Caterina of Medici family

Giulio of Medici family

(Pope Clemente VII)

Lorenzo de’ Medici

(named the “Magnifico”)

Cosimo de’ Medici

Piero de’ Medici

(named the “Gottoso”)

Emblem of Medici family

Tuscany

Pellegrino Artusi

THE HISTORY OF TUSCAN AND FLORENTINE COOKERY

from the Etruscan and the Medici family till today

 

Lecture notes that the President of Magici Sapori held in Italy and abroad

 

Florence has evidence of original Etruscan life from all frescos found in tombs in the heart of the city. We can still find dishes that were prepared then on today's Florentine tables.

So called typical dishes that vary from zone to zone in Tuscany with few or many differences in few kilometers, originated in the Middle Ages. The land was divided by the feudal system; money and goods did not circulate outside. Each state was self-sufficient and had to rely on its own resources, which were often scarce or inexsistent.

It appears that the ribollita (a dense bread soup) that is still a popular Florentine dish, originated in the Middle Ages. The local feudatories that lived in the castles ate their abundant banquets without using plates or cutlery. Roast meats were served on unleavened bread, that at the end of the meal was given to the hungry servants. The bread was then put into pots of water with wathever vegetables and herbs they could scrape together on the land around them. So the famous ribollita was invented.

With civilization thriving about 1200, Florence became the leading economic city of Tuscany. This was also the time of the bitter fights between the Guelphs (faithful to the pope) and the Ghibellines (loyal to the emperor), that exhausted the economic resources for arms. Even a wealthy man's meal was chiefly based on bread. In this period fettunta (bread with oil and salt), castagnaccio (chestnut tart with pine nuts, oil and rosemary), ribollita, panzanella (bread soaked in water and seasoned with onion, oil, salt and vinegar) and many other bread-based dishes originated. Even desserts were based on bread, dough mixed with honey (sugar was rare), raisins and various spices: schiacciata con l'uva and pandiramerino from Florence, panpepato, panforte and torrone from Siena, buccellato from Lucca, every village and town had their own speciality.

In the 1300's Florence became, as we would say today, a leading worldwide power. Even the culinary aspect exploded with the abundance of ingredients that serve a creative fantasy to cooks.

Florence was the first place in the world where they used a fork at table (200 years before France).

In this period there was a great variety of foods: oil, beef, lamb, chicken, many types of vegetables and also fish from the river Arno and the sea. Fish was kept fresh in underground iceboxes where they stored the ice in winter time.

A cooking book written in the '300 described many recipes still used today in Florentine homes: homemade pasta, timbales, game, fish, savory and sweet pies made with pine nuts, marzipan, quince apples and pumpkin.

In another manuscript of the 14th century we can find mixed meats on a spit, the famous arista (saddle of pork), game dishes, duck with orange sauce (today's French canard à l'orange), Florentine (T bone) steak, pies with herbs and dishes made in the so-called dolceforte method, mixing honey and fruit with fish or meat. In this era they also used many spices and herbs to cover the unpleasant smells of food conserved at room temperature.

Florence was at its splendour and this reflected on its cuisine when the Medici family established themselves, and exactly the founder of the dynasty, Cosimo, in the Florentine government. It happened in 1434. A few years later, in 1439, Cosimo convinced Pope Eugenio IV to take to Florence the ecumenical council between the catholic and the orthodox churches, at the expense of the Medici Bank. 

In this occasion magnificent banquets that had never been seen before were organized, with splendid tables layed with refined dishes.

The legend tells us that in these times two words were born and are still with us today: Arista and Vin Santo.

It seems during one of the banquets the Byzantine Patriarch, after enjoying a piece of roast pork, exclaimed "Aristos!", which in Greek means "Very good!". The Florentines, mistaking the appreciation for the name of the tasty pork, from then onwards called roast saddle of pork arista. Although this could be just a fun legend because in reality the word arista is related to roast pork in evidence to documents dating back to 1200. The significance though does come from Greek vocabulary. There was a large Greek community in Florence in that era; they were perfume merchants. There is a street in Florence named, after them, Borgo de' Greci.

The legend of vin santo tells us a Greek Patriarch, who was part of the council, tasting a typical Florentine sweet wine, exclaimed: "This is Xantos!" hinting a sweet wine made on the Greek island of Xantos.

But the origins of the name vin santo are controversal because it could simply come from the fact that this sweet wine is nearly always used during the Mass (santo means holy).

When Cosimo died in 1464, his successor for a short time was his son Piero, nicknamed "gouty" since he suffered from gout. The high classes of Florence often suffered from gout since they ate large quantities of meat. For many centuries it was considered an indication of wealth and prosperity.

After Piero's short rule, his successor to the government of Florence was his son Lorenzo, who became known as Lorenzo il Magnifico for the wonders he brought to Florentine culture. He gathered the best artists, poets and men of letters and he left many manuscripts of his philosophy, in which he was convinced the heart of human existence is always in research for pleasure. This is why he was considered a connoisseur of well eating and it is demonstrated in many of his verse.

Lorenzo was only 44 years old when he died in 1492. The Medici dominion underwent changeable and not always fortunate events.

In the same year that Lorenzo died America was discovered and shortly afterwards many products were found on European tables. Since Florence was an important commercial city, the Florentines were the first to try these new foods and to integrate them in their cuisine.

