SC - peas in period

[SigridPW at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/3/99 6:59:36 PM Pacific Standard Time, LrdRas at aol.com
writes:

<< << There is a traditional Venetian dish called 'risi e bisi' (rice and
peas).
 >>
 
 Original recipe? Documentation, please? The only reason I ask this is that
 'traditional' recipes are not necessarily 'period' recipes.  

Which is why I said "traditional", and not period.

>Another point
 that crosses  my mind is that simply because a food was eaten  in a certain
 form in one period (i.e. the 16th centruy) is doesn't necessarily follow that
 a food was eaten in the same form in the 12th century.
 
The references the author cites are, among others:

A tavola con i Dogi.  Storia e ricette della grande cucina veneziana by Pino-
Zorzi, Alvise,Agostini

La Scienza in cucina e l'arte de mangiar bene by Piero Camporesi, Introduzione
e note (a cura di) in Pellegrino Artusi

Storia econiomica de Venezia dall' XI al XVI secolo by Gino Luzzatto

I can't remember which ones I wound up having access to at the library, but
suffice it to say, I could make out the general concepts, but my Italian is a
bit rusty, and I was quite content to take the author's rendition as it seemed
to generally reflect the ideas in "La Scienza..." (if I remember correctly).

> While a person may because of numerous reasons include 'trafitional'  or
 'ethnic' dishes in a feast menu. , we must be very careful not label these
 dishes as period. These dishes have evolved right along with the rest of the
 world and are in fact a product of mofculture albeit a product which
sometimes
 bears some resemblance to the dish from which it evolved.
 
Of course, which is why I mentioned the recipe as "traditional" and the legend
as a "legend".  This is also how the author of this particular book refers to
them as well.

> So if the legend behind the dish is true, then there is a possibility that
 shelled fresh sugar peas may have been eaten. But so far a I know, from the
 few references that I have access to, pea dishes during the middle ages were
 prepared from dried peas with a remote possibility that fresh unshelled sugar
 peas may have been consumed in period.

I believe the mention of the dish being included in the St. Mark's celebration
was in "A Tavola con i Dogi...".  (makes the most sense, I should write these
things down!) Where ever it was it also said something about them being part
ot the procession and also about some being sent for from Genoa.  The author
of the book I found the recipe in said that if winter was bad and the peas
weren't available (because spring was too late), they imported them from
abroad and the ones from Genoa were particularly favored.  Again, my Italian
is limited, but that seemed to overlap what I could gather.
 
If I can get back to the library again, I'll take notes, I promise.  I was
just checking to see if this recipe had reasonable merit for my own use... Not
really interested in writing a major reasearch paper on it.  At least not
right now.

Giuglia Madelena Sarducci
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