[Sca-cooks] Re: chocolate

[Louise Smithson]

Following up from the response from Alys K. The book with the chocolate recipes is: Clotilde Vesco, Cucina fiorentina fra Medioeveo e Rinascimento.  It is an Italian book purporting to be recipes from the medieval and renaisance era.  It has an interesting introduction, dealing with trade and food in Florence and then has a recipe section with recipes taken from several sources. Mostly the author was promoting her view that Florence was the seat of all Italian cooking, this book is not without it's flaws. Of relevance to this discussion are those including chocolate which are Biscottini reali (royal biscotti) and Biscottini alla romana di marzapane.  

Biscottini reali: Per fare biscottini reali, si piglia once sei di zucchero fino passato e tre rossi d'ovo con una chiara et si mette il tutto insieme dentro il mortaro di marmo.  Si pesta tutto insieme per il tempo di un quarto d'ora. E poi si mettono dentro alla carta come si fa con le rotelle grosse. E si mette poca roba perche non venghino fora e cosi si fanno di cioccolata et altra cose. 

Royal biscotti: To make royal biscottini, one takes six ounces of fine sugar sieved and three egg yolks with one egg white and one puts everything together inside a marble mortar. One grinds (beats) all this together for the space of a quarter of an hour. And then one puts it into the card (on paper) like one makes large "rotelle". And one puts little other things in there because otherwise it won't raise, and thus one makes of chocolate and other things.  (The last instruction is presumably for flavorings of which one adds just a little, because otherwise the sponge won't rise properly and one of things you can use is chocolate.)

Biscottini alla romana di marzapane: Si piglia la pasta del marzapane, mettendovi dentro candito pesto, muschio, cannella grattata e cioccolata grattugiata fina, che venga nera la sudetta pasta. Maneggiando tutto insieme fino che venghi tosta da potersi tagliare co'l cultello facendone biscottini della grandezza che piace.  Mettendoli in forna a rasciugare, anzi si mettono a cuocere sopra la carta avvertendo che nella pasta si pole mettere un poca di chiara d'ova accio che venghino piu di rigoglio. Si puole la cannella e cioccolata farla bollire in un po di zuccchero per miglio grazia della dose.  

Marzipan biscotti in the roman style: one takes marzipan and adds into it candied citron ground, musk, grated cinnamon and grated fine chocolate, this makes the paste become black.  Mix everything together until it becomes firm and one can cut it with a knife and make biscottini of whatever size you wish.  Put them in the oven to dry, also one puts them to cook on a card, be aware that on this paste one can put a little white of egg in order that it becomes more risen (or pleasant). One puts the cinnamon and chocolate to boil in a little bit of sugar for better grace of these things. 

Both these recipes are sourced from Carte Bardi II A.116.  No where in this book is a date given for these particular archives.  The only thing that the author says is that the Bardi archives start in the 15th century.  When I contacted the archives directly they said the following: 
In riferimento alla sua lettera il documento dell’Archivio Bardi, seconda serie, a 116 , attualmente ha la segnatura: Archivio Bardi, seconda serie, 129 ed è intitolato “Raccolta di ricette varie per fare vivande, dolci e profumi”. Dall’inventario il manoscritto risulta essere del XVIII secolo.

In reference to your letter the documents of the Bardi archives, second series A116, acutally has the designation: Bardi Archives, second series, 129 and is titled "Collection of recipes for varies foods, sweets and perfumes" From the inventory of the manuscript it is from the 18th century.

So it  rules out this source for documentation of chocolate being used in period in Italy.  

 


		
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