu Zi wrote. In a letter dedicated to Bishop Rovirella, Platina defended himself as follows:

I was condemned for writing books about gastronomy, and to him I seemed to be a greedy and delicious person, promoting the tools of desire to people, constantly stimulating the indulgent and wicked. If those men had been able to adhere spontaneously to the principles of moderation and frugality, either voluntarily or to the teachings of others, as I have always insisted, we would not have today found so many so-called cooks, so many gluttons, so many dandies, so many social moths, so many people who hide their desires and are diligent in nourishing them, and the ever-increasing number of officials who are eager to eat and be greedy. I write about gastronomy in order to emulate the illustrious people of ancient times, such as Cato the Great, the most learned of Varro, and Columella, C. Matius, and Kyrius? Apicius (Caelius Apicius). I can't encourage my readers to indulge in profligacy, and I've always dissuaded them from evil through my writings. My purpose in writing has always been to help all citizens pursue healthy, modest, and elegant food, rather than indulging in alcohol. At the same time, I hope to show future generations that even if the people of our time are not talented enough to write articles that can rival the work of our predecessors, at least we can imitate them perfectly.

Sicilian-style pasta in Platina

The white flour is carefully sifted and whisked with egg whites, rose syrup and water. Pull the dough into half-foot-long strips shaped like wheat straw each. Take a very thin iron rod and hollow out the dough: insert the iron rod and after taking it out, the dough will become hollow. Macaroni made in this way can be stored for two to three years after drying in the sun – especially under the last quarter moon in August. To serve, cook the soup well, put it on a plate, and sprinkle with fresh butter and sweet spices.

After the first edition of "On Right Happiness and Good Health" came out, a frenzied reprint frenzy ensued. From this, we can conclude beyond any doubt that Platina's book is a masterpiece that conforms to the trend of the times. In 1475, 1498, 1503 and 1517, On Right Happiness and Good Health was reprinted in Venice; reprinted in Louvain and Cividale del Friuli in 1480; reprinted in Bologna in 1499; It was reprinted in Strasbourg in 1517, in Coin in 1529 and 1537, in Paris in 1530, in Lyon and Basel in 1541. At that time, there were as many as sixteen Latin editions of Platina's book.

Of course, like all humanists of his time, Platina wrote in Latin. However, for most people who were engaged in cooking at the time, it was necessary to rely on a translator to read Platina's book. As a result, the book's vitality has been extended by countless multilingual editions: it was translated into Italian in 1487, 1494, 1508 and 1516; Translated into German in 1530, 1533, 1536 and 1542; Translated into French in Lyon in 1505, 1528, 1548 and 1571, and in Paris in 1509, 1539, 1559 and 1567.

"The popularity of On Right Happiness and Good Health can be seen as part of the expanded influence of the Renaissance Enlightenment," said cookbook expert Barbara? Barbara Feret commented, "This enlightenment made the individual's ability and creativity gradually become the standard of recognition by the world...... The book was well received and critically acclaimed, and is undoubtedly one of the main reasons for the development of the culinary arts in Europe. ”

Platina's fried gourd

Peel the gourd and cut it into thin slices. Put in a pot with water, bring to a boil, remove and place on a plate. After a little drying, coat with salt and flour and fry in a pan. Once on a plate, add the garlic juice, fennel flowers and breadcrumbs soaked in sour juice.

Platina gives a fairly detailed description of the plants used as ingredients and the growth process of some of them. Speaking of the date palm tree, he wrote:

It is said that female plants lacking males usually do not produce fruit, so males should be planted close to females. As soon as the male plant is cut down, the female plant immediately loses its ability to bear fruit. However, the fruit of the date palm tree does not grow in the leaves, but in the new branches.

He also made detailed records of cooking techniques:

It is believed that regular consumption of pine nuts and raisins at the same time evokes a deep passion. When flavored with sugar, it has the same magic. During Lent, the aristocracy and the wealthy often ate it as a starter and a lasting-course dish. Once the sugar is melted, pour in the pine nuts and use a small spoon to coat them in the syrup to make them into the shape of lozenges (diamonds). In order to decorate the palatial look, a gold leaf is added - I think this is also done to add fun.

