Da Vinci's Kitchen: A Secret History of Italian Cuisine

by Dave DeWitt

Overview

With wars among the city-states raging in early Renaissance Italy, the enigmatic genius Leonardo da Vinci was producing some of the most lavish theatrical productions and banquets Europe has ever seen in the Sforza Court in Milan, while personally living a nearly monastic life, eating the most basic vegetarian foods. Leonardo's food history is just a part of the fascinating and little known story of the origins of Italian cuisine. The tale begins in the early Renaissance with the first superstar chefs, Maestro Martino and Platina, whose cookbooks literally set the stage for the evolution of the cooking of Italy. Both of these cooks moved away from the use of imported spices in favor of local aromatic herbs. The introduction of new crops into Italy soon transformed the cuisine of the regions. Rice became risotto, durum wheat became pasta, and sugarcane became sugar and replaced honey, forever changing the nature of Italian sweets and desserts. Despite near starvation for the poor, the wealthy courts of the city states indulged themselves with fantastic feasts and elaborate spectacles. Leonardo produced The Masque of the Planets, a multimedia entertainment that made him famous all over Italy. After Columbus's first voyage, a second wave of new foods arrived in Italy. Maize (corn) became polenta, tomatoes changed the way pasta was eaten, and peppers eventually spiced up Italy's regional cuisines. The complete development and transformation of Italian cuisine is revealed in Da Vinci's Kitchen, including fascinating sidebars, Renaissance frustrations, original recipes from the masters of early Italian cooking, and some modern adaptations of these recipes, including Leonardo's own salad dressing. Part history, part biography, and part cookbook, this fascinating exploration of an as-yet unexamined facet of Leonardo da Vinci's life focuses on what and how he ate. Da Vinci lived to be 67-nearly twice the average life span at the time-and his longevity may well have been due to his diet, which is reconstructed here complete with his notes on ingredients, portions, cooking, drinking, and kitchen inventions. The great artist, scientist, and inventor was no slouch in the kitchen, having worked as a kind of theatrical caterer, producing feasts with extravagant menus for royalty. This book unlocks his cooking code and the food history of his day, bringing 30 recipes up to date, including an exotic saffron risotto with duck and mushrooms fit for a Medici.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780983251538
Publisher:	Sunbelt Editions
Publication date:	05/29/2017
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.47(d)

About the Author

Dave DeWitt is a food historian and one of the foremost authorities in the world on chile peppers, spices, and spicy foods. He has more than forty-five published books to his credit. Dave is also the producer of the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show, the trade/consumer show for the multi-billion dollar Fiery Foods and Barbecue industries, now in its thirtieth year. Education: --B.A. University of Virginia, 1966 --M.A. University of Richmond, 1967 Professional Affiliations: --President and CEO, Sunbelt Shows, Inc. --Founding Board Member, The Chile Pepper Institute, New Mexico State University --Chair, Governing Board of Regents, New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, Las Cruces --Associate Professor, Adjunct Faculty, College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces Current Responsibilities: --Producer, National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show, now in its 25th year --Producer, Scovie Awards Competition, a contest for hot & spicy and BBQ products --Publisher and editor, the Fiery Foods & BBQ SuperSite at www.fiery-foods.com --Publisher, Burn! Blog Museum Projects: Curator, "Edward S. Curtis in New Mexico," Albuquerque Museum, 1984 Media Appearances: Dave has appeared on a number of national TV shows, including "American Journal," CNN, "The Today Show," "Home with Gary Collins," "Scientific American Frontiers," "Smart Solutions," "CBS Sunday Morning," "Mythbusters," "Extreme Conventions" (Travel Channel), the Martha Stewart Show and many appearances on The Food Network. He has also been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, American Way, Smithsonian, and in more than two hundred newspapers across the country. Awards: 2011. Winner, Best Cooking Book, New Mexico Book Awards, for The Southwest Table (tie). 2011. Winner, Best Cooking Book, New Mexico Book Awards, for 1001 Best Hot & Spicy Recipes 2015. Winner, Best Culinary History, IACP Awards, for Precious Cargo: How Foods From the Americas Changed the World. 2015. Winner, Best Business Book, New Mexico Book Awards, for Microfarming for Profit. 2016. Winner, Best History Book, Other, New Mexico Book Awards for, Precious Cargo: How Foods from the Americas Changed the World. 2016. Winner, Best Cookbook, New Mexico Book Awards, for Dishing Up New Mexico. 2016. Winner, Best Gardening Book, New Mexico Book Awards, for The Field Guide to Peppers.

Editorial Reviews

Though it seems the title of this book is a bid to profit by association with a certain global bestseller-the topic of "Leonardo's Larder" takes up just one chapter-it's easy to forgive this well-researched history, a fascinating look into the eating habits of 15th- and 16th-century Italy. Delving into formal feasts, foreign crops and the Arabic influence on Italian cooking, Dewitt (The Whole Chile Pepper Book) also includes chapters on "The First Superstar Chefs" and what your seat says about you: "honored guests [were] seated with their backs to the fire... it was an exercise in social standing... governed by strict protocol." The author liberally quotes Renaissance food authorities like Bartolomeo Platina, an early librarian at the Vatican who wrote what is likely the first printed cookbook. He also references modern food scholars like Waverley Root and Odile Redon, and includes historical recipes for Renaissance favorites like Risi e Bisi and Spinach Soup with Hazelnuts. Detailed and passionate, this book is unlikely to appeal to a broad audience, but for foodies who want an in-depth exploration of the roots of Italian cuisine, one can hardly go wrong here. (Jan.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

Using the life and times of Leonardo da Vinci as a backdrop, Dewitt (The Whole Chile Pepper Book) has crafted a wonderfully rich and personal look at the food and history of Renaissance Italy. Unable to uncover anything about the famous inventor's eating habits in a variety of biographies, Dewitt decided to examine da Vinci's notebooks himself to uncover what he cooked and ate. Interestingly, he explains that da Vinci became a vegetarian, a dangerous lifestyle choice for the time. The author does not ignore the peasants and details their day-to-day food habits as well. One of the book's most interesting portions is the discussion on the introduction of foreign foods. For instance, the tomato was not brought into Italian cooking until after 1500. Well documented and written, this book also includes recipes at the end of each chapter—even a recipe for da Vinci's salad dressing. Overall, this is a highly enjoyable, informative, and fun read. Recommended for all libraries.
—Lisa A. Ennis

Library Journal