SC - A Dilemma on what to cook for Dinner-HELP!

[Decker, Terry D.]

> > There is a 29 year window when maize could have been used in Leonardo's
> > lifetime.
> 
> I've got it at 27 years, between 1492 and Leonardo's death in 1519. Not
> 
Which demonstrates I should not do arithmetic before the first cup of
coffee.

> So what we seem to be left with is that it _could_ be maize, but might
> not be. Do we have a date for the Codex Romanoff? It occurs to me that
> if an unusual grain were intended, Leonardo might have specified
> "polenta from maize" or some such, but then it might be covered by a
> shrug and the perhaps-not-very-necessary advice "use whatever grain you
> normally make polenta out of".
> 
> Adamantius
> -- 
> Phil & Susan Troy
> 
A quick search of the web brings up two sites, one in Italian, the other in
Spanish. 

>From a couple rough literal translations, the Codex Romanoff is known
through a book (no title given) published after the end of WWII.  Presumably
the book is taken from a manuscript copy (1865?) by one Pasquale Pisapia of
the Codex residing in the Hermitage.  Apparently the Hermitage has denied
knowledge of the Codex and of Pasquale Pisapia.  So the authenticity and
location of the Codex are in question.

Presumably, the Codex deals with the modernization of the kitchens of the
Castle Sforza (Milan) by Leonardo for Ludovico Sforza (Il Moro).  It covers
architectural improvements to the kitchens, machinery for kitchen
automation, table manners, recipes, etc.

Since Leonardo served Milan from 1482 to 1500, it is highly unlikely that
the polenta recipe from the Codex used maize.

Bear














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