Pasta before tomatoes: 15th Century Italian Food

Great Southern Gathering
Innilgard
October AS XLV
Pasta before tomatoes: 15th Century Italian Food
Introduction
Modern Italian cuisine is so inextricably linked with New World foods – tomatoes, capsicum,
polenta – that it might be difficult to imagine what it looked like before these things were
available. The aim of this class is to demonstrate that in many ways mediaeval Italian food
was actually very similar to modern Italian food, and to explore a few of the ways in which it
differed.
Pasta is now, and probably was then, the first thing that springs to mind when you try to think
of what differentiates Italian cooking from the rest of Europe. Pasta was not exclusive to Italy
in the Middle Ages any more than it is now, but in Italy there was a greater variety of pasta
and it was probably eaten more often than in other places. Mediaeval pasta was served very
simply, usually cooked in stock or salted water, and then sprinkled with cheese, butter and
spices.
Beyond pasta, Italian food had a lot in common with other mediaeval cuisines. They were all
derived from late Roman cookery (as typified by Apicius), and there were many dishes in
common across Western Europe (most had some equivalent of the chicken, rice and almnd
dish called „blancmange‟ for instance). However there were some distinctions too. Period
Italian food was still based on lots of fresh food, simple flavours, and those ingredients which
are commonly found in the Mediterranean – olive oil, grapes and grape products and so on.
Cheese was a very commonly used ingredient, and many of the Italian cheeses we are
familiar with today are mentioned in period texts, including Provatura, Parmesan and
Romano. The Italians also had a great variety of cheesecakes or torte as they called them,
both savoury and sweet.
The dishes I have chosen to illustrate Italian cuisine in the fifteenth century have been picked
either because they are reflective of common practice at this time, or because they have
equivalents in modern Italian cuisine, whether these are equivalents which any modern Italian
would recognise, or equivalents in name only.
The recipes
Roman Macaroni
Piglia de la farina che sia bella, et distemperala et fa' la pasta un pocho più grossa che
quella de le lasangne, et avoltola intorno ad un bastone. Et dapoi caccia fore il bastone, et
tagliala la pasta larga un dito piccolo, et resterà in modo de bindelle, overo stringhe. Et
mitteli accocere in brodo grasso, overo in acqua secundo il tempo. Et vole bollire quando gli
metti accocere. Et se tu gli coci in acqua mettevi del butiro frescho, et pocho sale. Et como
sonno cotti mittili in piattelli con bono caso, et butiro, et spetie dolci.
Libro de Arte Coquinaria
(Take some fair flour, and temper it and make the pasta a little fatter than that for lasagne, and
roll around a stick. And then remove the stick and cut the pasta the width of a little finger, and
it will stay in the manner of ribbons or strings. And put to cook in fatty broth, or in water
according to the time. And you want it to boil when you put it to cook. If you cook it in water
put in some fresh butter and a little salt. And as they are cooked put on little platters with
good cheese, and butter, and sweet spices.)
This „macaroni‟ is almost exactly equivalent to modern fettucine, except of course, that being
period cooks we cannot add Marinara sauce. The name macaroni was used until the
nineteenth century for what we currently call spaghetti, but the word seems to have been used
in period for a number of pasta shapes, as the same text has a recipe for „Sicilian Macaroni‟
that seems to be similar in form to modern penne.
500gms strong flour
5 large (55gm) eggs
Stock
Parmesan cheese
Butter (optional)
Cinnamon, nutmeg, a little ginger
Mix the eggs together a little and then fold into the flour, and knead until forms a smooth,
elastic dough. Wrap in plastic wrap, or place in a covered bowl and refrigerate for half an
hour. Cut the dough into four even piece. Roll out very thin using a pasta machine or a rolling
pin on a very well-floured surface. If you have a fettucine cutter on the pasta machine you
may use this to cut the pasta into fettucine. Otherwise flour the pasta sheets very well and
either roll around a narrow rolling pin or fold over multiple times into small sheets. Slice
these folded pieces into narrow strips (they should then unfold into fettucine).