One of the products which was to become the king of Florentine tables, was the bean. It seems to appear in the 16th century, when Pope Clemente VII (Giulio de' Medici) gave the bean as a gift to the Florentine people. This was not the only gift Pope Clemente VII gave to the Florentines; in fact, thanks to his close relations to king Charles V of France, he installed his natural son Alessandro on that throne, which later became the throne of Duchy of Florence.

Alessandro was a violent and dissolute man, who brought to the court of Florence a typical Renaissance cuisine. An over-indulgence of food and bad taste that reflects his character. Paintings of that period show tables richly laid with trays of whole animals cooked and then dressed with their own skins or feathers and garnished with fancy ornaments. In reality those foods were never eaten by the guests of the banquets, because the cooks took so long to prepare these dishes. By the time they arrived to the banquet hall the meat was already rotting; so the cooks just circled the tables to show the food and demonstrate the immense richness of their host.

As in this period there was a desire to astonish, a type of association was created by Florentine artists, called Compagnia del Paiolo (Brothers of the big pot), that aimed to realize luxurious and bizarre banquets to amaze their eating companions.

Poets also started to write compositions praising the strange and rich dishes of the wealthy masters.

Caterina de' Medici (Lorenzo's niece) gave a huge push to Florentine cuisine to an international level. In 1529 she married Henry of Orléans, who became king of France under the name of Henry II. Caterina adored good food and took her own chefs to France. For centuries after Florentine cooks inspired great French chefs.

There are many famous dishes, for example a base of flour and milk that became bechamel sauce, crepés and duck with orange sauce, that are known as French dishes but were originally created in Florentine kitchens.

The city of Florence's tormented history progressed until the tyrannical Duke Alessandro was assassinated. Then Cosimo I became Duke of Florence. He was the son of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, a heroic Florentine army leader.

Cosimo improved the Florentine economy by giving a huge impulse to agricolture and making the foundations to the Chianti area. He himself cultivated rare plants at the Boboli Garden, which was part of his residence, the Pitti Palace.

Florence was the first Italian city to consider potatoes and tomatoes as edibles, while the rest of the Italian people considered them as ornamental plants. The Florentines loved them fried.

Even though Cosimo I made many positive things for Florence, the Florentines did not like him. To improve the economical problems of the city, he set up high taxes and basic food prices became unaffordable.

When Cosimo I died the title of Grand Duke went to his sons. First was Francesco I, who died under mysterious circumstances. Then there was Ferdinando I, who turned the Florentine court back to its well known refined luxury. One of his most famous banquets was in 1600 on the occasion of the marriage of his niece Maria (Francesco's daughter) with the king of France Henry IV, married by proxy.

When Maria moved to France she took her cooks with her, and they helped in enriching the already delicious French cuisine. French chefs learnt how to make creams, pastry (for example short crust and choux) and ice-cream. Only a short time before Maria went to France, ice-cream had been invented by a Florentine architect called Bernardo Buontalenti. He dug iceboxes in Boboli Garden, setting excellent conditions to make an iced drink based on milk and honey. This iced drink would later become known  worldwide as ice-cream.

In this same period a Florentine merchant called Francesco Carletti brought home from his travels in South America a new drink that became famous as "chocolate".

Halfway through 1700 the Medici dynasty came to an end, after many events and inadequate rulers. But over the centuries the Florentines had learnt to appreciate the joys of good food. The habit of enjoying food, in particular sweet foodstuffs, was and is still now connected with parties, religious ceremonies, fairs and shows of all types over the Florentine territory.

After a period of French ruling, Florentines inherited many French expressions, above all gastronomic words.

After ten years as the capital of Italy, Florence found itself in terrible economic conditions and also artistically damaged by the destruction of many antique walls and magnificent palaces. The reconstruction work was hard and made also other damages to the heart of the city.

Under a culinary profile, in this era (end of 1800) two personalities completely different from one another contributed to transmit the methods and traditions of authentic Florentine cooking.

One was a journalist, Giulio Piccini, also known as Jarro, who published for many years at Christmas time "Almanacchi Gastronomici". The other was the famous Pellegrino Artusi, who lived and worked in Florence even though he originated from the Romagna area. He wrote a cooking book considered a milestone of the times, called "La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene". This book was written for various reasons: one to oppose the French cuisine, that was taking over the Florentine one, and also to re-introduce the exquisite Tuscan olive oil that was being taken over by butter, and to perpetuate the simplicity and genuinity of the great Florentine cuisine.

Today it is not always easy to find and enjoy traditional dishes, because many of them need long hours of preparation and dedication, due to the fact the ingredients are simple and need precise processing.

But it is important to know these traditional recipes that have been handed down for centuries and are part of our millenary culture.

                                                                                                                       G.C.

 

To the client: Go to a trattoria religiously like an artist goes to his studio!

 

To the host: Treat a client like a sacred guest, give him good food and that’s it!

 

From “Storie di Cucina” by Arnaldo Miniati

 

Bibliography:

-“Il libro della vera cucina fiorentina” by P. Petroni - Bonechi editore

-”La scienza in cucina e l’arte del mangiar bene” by P. Artusi - Giunti editore

-”La grande cucina regionale” by F. Guatteri - Rizzoli editore

-”Pranzi e conviti” by M.L. Lotterighi della Stufa

-”Desinari e cene” by M.L. Lotterighi della Stufa

(copyright 2006/2008)

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