The Gastronomic Texts of the 16th Century

The 16th century is marked by a gradual change in kitchen and cafeteria services and in the distribution of the various responsibilities of the kitchen staff. Previously the responsibility fell on the cook, but then the three main food-related positions – lo scalco, or banquet organizer, il trinciante, or meat carver and bottigliere, or wine server.
This division of labor lead to the refinement of techniques and to the publication of special treatises. We can observe, on one hand, the vast diffusion of general texts, written by Messisbugo, Romoli and Scappi, and, on the other, the proliferation of monographs on wine, (written by Lancerio, Taegio, and Bacci) on salad (by Felici), or on carving service (by Cervio). Based on an analysis of the food writing of the period, a division appears between two “schools” or “cuisines”: that of the Po River Valley, represented by Maestro Martino, Platina, Folengo and Messisbugo, and that of Tuscan and Rome, represented by Lancerio, Romoli, Scappi, Cervio and Bacci, resembling the work of Platina.
The cuisine of Platina will eventually dominate thanks in part to the growing political weight of the papal court. His influence is evident in the food of the mid-16th century to the beginning of the 17th. During this century famous for its images and formality, the food of the Court became the central focus of the publishing scene – and of the real world. The European Courts competed with one another in terms of gastronomic splendor and ostentation. Food was no longer served in a succession of courses, as in the Middle Ages, but presented all together, in groups, to evoke astonishment for the unusual preparations, the amazing presentations, the plentitude and the variety of the dishes, as in a theatrical show.
In a world that we know was dominated by hunger, the food of the princes was created more for show than for consumption, to be “ritualized” before it was eaten. This type of cooking was about the ceremony, the etiquette, the tableware and the approach to food, and not the interest in tastes and flavors, typical of Renaissance conviviality.

	There are two examples of this new approach to cuisine, published in different periods. The books are chronicles of celebratory banquets. The books are not to be considered food writing in the strict sense, but are indispensable for the analysis of the gastronomic culture of the time. The first, in order of publication date, is Ordine de le imbandisone: [balletto conviviale di Bergonzio Botta], a very short, 8-page published in Tortona in 1489 by a unknown printer. The book was created to document the departure of Isabella of Aragon (1470–1524) from Tortona. Isabella was the future wife of Gian Galeazzo Sforza (1469–1494), nephew of Ludovico Il Moro, the Duke of Milan. This is a particularly important banquet because Leonardo da Vinci, the scientific and artistic genius, and interested gastronome, immortalized the future bride in the painting known today as “la Gioconda”, or the Mona Lisa. Count Botta of Tortona hosted a dinner in his castle. The meal seemed to surpass all others in pomp and richness. Not a single course was served without the presence of actors, mimes, singers and dancers, representing allegorical characters inspired by mythology.
	Two centuries later, almost at the end of this era, we encounter Disegni del convito fatto dall'illustrissimo signor senatore Francesco Ratta all'illustrissimo pubblico, eccelsi signori anziani, & altra nobiltà, terminando il suo confalonierato li 28 febraro 1693, (Designs of the feast hosted by senator Francesco Ratta for the illustrious public of important elders and other nobility, in honor of his resignation as confalniere on February 28, 1693). The book was published in the same year in Bologna by Peri publishing and included six illustrated tables, signed by painter and architect of Bologna, Marcantonio Chiarini (1652–1730).  The engraving was done by Giacomo Giovannini (1667–1717), who captured, among other things, the sugar creations made by famous artists, which evoked much marvel and admiration during the period.
	Meanwhile, tastes were changing and treatises from the period pass from the acidic and spiced flavors of the Middle Ages (all based on “low-fat” sauces prepared with wine, vinegar, and bitter grape juice) to the sweet and rich flavors of modern cooking (that use, in addition to sugar, oil and butter to thicken sauces.) The texts about cooking and conviviality, written by famous chefs at the service of the most important men of their times, are a direct testimony to this new world: the recipes range from banquet descriptions with details about the decoration, set-up and visual aspects that push the gastronomic component to the back burner. Among all the work of this period, the treatise by Cristoforo Messisbugo (post 1400–1548) stands out. Messisbugo was a gentleman from Ferrara and worked as administrator and scalco, (or the general supervisor of personal and the kitchen staff,) for the Court of Este. His book, Libro novo nel qual s'insegna a far d'ogni sorte di vivande (a new book on how to prepare all types of dishes) was first printed in 1549 in Ferarra and eventual appeared in ten editions. This book became part of the manuals used in the beginning of the 16th century – along with the Epulario of Rosselli, which became popular after the first edition in 1516, or the Libreto… by Savonarola or the Refugio… by Colle. Messisbugo adds to the literary scene a praiseworthy organizational sense, shown in the introductory chapter and in the following descriptions of diners and princely banquets, in which the complexity of the table and service ware is extremely complicated. This complication required Messisbugo to compile information from previous cookbook and research and invent sophisticated gastronomic compositions able to meet the needs of the people of the court. And it appears, that in carrying out this complex task, Messisbugo created a book about banquet organization that one of the fundamental works of the century. It was the most easy to use due to the organization of the subjects and certainly the most striking for its refined writing and lexical sensibility.
	During the following decade, La singolar dottrina (The Singular Doctrine) was written by a gentleman from Florence, Domenico Romoli, called the Panunto (16th cent.). The book was published in Venice in 1560 and reprinted in a few editions in the 16th century and the first half of the 17th.  The work did not present any major innovations in recipe writing, but its merit lies in its organization of complex service elements and its definition of assignments, relationships and hierarchy.
	Ten years later, in 1570, the Opera by Bartolomeo Scappi (XVI early cent.- post 1570) was published. It still hasn’t been determined if Scappi was from Bologna or Venice. He was called the “cuoco secreto” (or personal chef), or Pope Pio V. His extensive work was the most complete and systematic of the culinary treatises of the century. It is the most attentive and precise in this instructions and cooking procedures. Better than a gastronomic encyclopedia, the Opera by Scappi is modeled as a sort of summa, a comprehensive system of the life of the scalco, or banquet organizer, or any other kitchen official. The book includes the practical norms for working productively.  The manual intentionally includes a large, complete illustration of the banquet set-up. The illustration is also described in the text so that it is rules are understood in context.