Of course, there is similar medical advice throughout the book:

Morjoram, whether farmed or wild, is more potent as a medicine than as food. When milled with white wine, it resists the poison of scorpions and spiders. Marjoram can also treat indigestion. In addition, when taken with warm water, it can relieve stomach colic.

Most of Platina's recipes sound mouth-watering, such as the Kidin Garlic dish below. The recipes are quite complete, and even come with suggestions for serving, perfect for the 21st century when we cook a barbecue in the kitchen:

Coat a whole or quarter baby goat with a mixture of lard and peeled garlic cloves and roast on a lit rotisserie. Add water from time to time and add some bay and rosemary sprigs. At this point, prepare a special sauce as follows: add two beaten egg yolks, two cloves of mashed garlic, a pinch of saffron and pepper to the sour juice and rich sauce and place them in a saucepan. Sprinkle the sauce on the baby goats that are being grilled, and when roasted, serve on a plate and pour in the remaining sauce, at which point sprinkle some finely chopped parsley on the top. This plate of freshly roasted baby goats with garlic sauce should be served hot to preserve their flavor.

Platina concludes "On Right Happiness and Good Health" on an optimistic and positive note. He writes that if you consistently insist on "temperance, strength, moderation, and prudence," then "greed, ambition, indulgence, excesses, intoxication, rudeness, deceit, sin, wickedness, rashness, lust, madness, and despair will not destroy your rightful pleasure and optimal health." "Platina's philosophy of life has been achieved? Finch's response and approval are detailed in Chapter 5.

Platina's bitter grass fried pie

When night falls, the bitter grass is chopped and placed in soaked flour to ferment with the flour. The next morning, add the chopped dried figs and raisins and stir well. The mixture should not be over-fried, and the fried pie should be coated with sugar and honey. Although this dish is not nutritious, it can promote liver function, dissolve phlegm, and prevent intestinal flatulence.

A book of feasts and an "opera" without music

The first book to provide a detailed analysis of Italy's regional cuisine was the Commentariodellepiunotabiliemostruosed, published in 1548. Italiaed?altriluoghi), written by the Milanese Ortensio? Ortensio Lando. Lando takes a novel-like approach to the book, telling the story of a traveler who travels from southeastern Italy to the northwest. On the way, he was warmly welcomed by innkeepers from all over Italy, and was able to taste the local flavors. In Sicily, he tasted macaroni "usually made with fat gelding chicken and fresh cheese, full of butter and milk"; In Sorrento, he ate "peaches delicious enough to raise the dead"; He also found that "the spectacular city of Ferrara is second to none not only in the processing of sausages and the cultivation of leafy greens, fruits and root vegetables", but also in the production of "high-quality shad and sturgeon." ”

Messisbugo's favorite meat

Christophoro, author of The Feast: A Combination of Gastronomy and Pomp (1592-1594)? Messisbugo lists his favorite meats, and the top of the list is probably his favorite: "bulls, cows, calves, wild or domestic boars, stags, deer, roe deer, lambs, baby goats, suckling pigs, hares, rabbits, dormice, peacocks, wild or domestic pheasants." Quail, thrush, sandpiper, bunting, warbler, quail, turtle dove, duckling, crane, goose, dove, heron, snipe, wild or domesticated duck, plover and other poultry. Plump and fleshy steers and similar hens, domestic pigeons and spotted-tailed forest pigeons. ”

In Ferrara, Ercole I was the first duke to allow the masses to visit his court banquets. Christophero? Cristoforo de Messisbugo was the organizer of the feasts that planned and ran Ercole I, or "scalco" (deacons of banquets). Messisbugo was a high-ranking court official who remained in office after Ercole's death in 1534. Messisbugo's book Banchetti (composizionidivivendeeapparecchio) was published in 1549 after his death. The second part of the book is a recipe for the daily diet of the court, as well as a description of the molds that could be used to make puff pastries in the shape of a palace, an eagle and an irise, as well as details of the fourteen banquets and dinners organized by Messisbugo. The first chapter of the book provides an overview of the various utensils needed to host Ferrara's legendary feasts: from hall settings and table decorations, to music and entertainment, to a lengthy list of all the must-haves. Just like Da? As with the similar extravaganza that Vinci created for the court of Sfza, the meal was only one part of the feast, which I will elaborate on later.

