[Sca-cooks] Interesting food article by Charles Perry published in Wednesday's LA Times

[Huette von Ahrens]

Our poet of Renaissance alta cucina.
 
Luigi Ballerini champions historical Italian
cookbooks and brings the culinary past to the
table.

By Charles Perry, Times Staff Writer

"Excuse me," said Professor Ballerini, "I have to
put on my cardinal's hat." 

He stood up from the table, whipped out a red
miter and put it on his head. Throwing an arm
around a young chef, he jovially announced to the
room full of diners: 

"I am Cardinal Trevisan. I am very rich. My villa
rivals the pope's. And this is my chef, maestro
Martino."

That's the kind of theatrical moment that can
happen when people throw historical banquets, 
such as this late-February re-creation of dishes
once enjoyed by the likes of Michelangelo and
Leonardo da Vinci. 

This particular meal — including macaroni
romaneschi (pasta with butter and cheese), 
baccalà mantecata (a light, luscious salt cod
purée), and a dramatic chocolate "Vesuvius" — was
inspired by recipes of 15th century chef Martino
of Como, whose wealthy employer liked to give
intimate dinner parties for Renaissance big 
shots. The event was an example of Ballerini's
efforts to bring attention to centuries-old
writings by Italian chefs.

Now, Luigi Ballerini is not a foodie. He's an
energetic figure in the literary world, in both
English and Italian: a prolific poet, a 
well-known translator, the former chair of UCLA's
Italian department, a specialist in avant-garde
art. Somehow he manages to maintain a residence 
in New York while teaching at UCLA ("Planes are
where I get my sleeping done," he joshes). 

He was playing the part of Cardinal Trevisan at
this dinner at Il Grano restaurant because he
recently wrote introductions to new editions of
two historical Italian cookbooks, Martino's "The
Art of Cooking: The First Modern Cookbook"
(University of California) and Pellegrino 
Artusi's "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of
Eating Well" (University of Toronto). 

*

Cookery's turning points

Both books document watershed moments in the
development of Italian cuisine. Martino steered
Renaissance cooking away from the medieval mania
for spices and spelled out things earlier authors
had not, such as measurements, cooking times and
how to choose the best ingredients. "He was not
afraid of revealing professional secrets," says
Ballerini — perhaps because he was well known
around Rome, almost a celebrity. 

"He became prominent enough to have detractors,"
Ballerini says. And in Rome, that's when you know
you're somebody.

Artusi's book, originally published in 1891,
codified a specifically Italian approach to
cookery after the political unification of Italy
in the 19th century.

Much more than recipes

But why is Ballerini, a man of letters who admits
he doesn't cook, involved with historical
cookbooks? Because there's more to cookbooks than
recipes, the professor explained in his UCLA
office the day after the dinner. "In Artusi," he
said, "my interest was the exploration of a
literary genre. I can consider his recipes as
writing, as I would a villanelle or a sonnet."
(Artusi is a great read, full of odd, amusing
asides.) 

"I'm also interested [in historical cookery
literature] because it reveals a great deal about
the society and the times. As a cultural
historian, I have an opportunity to draw a lot of
material out of it, to describe and analyze
economic and behavioral elements." For instance,
dry pasta has always been poor people's food,
while fresh pasta has always been associated with
luxury because it can spoil. 

Still, cookbooks are mostly recipes. Are the
recipes themselves still of any interest? 

"In the case of Artusi," Ballerini said, "the
recipes are not obsolete at all — his book is
still used in domestic cooking in Italy. In the
case of Martino, the fascination came from the
fact that so much of what we thought contemporary
has a long history." 

In particular, Martino apparently invented
battuto, the mixture of onions, carrots and 
celery fried together that is the foundation of 
so many Italian dishes. 

But Ballerini admits that antique recipes are 
also interesting in themselves. "I think we're
going to do more and more historical cooking," he
predicts. "There was a time when regional cooking
was important. We're shifting from space to time.


"Maybe that's one way of recovering history.
Nobody's paying attention to history anymore — I
think this is one area where the historical canon
has a chance to survive." 



Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for 
they shall never cease to be amused.


		
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