Italian Cuisine

Why is the cuisine of the Italian peninsula so rich, tasty and varied?
By Don Vito De Carolis, Avanti Savoia’s Italian Partner
Part Two: The Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance was a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. The European Renaissance began in Tuscany, centered in the cities of Florence and Siena and later in Venice. The Italian Renaissance is best known for its cultural achievements.

The main trade routes from the east passed either through the Byzantine Empire or the Arab lands and then on to the ports of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. Luxury goods bought in the Levant, such as spices, dyes, and silks were imported to Italy and then resold throughout Europe. The northern section of the country was far more prosperous, with the states of northern Italy among the wealthiest in Europe. The Crusades had built lasting trade links to the Levant, and the Fourth Crusade had done much to destroy the Byzantine Empire as a commercial rival to the Venetians and Genoese. Moreover, the inland city-states profited from the rich agricultural land of the Po valley. From France, Germany, and the Low Countries, land and river trade routes brought goods such as wool, wheat, and precious metals into the region. The extensive trade that stretched from Egypt to the Baltic generated substantial surpluses that allowed significant investment in mining and agriculture. Thus, while northern Italy was not richer in resources than many other parts of Europe, the level of development, stimulated by trade, allowed it to prosper. The Italian trade routes that covered the Mediterranean and beyond were also major conduits of culture and knowledge.
The city-states of Italy expanded greatly during this period and grew in power to become de facto fully independent of the Holy Roman Empire. Apart from the Kingdom of Naples, outside powers kept their armies out of Italy. During this period, the modern commercial infrastructure developed, with double-entry book-keeping, joint stock companies, an international banking system, a systematized foreign exchange market, insurance, and government debt. Florence became the centre of this financial industry and the gold florin became the main currency of international trade. Northern Italy was divided into a number of warring city-states, the most powerful being Milan, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Genoa, Ferrara, and Venice. The northern regions of the Italian Peninsula started to show a mix of Germanic and Roman culture while the southern portion continued to reflect the influences of Arab culture. Mediterranean cuisine had been spread by the Arabs as they controlled much of the Mediterranean trade routes.

During the 15th century Maestro Martino was chef to the Patriarch of Aquileia at the Vatican. His manuscript Libro de arte coquinaria began to illustrate a cuisine with a more refined and elegant design. In his book contains a recipe for Maccaroni Siciliani which was made by wrapping dough around a thin iron rod and dried in the sun. The macaroni was to be cooked in capon stock flavored with saffron, illustrating the Arab influence. Of particularly note is Chef Martino's shedding the use of excessive spices in favor of fresh herbs. Martino's cuisine created a methodology that respected proper selection and modes of preparation. The Roman recipes mentioned in the text includes recipes for coppiette and cabbage dishes. His Florentine dishes included eggs with a Bolognese torta, Sienese torta and for Genoese recipes such as piperata, macaroni, squash, mushrooms, and spinach pie with onions.
Martino's manuscript was included in a book printed during 1475 in Venice written by Bartolomeo Platina entitled De honesta voluptate et valetudine ("On Honest Pleasure and Good Health"). Platina puts Martino's "Libro" in cultural context reflexing different regions of Italy including the Po Valley, Liguria, Campania, Piceno, Apulia, and Sicily. He speaks of ingredients coming from various regions: perch from Lake Maggiore, sardines from Lake Garda, grayling from Adda, hens from Padua, olives from Bologna and Piceno, turbot from Ravenna, rudd from Lake Trasimeno, carrots from Viterbo, bass from Tiber, roviglioni and shad from Lake Albano, snails from Rieti, figs from Tuscolo, grapes from Narni, oil from Cassino, oranges from Naples and moray from Campania. Grains from Lombardy and Campania are also mentioned as is honey from Sicily and Taranto. The wines he mentions are from the Ligurian coast, Grecco from Tuscany and San Severino and Trebbiano from Tuscany and Piceno.
The courts of Florence, Rome, Venice and Ferrara were integral to the creation of fine cooking in Italy. The court of Estes in Ferrara was a central figure to the creation of this high-cuisine. Christoforo Messisbugo steward to Ippolito d'Este published Banchetti Composizioni di Vivande in 1549. In this work Messisbugo details banquets in the first-half of the book, in the second-half of the book contains a multitude of recipes for items such as pies and tarts (containing 124 recipes with various fillings). The work does emphasize the use of Eastern spices and sugar which was at this time otherwise beginning to diminish.
In 1570, Opera was written by Bartolomeo Scappi personal chef to Pope Pius V. This was a five volume work that encompassed the most comprehensive example of Italian cooking to that date. The work contained over 1,000 recipes, with information on banquets including displays and menus as well as illustrations of kitchen and table utensils. The difference between most books written for the royal courts and this volume, is in its appeal to “modest households". Instead of game and other luxury meats this book includes instead the more available domestic animals and courtyard birds. Instructions are also included on the cleaning and use of lesser cuts of meats including tongue, head, and shoulder. The third book contains recipes for fish, or Lent cookery. Preparations for fish are simple, including poaching, broiling, grilled, or fried after being marinated. Particular attention is given to seasons in which fish should be caught and in which location. The final volume includes pies, tarts, fritters and includes a recipe for a Neapolitan pizza. This was a sweet version of the Neapolitan pizza not the savory version known today, because tomatoes had not yet been introduced to Italy. There were recipes for corn and turkey however, which were items from the New World.
In the fifteenth-century a series of foreign invasions that would continue for several decades marked the end of the Italian Renaissance. These began with the invasion by France that wreaked widespread devastation on Northern Italy and ended the independence of many of the city-states. Most damaging was the invasion by Spanish and German troops' that sacked Rome itself.

3rd part will be on line Friday September 19th 2008