Bring a large pot of stock to the boil. Add the fettucine, being careful not to overfill the pot. It
will only take a few minutes to cook, and will tend to float when it is done. Drain the pasta
and toss with as much cheese, butter and spices as you wish.
Gnocchi
Se vuoi i gnocchi: Togli lo cascio fresco e pestalo: poscia togli la farina e intridi con tuorla
d’uova a modo di migliacci. Puoi il paiudo al fuoco con acqua e quando bolle, poni lo triso
in su in uno taglieri, fallo andare colla cazza nel painelo, e quando sono cotti, poni sopra li
taglieri e getta su assai cascio grattugiato.
A fragment of a 14th century Italian cookbook.
(If you would like gnocchi: Take some fresh cheese and pound: then take flour and mingle
with yolks of eggs in the manner of migliacci [a cheesecake made with eggs, flour and cheese
– see the recipe below]. Place the kettle on the fire with water and when it boils, put the three
in a trencher, put them into the kettle with a ladle, and when they are cooked, put them on the
trencher and throw over them much grated cheese.)
This recipe is a little bit vague about how the actual gnocchi are to be made, but making them
in the usual fashion by forming the dough into balls and then squashing slightly is not
unreasonable. The squashing actually makes it easier for them to cook right through more
quickly. The quicker they cook the less likely they are to be stodgy. The original recipe
simply calls for „cascio fresco‟ or any soft, new cheese. I like to use ricotta because it gives
the gnocchi a lighter texture.
600gms ricotta cheese
200gms flour
6 egg yolks
parmesan cheese
salt
Mash up the cheese a bit to get it really soft, then add the flour and egg yolks and mix to a
firm paste. It‟s probably easier to do this with your hands, but scratch your nose first. Form
into balls and squash slightly. If you are making a lot sprinkle them with flour so they don‟t
stick together while waiting to be cooked.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Drop in the gnocchi. When they float to the
surface they are done. This doesn‟t take long. You will probably need to do them in batches
though, so there is space for the done ones to float to the top. Serve immediately with lots and
lots of grated parmesan cheese.
These can be a bit bland so be very generous with the salt and the parmesan. To add more
flavour you can mix parmesan into the gnocchi dough, or cook them in stock which was quite
a common practice with pasta in period.
Finocchio
Togli finocchio bianco trito minuto, e poi lo fa’friggere con un poco di bianco di porro trito
minute, con ovo[olio] o lardo e ponvi un poco di acqua e zaffrano e sale, e fa’bullire, e ponvi
ova di battute, so vuoli dentro.
Libro della Cocina
(Take white fennel sliced finely, and then put it to fry with a little of the whites of leeks,
sliced finely, with oil, or lard, and put a little water and saffron and salt and put it to boil, and
add beaten eggs, as you may wish within )
This dish of braised fennel would not be out of place on a modern Italian table. The eggs
added at the end to thicken the sauce are not really necessary in my view, but I suggest
adding some pepper, in keeping with the advice of the great Maestro Martino on cooking
fennel.
2 bulbs fennel
2 leeks
Olive oil
¼ cup of water
60gms pancetta (optional)
Salt, pepper
Trim the fennel of stalks, leaves and any part of the root remaining, and slice finely. Trim the
leek and slice the white finely. Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan and sauté the fennel
and leeks until the leeks are beginning to soften. If you want to make a meaty version add
some finely chopped pancetta to the pan and fry this before the vegetables. Add the water and
season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and simmer until the fennel is soft. Remove the lid
and, if you wish, cook a little longer to reduce the liquid.
Pollastri con Agresto
Per fare pollastri allessi con agresto, vogliono essere cotti con un pocha di carne saltata. Et
quando sonno mezzo cotti, togli agresto sano, et taglialo per mezzo et cacciane fore le grane
del disto agresto, et ponilo a cocere coli dicti pollastri. Et quando sonno cotti togli un pocho
de petrosello et menta tagliata menuta et un poco di pepe et di zafrano polverizato, et tutte
queste cose poni inseme coli pollastri et col brodo in un piatello et mandali ad tavoli.
