copyright 2012 Art of Living. PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati
The very first cookbooks on record were once mainly lists of recipes that were either an author’s favorite recipes or a book of what we would consider haute cuisine and were used to instruct chefs for banquets and elegant affairs. Once of the first cookbooks on record printed in Italian was written by Bartolomeo Platina called On Right Pleasure and Good Health (De honesta voluptate et valetudine).
These recipes could be used today:
Platina’s Red Chickpea Soup from On Right Pleasure and Good Health
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Wash a pound or more of chickpeas in warm water. When they are washed and put in a pot without water, where they will simmer, mix in, with your hands, half an ounce of groats, a little oil and salt, up to twenty crushed peppercorns, and a little ground cinnamon. Then put on the hearth and add nearly a gallon of water, with sage and rosemary added, and parsley roots chopped fine. Let it boil until it is reduced to eight cups. When it has been almost cooked, drop in a bit of oil.
Platina’s Sicilian Macaroni from On Right Pleasure and Good Health
Beat a well-sifted white flour with egg whites and rose water and plain water. When it is mixed, draw out into thin strips of dough in the manner of straw half a foot long. Hollow them out with a very thin iron rod—when you pull out the iron, you will leave them hollow. When dried in the sun, pasta of this sort will last two to three years, especially if it was under the waning moon of August. If it is cooked in rich broth and poured into serving dishes, it should be sprinkled with fresh butter and sweet spices.
For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style here or in ebook version exclusively at Kindle
Join me in May 2012 for a luxury Italian cruise
Join me at the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 24th in Charlottesville Virginia,email: events@marialiberati.com for more info
