Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (81 page)

As for bucchero, there was a time when Spain was the fashion trendsetter, just as France is today, and all nations tried to imitate its style of cuisine and flavoring. Thus, at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, Spanish-style fragrances and aromas became extremely popular. Above all fragrances, however, bucchero turned everyone’s head, and so widespread was its use that ultimately spice merchants
¹²⁵
and stewards started putting it in tablets and foodstuffs, just as is done with vanilla today. From what fabulous substance was bucchero extracted and what did it taste like? You will be stunned when you hear. Now judge for yourself the extravagant folly of tastes and people! Bucchero consisted of powdered shards of pottery, and its odor resembled that which the earth scorched by the summer sun exhales when rains fall. It is the same smell of earth that is given off by those dark-red, thin and brittle vases called buccheri, which perhaps gave their name to a dark red color,
¹²⁶
although the most prized were a glossy black. Vases of this material were first ii ope from South America by the Portuguese, who used them as drinking vessels and to boil perfumes and colognes; later, the fragments were used in the manner I just described.

In Homer’s
Odyssey
(XVIII, 43–49), Antinous says:

Gentlemen, quiet! One more thing:
here are goat stomachs ready on the fire
to stuff with blood and fat, good supper pudding.
The man who wins this gallant bout
may step up here and take the one he likes.
And let him feast with us from this day on;
no other beggar will be admitted here
when we are at our wine.
              (trans. Robert Fitzgerald)

In volume 6 of the
Florentine Observer
, we find the following description of a unique dinner that deserves to be quoted in part:

“Among the most sumptuous dishes there was also peacock, stewed with its feathers, and colored gelatin, molded in various shapes. A man in Siena, who was preparing a supper for a courtier of Pope Pius II named Goro (around 1450), was given such bad advice regarding these two items, that he became the butt of jokes all over Siena. Particularly amusing was the fact that, unable to find peacocks, he substituted wild geese, removing their feet and bills.

When the beakless peacocks were served, the command was given to begin carving them up. But the person in charge did not know how to do it, and though he struggled with the birds for a long time he only succeeded in filling with feathers the banquet hall and the table, as well as the eyes, mouth, nose and ears of Messer Goro and everyone else…

When that accursed bird was removed from the table, many other roasts prepared with a great deal of cumin were served. Nonetheless, everything still might have been forgiven, had not the master of the house and his misguided advisers decided to further honor their guests with a platter of aspic which they ordered custom made for the occasion. Inside the aspic they had the cooks place, as is sometimes done in Florence and elsewhere, replicas of the papal coat of arms, as well as of Messer Goro’s crest and additional heraldic figures. So they used orpiment,
¹²⁷
white lead, cinnabar, verdigris and other absurdities to make these fantastic patterns inside the aspic. Then they set it before Messer Goro as a festive dish and something new and wonderful. He and all his company ate it happily enough, as a way to get rid of all the bitter flavors left in their mouths by the excessive cumin and the other strange dishes.

And it was a miracle that some of the guests did not die during the night, and first among them Messer Goro, who had a horrible headache and stomachache, and very likely vomited a small bouquet of wild feathers. After these infernal and deadly courses, a great many sweets were served, and the dinner came to an end.”

140 grams (about 5 ounces) of extra fine crustless bread

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of butter

80 grams (about 2-2/3 ounces) of sugar

4 eggs

a dash of lemon zest

a pinch of salt

The best type of bread for this dish is mold-baked English-style bread; use it if you can find it. Crumble or slice the crustless bread and soak it in cold milk. When well drenched, wring it out in a kitchen towel, and then pass it through a strainer. In wintertime, soften the butter in
bain-marie
, then, using a wooden spoon, beat it with the egg yolks until well blended. Fold in the whites, the bread puree and the sugar, and keep stirring. Pour the mixture into a mold well greased with butter and dusted with bread crumbs. Then bake it as you would any other pudding: that is, in a Dutch oven. If you have prepared it carefully, it will turn out as pleasing to the eye as it is to the taste. Serve hot.

The potato is a tuberous plant of the
Solanaceae
family that originated in South America, and from there it was introduced in Europe toward the end of the 16th century. However, it was not cultivated on a large scale until the beginning of the 18th century because of the stubborn opposition raised against it by the common folk, who always dislike whatever is strange and new. Gradually it won greater acceptance until it appeared regularly on the rough-hewn tables of the poor as well as in the banquet halls of the wealthy. However, although the potato is delicious, eases hunger, and may readily be prepared in a wide variety of ways, it has the same disadvantage of rice: it is a food that fattens and fills the belly but provides little nourishment. Both rice and potatoes supply no albumen, no phosphorus fats for the brain, no fibrin to the muscles.

700 grams (about 1-1/2 pounds) of starchy mealy potatoes

150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of sugar

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of butter

20 grams (about 2/3 of an ounce) of wheat flour

2 deciliters (about 4/5 of a cup) of milk

6 eggs

a pinch of salt

a dash of cinnamon or lemon zest

Boil or steam the potatoes, peel and puree by passing them hot through a strainer. Put the puree back on the burner along with the butter, the flour and the milk, added a little at a time, stirring all the while with a wooden spoon. Then add the sugar, the salt, and the cinnamon or the lemon peel, and keep cooking it until everything is thoroughly blended.

