Il
Cuoco Piemontese, Ridotto all'Ultimo Gusto:
The Piemontese Cook, Updated to
Meet the Latest Taste
Old cookbooks can be fascinating, and there is particular interest in them now that Italian cooks are reevaluating regional culinary traditions. One would expect to find all sorts of rustic and traditional things in them. Instead, one doesn't -- books were expensive luxuries for the few who could read, and were therefore aimed at wealthy households that could afford to buy the meat, fish, fresh vegetables, and other expensive (for the general public) ingredients called for by the recipes.
These well-to-do people knew perfectly well that France was setting the tone in terms of taste and fashion, and one can therefore understand why the editors of the first Edition of Il Cuoco Piemontese, published in 1766, say that the book was perfected in Paris. But is it a French book? To a degree, yes -- it introduced some French techniques and culinary terminology, thus allowing its readers, or the cooks who worked for them, to keep up with the times. However, it also presented the classic, sturdy local dishes dear to the middle class and lesser aristocracy, who were quite conscious of their position.
This was in 1766; the book remained popular for almost a century, going through printings in a number of Italian cities, and by the mid-1800s the climate had changed to the point that mentioning Paris, whose leaders were busily interfering with Italian affairs, was no longer an effective sales hook. So the later editions are merely "updated to the latest taste."
Which was what? To begin with, no antipasti, which comes as a surprise considering the important role played by antipasti in modern Piemontese meals. There are quite a few first course dishes, the majority soups with vegetables, though some also mention rice. There's surprisingly little pasta, and in particular no stuffed pasta, which is a modern Piemontese standby. And there's no polenta, which was the staple food of the poor.
Meats, as one might expect in a cookbook aimed at the well-to-do, play a major role. There's quite a bit of beef, a fair amount of veal, surprisingly little pork, and, to the contrary, quite a bit of mutton, which isn’t that common today in Piemonte. For all these animals, in addition to recipes for the more standard cuts, there are numerous suggestions for dealing with organ meats, for example tongue, sweetbreads, or brains. Poultry gets an ample treatment, with recipes for a considerable variety of birds, in particular pigeon, and game is well represented too. Fish is at first glance well represented, but then one realizes that though many varieties are listed, most have only one recipe (oysters and salmon get two). On the other hand, baccalà, salt cod that traveled well and wasn't subject to spoilage, gets a couple dozen recipes. Vegetables get a quick, cursory treatment; the list is complete, ranging from asparagus to squash, and contains some things that a modern reader might find odd, for example melon -- until one turns to the page and discovers that the authors tell how to pick a ripe one and suggest it be served as an hors-d'oeuvre. There's an ample selection of egg dishes -- eggs are often part of the second course in Italy -- which is followed by a selection of sauces, and, to bring things to a close, a relatively small number of desserts and other sweets, together with jams and syrups.
Would a modern Italian recognize the recipes as Italian? Most certainly, though in many cases he or she might hesitate to undertake them, either because they require the long cooking times that were possible when one had a cook in one's employ and kept a fire on the hearth to provide warmth throughout the day, or because they are decidedly cursory, and clearly aimed at an experienced cook who merely needed to be pointed in the right direction to obtain the desired result. This is especially true for the desserts; we've come a long way since the late 1700s, and modern recipes reflect this.
THE INTRODUCTION, AND SOME OF THE EASIER-TO-FOLLOW RECIPES:
Notes from the Author
The
introduction, with simple, sensible advice.
Zuppa Magra di Cipolle
An Italian
variation on a French classic.
Minestra di Castagne in Magro ed in
Grasso
A tasty chestnut soup to keep the winter cold at
bay.
Salciccione di Bue
A tasty, elegant
beef roll stuffed with mushrooms and other delights.
Fricassea di Pollastri
Stewed
chicken with mushrooms in a delicate creamy sauce.
Anitra con la Farsa
Duck with an
interesting, mushroomy stuffing; the recipe will also work well with other
birds.
Salmone Fresco
A number of
suggestions for cooking fresh salmon.
Cipolle Ripiene
Zesty stuffed
onions.
Got more sites / recipes to suggest? Let me know.
A Presto,
Kyle
Phillips
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