Tacuinum De Coquina: Medieval Italian Cookery Manual

TACUINUM DE COQUINA

Medieval Italian Cookery Manual

by

Simonetta Stefanini

Copyright © 2011 by Simonetta Stefanini

Smashwords Edition

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Cover design © 2011 by Simonetta Stefanini

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All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical (including photocopying, recording, or by any information retrieval system), except by a reviewer who my quote brief passages, without prior written permission of the author. With the exception of historical facts (names, dates, and places), geographic locations, regional events, and food, all names, characters and event.

Author’s note: the author is not responsible for your specific health or allergies needs that my require medical supervision. The author is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.

Readers are responsible for proper food preparation and should consult with their medical professionals before making dietary changes.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTER I. SECUNDUM QUALITATEM PERSONAE

CHAPTER II. ET SUNT LAGANA

CHAPTER III. DE ARTE VENANDI

CHAPTER IV. TO EXPLAIN WHICH MEATS SHOULD BE ROASTED AND WHICH SHOULD BE BOILED

CHAPTER V. HOW TO MAKE ALL KINDS OF SOUPS

CHAPTER VI. FORUM PISCATORIUM

CHAPTER VII. PANIS CANDIDUS

CHAPTER VIII. MAKING ALL KINDS OF PIES

CHAPTER IX. MAKING EGGS, GIUNCADA AND FRITTERS

CHAPTER X. HERBES ET RADICES

CHAPTER XI. COLORS AND SAUCES

CHAPTER XII. SPICES AND AROMATIC HERBS

CHAPTER XIII. DRIED AND WELL PREPARED CHESNUTS

CHAPTER XIV. MIRABILIA GULAE

CHAPTER XV. VINUM EXULTATIO ANIMAE ET CORPORIS

CHAPTER XVI. THE BEST WAY TO PRESERVE

CHAPTER XVII. HOSPITALITY IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

PREFACE

The intent of this book is to take the reader on a gastronomic tour of Medieval Italy, recounting the habits of that fascinating historical period. Thus the recipe is not only a culinary experiment that can bring us closer to tastes long gone, but also a historical understanding of strictly defined social rules. The culinary art of Medieval times is the result of the ethnic and commercial influence of Arab, European and Asian peoples. The culture of traditional regional or local dishes, renown and appreciated throughout the world, will be fully established only after the Seventeenth century, even though some products were already considered typical because they were produced in a specific geographic area.

Food in Medieval times was divided in the same way as the social classes of the period: nobility, lower classes, and clergy. Recipes expressed the characteristics of the social status they belonged to. The food of the poor, like vegetables, could be tasted by the nobility only if it was enriched with spices or other precious elements.

The medical schools of the time compiled the Tacuinum Sanitatis (by which images of this book are drawn), which contained explanations of every single food and the rules for their correct use, determining for which social classes they could be considered harmful.

Historical studies, through the analysis of the type of writing, have been able to place manuscript cookbooks in a precise time span. The Liber di Coquina, belonging to the so called Neapolitan manuscripts, dated to the end of the Thirteenth century and kept in the National Library in Paris, is considered the forefather of these handwritten recipe books.

This text was then copied and transcribed in Tuscan dialect and called Libro della cucina di Anonimo Toscano (An Anonimous Tuscan’s Cook Book). In later years it was included in the book Arte della Cucina (The Art of Cooking), edited by Emilio Faccioli, and in its 1863 edition, edited by Francesco Zambrini, under the title Il libro della cucina del XIV secolo (The Book of 14th Century Cooking). Various fragments known as Tuscan followed, which are kept at the Riccardiana library in Florence, at the Casanatense university library in Rome, and at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine of the British Library in London.

This historical period ends with the cook books by Maestro Martino, considered a prince among the cooks of his times, praised for his technique by the renown Renaissance cook Bartolomeo Sacchi, aka Platina, in his book De honesta voluptate et valitudine, published in Rome in 1474 circa.