Remove from the fire, and when the mixture is lukewarm or cool, add the egg yolks and then the whites, whisked until stiff.

Now prepare as you would any other pudding: that is, in a Dutch oven or in an oven proper, and serve hot.

1liter (about 1 quart) of milk

160 grams (about 5-2/3 ounces) of rice

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of sugar

80 grams (about 2-2/3 ounces) of sultanas

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of candied fruit

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1 small glass of rum or cognac

a dash of vanilla

Cook the rice thoroughly in the milk, and when half done add the sugar, the sultanas, the candied fruit minced fine, a pinch of salt, and a small egg-sized lump of butter. Once completely cooked, remove from the fire and while still hot but no longer bubbling, fold in the eggs, the rum or cognac and the vanilla, blending everything well. Then pour the mixture into a pudding mold greased with butter and dusted with bread crumbs. Bake in the oven or at home in a Dutch oven. Serve hot.

Keep a third of the milk in reserve and add it to the pudding if necessary, as the rice starts to firm up.

Serves eight people.

300 grams (about 10-1/2 ounces) of ricotta cheese

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of powdered sugar

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of sweet almonds and 3 or 4 bitter almonds

5 eggs

a dash of lemon zest

Blanch the almonds in hot water and then crush them as finely as possible in a mortar along with one of the egg whites. Pass the ricotta through a strainer if it is hard or lumpy, and then mix thoroughly with the almonds. Beat the rest of the eggs separately and then fold into the mixture along with the sugar. Now pour the mixture into a pudding mold greased with butter and dusted with bread crumbs. Bake in an oven or in a Dutch oven, and serve cold.

This recipe serves six to seven people.

Cook some semolina in three glasses of milk, making sure it does not turn out too firm. Remove from the fire and add sugar, a pinch of salt and some lemon zest. When the mixture has cooled down somewhat, add three egg yolks and two whites, stirring until thoroughly blended. Take a medium-sized copper baking pan, grease it with butter or lard, and line it with a sheet of shortcrust pastry dough as thick as a large coin (use half the amounts indicated in recipe 589 A). Pour in a third of the semolina and sprinkle on top, at some distance from each other, small chunks or little spoonfuls of different fruit preserves, such as raspberry, quince, apricot, etc. Over this layer spread a second layer of the semolina, then add more fruit preserves in the same way as before. Repeat the procedure a third and final time, using the last third of the semolina. Now cover the top of the pudding with a sheet of the same dough. Moisten the edges of the dough all around with a finger dipped in water and then seal them. Decorate the top of the pudding with some ornamental designs and gild with egg yolk. Bake in the oven. After you
remove the pudding from the mold, sprinkle confectioners’ sugar on top and serve cold.

You can substitute small sultanas and finely minced candied fruit for the fruit preserves.

This pudding is sometimes made to use up leftover egg whites, and should not be scoffed at.

6 egg whites

170 grams (about 6 ounces) of sweet almonds

170 grams (about 6 ounces) of powdered sugar

Blanch the almonds and dry well in the sun or on the fire; then mince them with a mezzaluna and put them on the fire in a saucepan where the sugar has already melted. Once the mixture has turned the color of a brittle, that is of almond skins, pour it in. a mortar, and after it has cooled, crush it to a fine powder. Add the powder to the six egg whites, beaten until stiff. Then pour the mixture into a mold greased only with cool butter, and cook in
bain-marie
. Serve cold.

1 large garden lemon

170 grams (about 6 ounces) of sugar

170 grams (about 6 ounces) of sweet almonds and 3 bitter almonds

6 eggs

1 teaspoon of rum or cognac

Boil the lemon for two hours in water. Strain and then purée by passing it through a strainer. But before doing so, taste it, because if the lemon is still too bitter, you should soak it in cold water until it loses its unpleasant flavor. Then add to it the sugar, the almonds blanched and crushed very fine, the yolks of the six eggs, and the
rum. Blend everything together well. Now beat the six whites until stiff and then fold them into the mixture. Pour it into a mold and bake in a Dutch oven or in an oven. It may be served either hot or cold.

8 deciliters (about 3-1/3 cups) of milk

80 grams (about 2-2/3 ounces) of sugar

60 grams (about 2 ounces) of chocolate

60 grams (about 2 ounces) of ladyfingers

3 eggs

a dash of vanilla

Grate the chocolate, combine it with the milk and when the latter begins to boil, add the sugar and the ladyfingers, which you will have crumbled with your fingers. Stir the mixture occasionally so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. After it has boiled for half an hour, pass it through a strainer. When cooled, fold in the eggs (beaten) and the vanilla. Pour into a smooth mold, the bottom of which should be coated with melted sugar, then cook in
bain-marie
.