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 Three: The Modern Era

During the first decade of the 17th century, chef Giangiacomo Castelvetro published Brieve Racconto di Tutte le Radici di Tutte l'Herbe et di Tutti i Frutti (A Brief Account of all Vegetables, Herbs and Fruit) which was translated into English by Gillian Riley. Originally from Modena, Castelvetro moved to England because of his Protestant background. The book included an in-depth listing of Italian vegetables and fruits as well as their preparation. The chef's preparation of vegetables featured them at times as a central part of the meal, not just accompaniments. The favored preparation (still popular in Italy today) was to simmer vegetables in salted water and serving them warm or cold with olive oil, salt, freshly ground pepper, lemon juice and verjuice or orange juice. Another preparation includes roasting vegetables wrapped in damp paper over charcoal or embers with a drizzle of olive oil, again a technique still popular today in Italy. Castelvetro's book is separated into seasons with mentions of hop shoots in the spring and truffles in the winter detailing the use of pigs to hunt truffle. New World items were not mentioned in this book as they did not become popular until the 18th century.
In 1662 Bartolomeo Stefani a Gonzagas’s chef published L'Arte di Ben Cucinare. He was the last chef to publish a book of Italian high-cuisine, but the first to offer a full section on vitto ordinario (ordinary food). The book contained a section on a banquet given by Gonzagas for Queen Christina of Sweden with details for preparation prior to the banquet, preparation of the food and table settings including each guest having a setting of a knife, fork, spoon, glass, a plate instead of bowls often used up to this point and a napkin. Other books were published at this time to illustrate how the scalco (server) should manage themselves while serving their guests. An important book to take up this topic was Galatheo by Giovanni della Casa. The book instructed waiters to not scratch their heads or other parts of themselves, not to spit, cough or sneeze while serving diners. The book also instructed diners to not use their fingers while eating as well as not wipe their sweat with their napkin.
Much of what is known as Italy today was still governed by France, Spain and Austria in the 18th century. In turn it was at the beginning of the 18th century that the culinary books of Italy began to show the regionalism of Italian cuisine in order for Italian chefs to better show the pride of their regions instead of the high cuisine of France. The books written at the time were also no longer addressed to professional chefs but to bourgeois housewives and their home cook. Originating in booklet form, periodicals such as La cuoca cremonese (The cook of Cremona) written in 1794 gives a sequence of ingredients according to season along with chapters on meat, fish and vegetables. As the century progressed these books increased in size, popularity and frequency, while the price to attain them dropped well within the reach of the general populace.
The 18th century peasant diet consisted of heavy foods. Taken more this diet gave the peasantry their own identity, as well as expressing animosity toward the high cuisine of the affluent which was more refined and delicate, Even medical texts of the time written by the elite warned peasants from eating refined foods as it was poor for their digestion and their bodies required a more substantial heavy meal to suppress their hunger. It was also thought that peasants had coarse stomachs which were unable to digest refined foods. It was also thought by some that peasants ate poorly because they had become accustomed to eating rotten foods and moldy breads to survive.

In 1779 Antonio Nebbia from Macerata, in the Marche region, wrote Il Cuoco Maceratese (The Cook of Macerata). In this book, Nebbia addressed the importance of local vegetables plus pasta and gnocchi. Instead of pureed soups in the French style, they included Mediterranean vegetables along with pasta or rice. For stocks; vegetables and chicken were favored over meat. Similarly, Vincenzo Corrado wrote Il Cuoco Galante (The Polite Cook) in Naples in 1773 which featured regional vegetables and ingredients. Particular emphasis was given to Vitto Pitagorico (vegetarian food) in his words "Pitagoric food consists of fresh herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, seeds and all that is produced in the earth for our nourishment. It is so called because Pythagoras, as is well known, only used such produce. There is no doubt that this kind of food appears to be more natural to man, and the use of meat is noxious." It was also this book that the tomato took its first central role with thirteen recipes. Zuppa alli Pomidoro first appears in Corrado's book which was the early rendition of Tuscan Pappa al Pomodoro. In Corrado's 1798 edition he introduced a "Treatise on the Potato" after the popularity of the potato of France through Antoine-Augustin Parmentier's successful promotion.
In the 19th century changes could even be noticed in the writing of chef Giovanni Vialardi, chef to the first king of Italy. In his book A Treatise of Modern Cookery and Patisserie published in Turin Vialardi wrote recipes "suitable for a modest household." Many of his recipes included regional dishes from Turin including twelve recipes for potatoes. Genoese Cappon Magro is still an integral regional dish today. Published in 1829, Il Nuovo Cuoco Milanese Economico written by Giovanni Felice Luraschi feature dishes regional to Milan including Kidney with Anchovies and Lemon and Gnocchi alla Romana, also popular to this day. Gian Battista and Giovanni Ratto published La Cucina Genovese in 1871 addressed the regional cuisine of Liguria. This book contained the first recipe for pesto. La Cucina Teorico-Pratica written by Ippolito Cavalcanti mentions the first recipe for pasta with tomatoes in his conversational tone not often seen before this time. La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiare bene (The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well), by Pellegrino Artusi, first published in 1891, is widely regarded as the canon of classic modern Italian cuisine, and its use is still widespread throughout Italy.
At the end of this long story, I want to point out that there isn’t any country in the world with such a long, and complex experience as the Italian Peninsula. For centuries it was a center of new culture, technologies, arts, wars, political experience and international trade. It is just this extraordinary combination of factors that answers the question, “Why the cuisine of the Italian peninsula so rich, varied and tasty?”
Would you like try an original recipe from the 1st century AD / 13th century AD / 17th century? Email me at vito@avantisavoia.com and let me know.
Please join us on our blog to share your thoughts concerning my opinon regarding that the cuisine of each country is the result of their history, culture and food availability.
We also hope that you will contact us with any questions or comments concerning any of Avanti Savoia’s “Culinary Treasures from around the World”.