Deep-fried Elderberry Flowers pie

Is this recipe from Christoforo? Messisbugo, the Renaissance de Ferrara? The "Scalco" of the court of Esther, or the organizer of the banquet.

Mash four ounces of flour, three pieces of fresh ricotta cheese (or a pound of soft cheese) made that day, one and a half pounds of ground cheese, three ounces of salted cheese, and half an egg-sized amount of yeast. Add six cracked eggs, a glass of milk and three ounces of rose dew to the mixture. Stir to combine. If it is too thick, dilute it with an appropriate amount of milk. Add three ounces of raisins at this point. If you're making this dish in the summer, you can also add an ounce of elderflower while mashing all the ingredients in a mortar. Then you can spoon the pie of any shape you like and fry it in a pan. You can also use butter or three pounds of lard to fry the pie. Once fried and served, sprinkle with three ounces of powdered sugar and serve.

"As a great Scarco," the food historian Roy? Strong wrote, "From his writings, Messisbugo was a man of vast knowledge, keen vision, high artistic taste, and an unbounded passion for music." In some ways, Messisbugo is a theatrical genius, but his organizational skills are even more prominent. Indeed, a good Skalco must have the organizational skills to manage a large number of craftsmen and actors, the creative mind of a show producer, and the practical experience of managing financial resources.

In the tradition of the great culinary works written by Martino and Platino, among others, the most influential (and slightly controversial) chef of the Renaissance, Bartolomeo? Bartolomeo Scappi. Because the names are so similar, the two Bartolomeo are often confused. In fact, quite a few of the sources I have consulted have this identity confusion error. Bartolomeo? Schippi was the chef of Pope Pius IV and Pope Pius V, but little is known about his life, not even the date of his birth and death. All we know is that in April 1536, that is, in the month of Da? Seventeen years after Finci's death, Sgarpi played for Lorenzo? Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio orchestrated a banquet in honor of Charles V. Later, in 1567, he also planned and organized a banquet to commemorate the first anniversary of the reign of King Vius V.

Sgarpi is best known for his book Opera (Operadell?artedecucinare, A Collection of Culinary Arts). The publication of this book is a groundbreaking historical record, detailing more than forty years of secret culinary history at one of Europe's most illustrious courts. There are six chapters in the book, containing more than 1,000 recipes. The first is a classical dialogue between a culinary master and his apprentice, covering tasks such as cooking, the organization of meals, the types of kitchen utensils, and the quarantine and preservation methods of various foods. The remaining five are informative and rich in recipes about livestock, game, poultry, fish, vegetables and eggs, just like Platina. He then presents readers with 113 seasonal menus for everything from simple dinners to lavish feasts. In addition, there are several articles about the work of pastry chefs and the food suitable for patients.

Renaissance cooks, such as Skapi, believed that many ailments could be treated with different kinds of food. In this way, the tradition of using spices as food and medicine continued. Sometimes, chefs are like doctors and have a responsibility to keep people healthy. Schippi also likened himself to a "prudent and wise architect" who "built on the solid foundations of his precise designs, on which he created practical and extraordinary buildings for the world".

"Lombard flavor" vanilla Italian wonton

This one from Bartolomeo? Sgarpi's recipes are the epitome of Renaissance Milanese pasta. "Tortelli" (Italian wonton) is also known as "Tortelloni", and this method of cooking is now also popular in Lombardy and the Emilia Romagna region.

Chop the beet and spinach leaves; Rinse several times in the water, squeeze the water dry and set aside. The leaves are simmered in fresh butter and a little vanilla such as parsley or thyme is added. Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a clay or tinned copper pot and add equal parts Parmesan cheese (ground) and fresh Recotta cheese, seasoned with pepper, cinnamon bark, cloves, saffron, raisins and cracked raw eggs. After mixing well, if it is too thin, add an appropriate amount of breadcrumbs; If it's too dry, add a little butter. To make a piece of dough at this point, see Chapter 1 for how to make it. Place the mixture on top of the dough, fold it in half and squeeze both sides at the same time to make a large or small Italian wonton; Cook in a rich broth, serve on a plate and sprinkle with cheese, sugar and cinnamon.