Only a few of Maestro Martino’s manuscripts, all very similar, remain. The first of these was written in the period in which he was the Cardinal of Aquileia’s cook and is kept in the Apostolic Vatican Library. The second is kept in the Historical Archive in Riva del Garda, the third in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. A fourth manuscript is part of a private collection.

The recipes described in the present book were chosen after having read all of the above mentioned texts, plus many other fragments, having consulted private archives and libraries, but above all after many trials – not always successful. It is impossible to follow the notes exactly, as the methods and instruments have changed completely, and even the ingredients will never be the same as the ones used in those days.

The original recipes do not have weights, measures, or cooking times. They mostly are sequences of words or random notes, taken down by the cook, and adapted according to the situation.

You will find some recipes in their original language. From these you will be able to see how hard it sometimes is to determine the quantities, and sometimes even the exact type o ingredients.

The essential element of Medieval cooking is the creativity of each cook, who was considered an artist, and at the same time the organizer and director – and maybe even a bit magician – of banquets and parties, the main aim of which was to amaze the guests.

There are some ingredients derived from extinct or protected species we can only mention, like aurochs, bear, crane or whale meat, much used by the nobility for banquets or in hunting rituals, which will be discussed more in depth further on. Other ingredients, such as spices, a fundamental element in medieval food, have been reduced in quantity so as not to exasperate tastes that are no longer appreciated.

This selection of foods will open up new horizons, taking the reader on a journey through time and the historical flavors of Italy.

CHAPTER I

SECUNDUM QUALITATEM PERSONAE

Displaying power through food

In the Thirteen hundreds banquets were explicit displays of power of the dominating part of society. They exhibited their superiority through the luxury and refinement of their foods, set forth with eccentricity and a taste for dramatics. The ostentation of huge amounts of food expressed their domination over the masses, who struggled daily with starvation. Many were the occasions for a banquet: receiving a distinguished guest, religious festivities, weddings, leaving for war and many other social events. The lord displayed his power with performance-banquets, during which eccentric, entertaining or amusing shows took place between one course and the next. In time, these intervals became richer and more complex, including actual theatre pieces representing scenes from the Old Testament or battles. Abundance, mixes of flavors, the sometimes exaggerated use of hugely expensive spices, spectacular choreographies, precious gifts for the guests, were all tricks that were supposed to increase the awe and the respect of those in power.

In the Tuscan recipe book from the fourteenth century we read: In each sauce, savory or broth, you may place precious things, such as gold, stones or spices of your choice. Thus meat could be coated in gold leaf and peacocks, once they had been cooked, were covered once again in their feathers, stood up, their tail spread in a fan and their beaks on fire. Branches made of bread dough, shaped into cages, imprisoned multicolored birds, alive and fluttering, that were then let loose, filling the guests with awe. Even the quantity of food that was eaten was a display of power: a strong man, a powerful man or a warrior had to eat a lot, to prove their manliness and their strength. Aristocratic ethics considered the quantity of food eaten a distinctive sign, especially when eating meat, which was identified with violence because it contained blood.

The lord’s table was a feast of large game, such as deer, boar, wild ox and bear, brought down by the lord hunting, and thus also expression of his victory.

Where a person sat at the table expressed their position in the social hierarchy, and the distance from the lord’s seat stated the degree of power of each guest. The sovereign sat on a higher level, and his table was separated from that of the guests. A noble banquet could last all day, during which knights and ladies exchanged places and often ate in pairs. Sharing food and drink was a sign of special appreciation, and during banquets, also called convivia, amorous relationships were born or existing political and friendship bonds were strengthened, not to mention the conspiracies that were often planned in these occasions. A toast was a way to seal a friendship, as recorded even in Benedictine monasteries in the IX century, sometimes using the same cup, passed from hand to hand. Refusing a meal could be considered a sign of open hostility.

After the banquet the guests might dance for hours to the music played by the orchestra, or spend their time playing dice, bocce or chess, which were known since the IX century, letting the ladies retire to their rooms to embroider, spin or chat, telling