Cookbook as Personal Memoir

Laura Avery
Mirror contributing writer

   Chatty. Erudite. Passionate. Witty. Entertaining. These adjectives just begin to describe the verbal and gustatory pleasures contained within the pages of "Science in The Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well", Pellegrino Artusi’s 1891 affable discourse on the habits and customs of the Italian kitchen. 
   During Artusi’s lifetime (1820-1910), the cuisine of France was considered paramount throughout Europe, having maintained this exalted position since the 16th century when Catherine de’Medici became Queen of France and moved to Paris from her native Tuscany. Royal and courtly cuisine were much appreciated by Artusi, but his interests and experimentation also included the less exalted and earthy pursuits of the inns and country kitchens of his Italian countrymen and women. 
   A native of Emilia-Romagna, Artusi settled in Florence, where he ran a successful money lending business. He was therefore a man of means and some leisure who could spend time discoursing with learned professors from the University of Florence as well as with the cooks, bakers and fisherfolk whom he met on his travels around his adopted home of Tuscany. An adept and inquisitive cook himself, Artusi also employed two cooks, one from Florence and one from his birth province of Emilia-Romagna, whose cooking cultures could not have been more diverse. Tuscan cuisine, which evolved during the time of the Renaissance, used oil for frying and favored the use of vegetables and hearty soups. Emiliano cuisine, descended from Gothic times and customs, fried with butter and lard and emphasized pasta and meat dishes. Artusi speaks bemusedly of the trials his two long-suffering kitchen companions must have endured during his lengthy patronage; however, both chefs received a generous settlement from Artusi’s estate upon his death. 
   At times and with the subtlest of humor, Artusi refers to events of historic import while ostensibly discussing the finer points of a particular recipe. For example, he professes his love of pasta dishes by recounting an event which took place while he was dining with several acquaintances at the Tre Re (Three Kings) restaurant in Bologna in 1850. One member of the dinner party was loudly and imprudently advocating an impending uprising which he bragged that he would be participating in as a leader. Outraged that Artusi was paying more attention to his own pasta dish than to his revolutionary ramblings, the young firebrand, whose name was Felice Orsini, contemptuously referred to Artusi thereafter as "Macaroni-Eater." 
   Eight years later, Orsini was captured during at assassination attempt on Napoleon III and subsequently executed. Artusi calmly recalls Orsini as "a congenial young man, (with) refined features...crinkly locks, who lisped slightly when he spoke." This look into the eyes of an infamous radical was brought to the reader courtesy of recipe # 235, "Macaroni with Bread Crumbs."
   Other recipes carry gentle admonitions: "Keep in mind that the consistency should be as thick as possible;" or opinions: "Celery is pleasing to the taste because of its special flavor; for this reason, and because it does not cause flatulence, it merits a place among the healthy vegetables." In spite of his prolific output of information and observations, Artusi still reserves some mysteries for his own quiet enjoyment, "Everyone knows about the aphrodisiacal properties of (truffles,) so I will refrain from speaking about it, though I could tell some very amusing stories."
   In and of themselves, the recipes in "Science in the Kitchen" provide enjoyable reading. Most of the recipes are written out in an engaging prose, with lists of ingredients supplied only when there are more than seven items involved. But it is Artusi’s own interest and self-taught knowledge about his subjects that make this book a window on Italian history. His discourses on the harvesting of wild mushrooms and the life cycle of salt water eels bespeak an intellectual curiosity as diverse as the hundreds of recipes upon which he chooses to expound.
   After reading a few hundred congenial conversations regarding food, its preparation and enjoyment, one comes to recipe #670 "Cabinet Pudding", which is nothing less that a declamation on the House of Savoy, which ruled Italy in 1891. "Some people maintain that this pudding, if it is to live up to its rightful name of cabinet, should appear on the dinner table under wraps: that is, with the filling kept absolutely confidential like state secrets. To accomplish this, take (5 ounces) of lady fingers and cover the bottom, sides , surface and all inner partitions, so that the fruit stays utterly hidden from sight." To understand the real joke, one is informed in a footnote provided by the editor that lady fingers ("savoiardi") were created in honor of the kings of the House of Savoy. 
   History, humor, insight and simplicity. This is a cookbook for the modern age.
   note: of all the published editions of "Science in The Kitchen and The Art of Eating Well, the Marsilio (publ) edition of 1997 is the most complete.