The most famous part of the Opera book is the kitchen illustrations, which are used in the vast majority of books on Renaissance cooking published today. Sgarpi was in charge of the Vatican's (pope's) kitchen at the time, and it was he who first described the modern kitchen of the Renaissance. Opera contains copperplate details of kitchen facilities, tools, and gadgets, such as a pasta cutter and a top-of-the-line barbecue.

The illustrations also show the procedure for preparing meals during the election of the Pope – the process of preparing meals requires a high degree of security to prevent the possibility of poisoning the diet. Each cardinal's food is prepared by his personal chef. Sgarpi was involved in this procedure and described it in detail in his book. "The food was served in sumptuous containers adorned with the coat of arms of each cardinal," Riley wrote, "and after being examined by a team of four bishops, a rotating revolving door was passed into the secret chamber where the Cardinal Conference was located. All wines are clearly marked and served in glass containers. No whole pie or chicken is allowed, and all food has to be cut up. The purpose of this was to rule out the possibility of dangerous knives in the dining room, where the bishops might have the opportunity to collude with the attendants to criticize the cardinal.

To illustrate the culinary arts of Italy more clearly, Schippi divided Italy into three parts: Lombardy (the Po Valley), the Grand Duchy and Rome, and the Kingdom (southern Italy and Sicily). He focuses on three cities: Milan, Rome and Naples, but at the same time, he also clearly shows his knowledge of Venice, Florence and ****** local cuisine. He was the first writer to provide a comparative analysis of Italy's regional cuisines, and only one of the hundreds of recipes in his book is called all'italiana (Italian): the Pieces of Grayling in Broth. As a Lombard, many of Sgarpi's dishes reflect Lombard traditions, such as Lombard-style soups and Lombard-style rice, as well as stuffed meats, pies and noodles that appear several times in the book.

Venetian-inspired dishes are usually fish-based, such as SmallStuffed Squidin Fish Broth, but there are also well-known dishes like Braised LoinofBeef and Cinnamon Cakes. In Rome, Sgarpi's second home, there is a wide variety of dishes, such as minced meat, pasta assortment, Roman-style cabbage and pan-fried fish cakes. Savoury dishes from Naples include PuffPastryFilledwithSquabMeat and CabbageSoupwithMortadella. It is clear that Scarppi understood that the emergence of regional cuisines in Italy was a city-based phenomenon, and decided that the cities he had chosen were representative of the overall culinary style of the region in question, as they were the trading centers and food distribution centers of the region.

Unlike the writings of Martino and Platina, Bartolomeo? Sgarpi's menu shows us the process of making salads and fruits into beautiful dishes, making them more suitable for lavish banquets. A variety of salads and fruits are served in each of the banquet courses, which can soothe the rich taste of fish dishes cooked with plenty of spices and renew the appetite of the diners.

Sgarpi was so knowledgeable that he even wrote about the making of marinades and Arabic puff pastries. In the book, he recorded two hundred recipes for making waffles, shortbread, and a cake called pizze. Exotic dishes documented in Opera also include Moorish couscous and allatedesca. In the post-Renaissance era, none of the gastronomic writers of Squapi made any attempt to summarize the major gastronomic cities of the Italian peninsula and create a "national" culinary encyclopedia based on them. Instead, they chose to focus on a specific region. For example, the Lucernadecorteggiani (The Oil Lamps of the Courtiers), published in Naples in 1643, by Giovanni? Batista? Giovan BattistaCrisci. The focus of the book is on the gastronomy of southern Italy, especially cheese and fruit, and it lists a list of gastronomic products from Naples to Calabria to Sicily, which has not been done before. The focus of the book is no longer on the big towns, but on the rural areas and those small villages. In fact, when talking about the cuisine of the South, the only city mentioned by Cristch is Naples - the capital of the Kingdom of Naples, the list of large? The sub-sections are records of the origin of fruits, such as peaches from Amalfi, apples from Moiano, wild cherries from Somma, salted ricottas from Capua, and fine mozzarella from Aversa.

