[Sca-cooks] Bagna cauda

[Christiane]

Selene wrote:
Um, on-topic content... food in B5... bagna cauda, Mr. Garibaldi's 
favorite birthday meal, is supposed to be "ancient" but I'm having some 
trouble running down documentation other than websites.  Anyone know 
anything?

Selene
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The only hint I'm getting about it, unfortunately, is from a Website:

http://www.taccuinistorici.it/newsbrowser.php?news_id=441&news_dove=1

The site says bagna cauda is supposed to have originated amongst the fishermen of Provence. Because it's one of those rustic peasant dishes, it's hard to track down.

I do notice that the contemporary bagna cauda recipes all call for butter in addition to olive oil. During most of the Middle Ages, olive oil was scarce and expensive because many of the groves cultivated by the Romans went to pot during the chaos of the Dark Ages and early Middle Ages. The Church took control of most of the remaining olive groves. For the peasant, butter was a more plentiful fat to add to the diet.

Gianotta