Libro de Arte Coquinaria
(To make boiled chicken with verjuice, they want to be cooked with a little salted meat. And
when it is half cooked, take whole verjuice grapes, and slice in half, and remove the seeds of
the said verjuice grapes, and put to cook with the said chickens. And when they are cooked
take a little parsley and finely sliced mint and a little pepper and powdered saffron, and all
these things put together with the chickens and with the broth in a platter and serve to table.)
There are a number of rather similar recipes to this in the mediaeval Italian texts, but this is
the simplest version. Most call for the meat to be fried or roasted until half cooked before
finishing cooking in a sauce in which verjuice features prominently. Other recipes include
egg yolks to thicken the sauce or the livers of the chickens, and have a different array of
flavourings.
Verjuice grapes are well nigh impossible to come by unless you have your own vines, so I
have substituted verjuice.
1 kg chicken pieces
125 gms bacon
250 mls verjuice
2 tbls each finely chopped parsley and mint
Pepper, saffron
Cut the bacon into largish pieces and fry with the chicken. Make sure the chicken is wellbrowned but not cooked all the way through. If you can, do this is the same saucepan in
which you intend to finish cooking the chicken. If not then tip the remaining juices into a
larger saucepan with the chicken and bacon, and rinse the frying pan with a little bit of water
and tip this in too. Add the verjuice, and a little more water, if you think this is not enough.
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 30mins. Add the herbs and spices, simmer for a few
minutes more and then serve.
Migliaccio
Per fare un migliaccio per quattro o cinque persone pistarai molto bene una libra di cascio
del più frescho che possi havere, tanto che ti para essere ritornato in lacte; et haverai tre o
quattro once di fiore di farina et octo o dece bianchi d'ova, et meza libra di zuccharo,
mescolando tutte queste cose et incorporandole bene inseme. Et se non havessi fior de farina,
habi una mollicha di pan biancho, et grattugiato ben menuto, mettendola in loco de la farina.
Et haverai la padella senza pasta o crosta, et sullo fondo dentro vi metterai di bono strutto,
facendone un solo che sia alto un dito vel circha, et metterai la ditta padella sulle brascie
tanto che 'l strutto sia ben caldo, et dentro vi buttirai questa tal compositione daendoli il
focho temperato sotto et sopra como è ditto all'altre torte. Et quando serà cotta cavala fore,
et di sopra vi metti di bono zuccharo et acqua rosata.
Libro de Arte Coquinaria
(To make a migliaccio for four or five persons pound very well a pound of the freshest cheese
that you can have, until it has returned to milk; and have three or four ounces of flour of
wheat and eight or ten whites of eggs, and half a pound of sugar, and mix all these things and
incorporate well together. And if you do not have flour of wheat, take crumbs of white bread
and grate very small, and put in place of the wheat. And have the padella without any pasta or
crust and on the bottom within you put some good lard, making a ? that is high as a finger
around, and put the said padella on the coals so that the lard becomes warm, and toss the
mixture slowly within giving it temperate heat below and above like the other tarts. And
when it is cooked remove, and over it you put some good sugar and rosewater.)
This is one of Maestro Martino's gems. I call this a 'portable cheesecake' because once
cooked you can quite happily take it out of the tin, wrap it in foil or plastic and carry it about
with you without it crumbling or breaking. This makes it very handy for outdoor events. In
keeping with this, I have suggested mixing the rosewater in, so you don't have to mess about
sprinkling before you serve it. The maestro's patrons must have been very greedy – by my
estimation these quantities will serve about sixteen people, however you choose to present it.
The word migliaccio is related to the name for meal, or ground grain and another name for it
is polenta. In modern Italy migliaccio is, in different places, a pudding made from polenta,
sausage and cheese, or a cake made of chestnut flour. These clearly have nothing to do with
the mediaeval version of the dish, but are given the same name because of this association
with flour or meal.