Reply

Sgarpi's Opera and the recipes of the regions in it sparked a trend of cookbooks dedicated to regional cuisine. Not only that, but the authors of these cookbooks have also delved deeper into the flavors that are unique to each region. There is another writer who also has a soft spot for southern Italian cuisine, and he is Antonio? Antonio Latini. In Naples between 1692 and 1694, Latini published a two-volume series of Loscalcoallamoderna (The Art of the Planning and Organization of a Feast) (Loscalcoallamoderna, overol?artedibendisporreiconviti). The first volume, "A Brief Facts of Naples", deals with "the precious fruits and other precious products produced in different regions of the Kingdom of Naples", covering the twelve provinces of the Kingdom. In addition to this, Latini also recorded the food specialties of the small villages in the provinces, such as Poggioreale in Campania, which supplied Naples with "fine fruits"; Chiai is famous for its peas, cardoon, artichokes, turnips and horseradish; Ischia and Capri produce "plenty of pheasants" and "fine veal"; Urtra (Principato Ultra) is "brainsausages".

In Italy during the Renaissance and beyond, among the many wonderful cookbooks and other gastronomic literature, the books of Christie and Latini are among the best. The last comprehensive and systematic collection of recipes to emerge during this period came from Latini. In the period from the late 17th century to the middle of the 18th century, there was a gap in culinary literature. This silence," gastronomic historian Alberto? Alberto Capatti and Massimo? Massimo Montanari explains: "Embodying the feelings of cultural inferiority that Italians experienced when French cuisine began to sweep across Europe, the impact of which proved to be profound. Instead, it is "a return to local traditions and oral transmission, both of which are the main tools for the continuation of national cultural traditions." ”

The most reachable? Finch's favorite dish

Not a few? Fincher's biographers have mentioned that Da? Vinci's favorite dish is the gazelle. Here's a Tuscan soup (Minestrone Toscano) from MinestroneToscano. Florence, Vinci's early hometown. Serve with a whole slice of toast and a little olive oil for dipping the bread. Traditionally, the pasta needed to make this soup is the rice-grained kind, but you can also use rice if you prefer.

9 cups water

1 1/2 cups dried white beans

Salt to taste

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 stalk celery, minced

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1/2 nest of cabbage, chopped

2 leeks, chopped

2 small zucchini courgettes, chopped

1 fresh basil, finely chopped

1 whole lilac

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 cup risono or orzopasta

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Pour the white beans into it and cook for two hours. Remove half of the beans from the pan and sieve above the pan. Cover the pot and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and stir-fry the garlic and onion over medium heat for one minute. Dilute the tomato paste with a teaspoon of water and pour it into the pan. At this point, pour in all the other ingredients and the prepared white bean soup, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Serves 4 people.

Braised chicken breast in sour juice

For this dish from Martino's Encyclopedia de la Culinary Art (c. 1465), Gillian Brown, an expert on Renaissance cuisine? Riley commented: "As one of the most delicious dishes in the manuscript, its ease of handling is a reflection of the new and simple cooking style of the Renaissance—simple seasoning, fresh taste, and uncomplicated processing." "If you can't find unripe grapes, add 1/8 cup of lemon juice when cooking with ripe grapes. (Sour juice is made from unripe grapes, so it has a sour taste.) To make saffron pollen, dry the saffron branches in the microwave and mash them with a mortar.

2 slices of bacon meat

4 pieces of chicken breast, deboned and skinned

1/2 cup chicken broth

24 large, half-ripe grapes, each cut in half from the middle and seeded

1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

1 tablespoon chopped spearmint

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pinch of saffron pollen

Bring the bacon out of the oil in a frying pan and remove the remaining bacon slices. Add the chicken breast and fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Pour out the excess oil from the pan and add the chicken broth and grapes. Then cover and simmer for 20 minutes; After 20 minutes, remove the lid, add the remaining ingredients, and serve.

Serves 4 people.