[Sca-cooks] Re: Italian March menus

[Christiane]

Christiane wrote:

>
>There's a little more information in the book about how the kitchens were supplied at Ferrara, what they used, and what they grew and raised. Let me know if it's of interest to anyone, and I'll post it.

Kiri wrote:
>
Yes, I'd be very interested in this latter information, if it's not too 
much trouble....

Not too much trouble at all! The information isn't very extensive, alas, but there might be a morsel or two in it that you may find appetizing <g>.

The writer says the poor ate little fish during Lent because of scarcity of fresh fish and accompanying high prices; the poor stuck with beans, chickpeas, fruit, and vegetables.

Direct quotes here:

"Due to the difficulty of keeping food fresh, the predominant taste in dishes of the day was of preservatives — salt or sugar. In Lucrezia's kitchen, the pig was the most useful animal, prepared in various ways and used in the making of salami, and sausages (zambudelli) and prosciutto. Salted ox tongues were also appreciated for their practicality [here I have to break in and say, Italians ate pastrami?]."

"Fruits in syrup of sugar and spices were particularly appreciated by Isabella d'Este, who frequently requested them from Lucrezia's 'Vincentio spetiale' [he was a confectioner and part of Lucrezia's household]. They also raised capons, calves, peacocks, and guinea fowl (galline da India), kid, ducks and swans, supplemented by game in season, and given the lagoons and waterways of the Po area, they ate a great variety of fish, notably eels from the Comacchio and carpioni provided by Isabella from Lake Garda. Then there were cheeses and pasta dishes."

The writer goes on to say something about the presentation of banquets. Often they were a movable feast held in different rooms in different seasons, with a credenza loaded with cold dishes and the family's display of gold and silver plate. Most of the Este plate, however, had pretty much disappeared by 1515, melted down or pawned to provide funds to fight back against Pope Julius II. The court ate off of pottery produced, believe it or not, by Duke Alfonso II, Lucrezia's husband (he apparently was quite the craftsman, also cast his own large artillery cannon). Hot courses of at least eight dishes each from the kitchen alternated with cold courses served from the credenza. At Lucrezia's court, everything was coordinated by Cristoforo da Messibugo. He was apparently pretty famous in his own day and wrote a book called "Banchetti." I bet Helewyse and others on this list might know where a copy in English would be available! Unfortunately I don't.

Gianotta