500gms cream cheese
7-8 egg whites
5 oz flour
6 oz caster sugar
rosewater or rosewater essence
Beat the cheese until softened. Add the egg whites slowly, one at a time, beating well until
smooth. Beat in the sugar and fold in the flour. Add rosewater to flavour.
Grease a cake tin very well (I find lining with non-stick baking paper really helps), pour the
mixture in, and bake at 160°C for 30-40 mins until firm and just brown. Alternately you can
cook small ones in muffin trays – these will only take about 15-20 mins. If you are making
large quantities I find it best to pour all the mixture into a lined baking tray and then cut into
small squares when cooled.
Caliscioni
Prenderai simil pieno o compositione quale è la sopraditta del marzapane, et apparichiarai la
sua pasta, la quale impastarai con zuccharo et acqua rosata; et distendi la ditta pasta a modo
che si volesse fare ravioli, gli mettirai di questo pieno facendoli grandi et mezani o piccioli
como ti pare. Et havendo qualche forma de ligno ben lavorata con qualche gentileza et
informandoli et premendoli di sopra pariranno più belli a vedere. Poi li farai cocere in la
padella como il marzapane havendo bona diligentia che non s'ardino.
Libro de Arte de Coquinaria
(Take the same filling or mixture which is the above said marzipan, and array on your pasta,
the which is made with sugar and rosewater; and stretch the said pasta in the way that you
would make ravioli, putting some of this filling making it large and medium or small as you
like. And having some wooden form worked well with gentleness and shaping it and pressing
it over ?evenly? more beautiful to see. Put to cook in the padella like marzipan having good
care that it is not burned)
The marzipan recipe referred to calls for an equal weight of ground almonds to sugar (note
that this is the proportion used in high quality marzipan today, although it can be made with
as little as 30% almond), along with a small amount of rosewater. This mixture is spread over
a crumbled wafer base, topped with sugar and baked in the oven. Another version of these
pastries, from a Spanish source, is fried.
The name calisiconi is the derivative of the word calzone, so again this is a recipe where the
name has been retained but the dish has changed quite dramatically. In the town of Aix in
southern France, however, they still make a kind of almond sweetmeat called a callisson.
Grinding almonds is not particularly difficult or onerous, and you will get better results if you
start with whole almonds and grind them yourself, and the fresher the almonds the better too.
However you can certainly take the shortcut of using pre-ground almonds without losing too
much. A little almond essence will help to bind it together and give it that marzipan flavour.
You can omit this if you do not like a strong marzipan flavour.
100gms almonds or ground almonds
100gms sugar (use caster sugar if you are using ground almonds)
1 tsp almond essence (optional)
1 tsp rosewater essence
4 sheets commercial shortcrust pastry
If you are starting with whole almonds then grind them together with the sugar in a food
processor or a large mortar. Then mix in the essences. If you are using the ground almonds,
mix together all the ingredients. If you are grinding the almonds the mixture may begin to
clump together in a paste, but it probably won‟t if you are using ground almonds.
Cut each sheet of pastry into 16 pieces. Place a teaspoon of marzipan mixture on each piece
and carefully seal it up. Place on a greased baking tray and bake for 10-15mins or until lightly
browned. These quantities will make about 50 pastries.
Bibliography/References
Original Sources
Libro di Cucina: http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/frati.htm
Libro de Arte Coquinaria: http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/martino2.htm
Libro della Cocina: http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/an-tosc.htm
Forme of Curye: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/foc/
Libro de Guisados: http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS/Guisados1art.html
Translations/Redactions/Other books
Hieatt, C. B., Hosington, B. and Butler, S. “Pleyn Delit:Mediaeval Cookery for Modern
Cooks” 2nd ed. (University of Toronto Press 1996)
Santich, B. “The Original Mediterranean Cuisine” (Wakefield Press 1995)
Parzen, J. (tr.) “The Art of Cooking: The First Modern Cookery Book” (University of
California Press 2005)