No subject

I created-- here's an extract of the sources--

Facsimile editions of original sixteenth and seventeenth century Italian
cookbooks proved invaluable. Those by Arnaldo Forni of Italy that I own and
consulted include: Scappi, Bartolomeo. Opera. Dell=92arte del Cucinare.
(Venetia, 1570); Cervio, Vincenzo. Il Trinciante. (Roma, 1593); de
Messisbugo, Christofara. Libro Novo Nel Qual S=92insegna a=92 far d=92ogni =
Sorte
de Vivanda. (Venetia, 1557); and Stefani, Bartolomeo. L=92Arte di Ben
Cucinare. (Mantova, 1662). Various publications by Claudio Benporat were
consulted. These included Storia Della Gastronomia Italiana (1990), Cucina
Italiana del Quattrocento (1996), and Feste e Banchetti, Convivialit=E0
Italiana fra Tre e Quattrocento, 2001.
Another work consulted was the first publication of Castelvetro=92s 1614
manuscript: The Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy: An Offering to Lucy
Countess of Bedford by Giacomo Castelvetro which was translated by Gillian
Riley. 1989. Simon Varey=92s essay on Italian foods in the Middle Ages can =
be
found in Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe. A Book of Essays. Edited by
Merlitta Weiss Adamson, it appeared in 2002.
One extraordinary paper on Italian =93Trionfi=94 should be mentioned: =93Th=
e
Triumph of Sugar Sculpture in Italy, 1500-1700=94 by June di Schino which
appears in Look and Feel. Studies in Texture, Appearance and Incidental
Characteristics of Food. [Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. Prospect
Books, 1994.] Per Bjurstrom=92s Feast and Festival in Queen Christina=92s R=
ome,
1966 and James M. Saslow=92s The Medici Wedding of 1589, 1996, provide
valuable background reading. Firenze e Parigi due Capitali Spettacoli per
Una Regina Maria de=92 Medici by Sara Mamone is also of interest. Lastly
special note should be made regarding: Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver
by Carolin C. Young. Subtitled =93Stories of Dinner as a Work of Art,=94 th=
e
work was released by Simon and Schuster in October 2002. An excellent basic
and most practical course in the art of sugarpaste in the modern kitchen ca=
n
be found by following Countess Alys Katharine=92s published accounts in her
Compleat Anachronist pamphlet, the Confectioner=92s Newsletter and elsewher=
e
in the Florilegium and on the MK Cooks List.

Recent and excellent sources on the general history of sugarworks and
desserts that include mentions of 16th and 17th century Italy are: Brown,
Peter B. and Ivan Day. Pleasures of the Table. Ritual and Display in the
European Dining Room 1600-1900.  York, U.K.: York Civic Trust, 1997;Day,
Ivan. Royal Sugar Sculpture. 600 Years of Splendour. Barnard Castle, Durham=
,
U.K.: The Bowes Museum, 2002; Eat, Drink, and Be Merry. The British at
Table. edited by Ivan Day. London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2000;
Glanville, Philippa and Hilary Young, eds. Elegant Eating. Four Hundred
Years of Dining in Style. London: V&A Publishers, 2002. [Distributed in U.
S. by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.]. Martha Washington=92s Booke of Cookery, edite=
d
by Karen Hess. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981 provides excellent
commentary as does Laura Mason=92s Sugar-Plums and Sherbet. The Prehistory =
of
Sweets. Totnes, Devon, U.K.: Prospect Books, 1998 and Tim Richardson=92s
Sweets. A History of Candy just published in 2002 by Bloomsbury.

I own several dozen Italian cookbooks, but most, as one might guess, have
little information in them on the history of medieval and Renaissance
Italian foods and recipes. The illustrations in Koneman=92s encyclopedic
volume Culinaria Italy. Pasta Pesto Passion (2000), however,  were both
inspiring and useful. Two volumes that I can recommend on Italian pastries
and confections are Victoria Granof=92s Sweet Sicily.  The Story of an Isla=
nd
and Her Pastries (2001) and Bitter Almonds by Maria Grammatico and Mary
Taylor Simeti. The latter discusses the traditional convent made sweets and
pastries.

During the past few years, I have spent untold hours searching for and then
examining various still life paintings and art works which feature banquets=
,
foods and desserts. Books that feature these paintings from the Italian
Renaissance and Baroque eras include: The Flowering of Florence: Botanical
Art for the Medici by Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi and Gretchen A. Hirschauer.
This is the catalogue for an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in
Washington, D.C. in 2002. I was lucky enough to see the exhibit in person i=
n
April. Other notable works that include works of food in Italian art are:
The Life and Works of Arcimboldo by Diana Craig and Natures Mortes Giovanna
Garzoni. Also see: Norbert Schneider=92s Still Life [Taschen, 1999] and Sti=
ll
Life. A History by Sybille Ebert-Schifferer.

Historical Notes and Bibliography created by:
Johnnae llyn Lewis, AoA, Purple Fret, Companion of the Willow.
Copyright:  2002 by Johnna H. Holloway  johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu




Kirrily Robert wrote:snipped
I'm looking for sources for Italian Renaissance (specifically,

> Florentine in the second half of the 16th century, but not so fussy
> about that) dining and manners.
>
> If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate them immensely.  I
> would of course prefer English translations, but I won't discount those
> that are in Italian.
> Yours,Katherine
>