CIVI LT À TAVOLA - Accademia Italiana della Cucina · c i v i l t À d e l l a t a v o l a n. 2 79...

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ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINAA CULTURAL INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ITALY

FOUNDED IN 1953 BY ORIO VERGANI

www.accademia1953.it

CIVILTÀDELLATAVOLAACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

INTERNATIONAL

EDITION

CdT_279_COVER_INGLESE_Acca 08/02/16 14:50 Pagina 1

FOCUS2 the great chefs no longer live in the kitchen (Paolo Petroni)

CULTURE AND RESEARCH3 pre-plated meals (Simonetta Agnello Hornby)

5 frankenstein salmon (Marino de Medici)

7 food and music: a perfect union (Rosalia Sorce)

8 oranges in history and in health (Publio Viola)

10 caruso’s sauce (Claudio Novelli)

On the cover: Graphic reproduction of a detailfrom the painting Still Life with Oranges (1881) byPaul Gauguin. Musée d’Orsay, Paris

PAGE 1

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

february 2016 / n. 279

EDITOR IN CHIEFpaolo petroni

COPY EDITORsilvia de lorenzo

LAYOUTsimona mongiu

TRANSLATORnicola lea furlan

THIS ISSUE INCLUDES ARTICLES BYsimonetta agnello hornby,

marino de medici,claudio novelli,paolo petroni,rosalia sorce,publio viola.

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PUBLISHERACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

via napo torriani 31 - 20124 milanotel. 02 66987018 - fax 02 66987008

[email protected]@[email protected]

www.accademia1953.it

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monthly magazinereg. n. 4049 - 29-5-1956

tribunale di milano

Rivista associataall’Unione StampaPeriodica Italiana

L’ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINAfounded in 1953 by orio vergani

and luigi bertett, dino buzzati traverso,cesare chiodi, giannino citterio,

ernesto donà dalle rose, michele guido franci,gianni mazzocchi bastoni, arnoldo mondadori, attilio nava, arturo orvieto, severino pagani,

aldo passante, gianluigi ponti, giò ponti,dino villani, edoardo visconti di modrone,

whit massimo alberini and vincenzo buonassisi.

CIVILTÀDELLATAVOLAACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

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S O M M A R I OT A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

S O M M A R I OF C U S

BY PAOLO PETRONIPresident of the Academy

A n old television series aired infrance back in 1997 is enjo-ying a revival: Joséphine, the

Guardian Angel. in the show, Joséphi-ne delamarre is a benevolent angelthat comes down to earth from hea-ven. with her outstanding sense ofpsychology, powers of persuasion andmagical abilities she manages to helppeople with their problems. mimiemathy, a lovely french actress and sin-ger afflicted by dwarfism is the only person who appears inall the episodes in the role of Joséphine. in one of the mostrecently aired episodes, clearly filmed a number of yearsago, Joséphine goes off to help one of the most famouschefs in france at the time when, overwhelmed by the de-mands of his business (including the opening of new re-staurants and putting his face and logo on baby food) hefinds himself suffering from a crisis of identity and creativi-ty. one evening the most famous restaurant critic in francecomes to dinner at his resort. naturally the critic is pampe-red and treated to the best dishes in the house, includingdove with foie gras, but before dessert is served he walksout of the restaurant. our chef runs after him, but the criticopenly tells him that he doesn’t even recognize him: one ofthe most talented chefs in france seems no longer able toexcite his clients or create something new to stimulate theirpalates. terrified by the thought that a negative review bythe journalist will wipe out all his business in one fell swo-op, he falls into a deep depression. we do not know if thewriters were inspired by a true story, but the plot closely re-sembles an actual event. it took place in saulieu in burgun-

dy in 2003. the three-star chef/entre-preneur bernard loiseau (he had fourrestaurants), committed suicide byshooting himself in the face at the ageof 52. he was a man ahead of his time,renown for his talent, decorated withthe legion of honor, successful authorof cookbooks and sponsor of gastrono-mic food products sold in supermar-kets. the official motive? apparentlybecause the Gault e Millau Guide de-

moted him from a rating of 19 out of 20 to 17 and apparen-tly michelin was about to take away a star, which would re-sult in the ruination of his economic activities. or perhapsit was simply the intolerable humiliation of it all. todayeverything that brought about the good loiseau’s depres-sion is considered normal: the great chefs are seen on tele-vision more than in their kitchens. they have founded re-staurant chains resembling those of beauty parlors, bake-ries or even fast food franchises. but perhaps the questionposted by that critic many years ago is still valid. how canchefs survive outside the environment in which they wereborn, where they discovered their life’s passion? we maybe traditionalists, but it is lovely thing to enter a restaurantand be greeted by a smiling chef who warmly welcomesyou and offers you his latest creations. today a name and alogo are all it takes. certainly an artist or artisan can havetheir school and their students, but the master must be pre-sent to guide and teach them.for the record: with the help of chef patrick bertron, ber-nard loiseau’s wife still successfully runs the restort La Côted’Or. and it has maintained its three stars.

The great chefs no longer live in the kitchenHow do they manage to stay away from the environment where their passion was born?

We have just learned that Franco-Swiss chef Benoît Violier took his own life with a firearm. One of the world’sgreatest chefs at only 44 years of age, he was the owner of the three-star Michelin restaurant at the Hotel deVille, in Crissier, near Losanne.

Last minute news

S O M M A R I OC U L T U R E & R E S E A R C H

I n the past thirty years food andcuisine have been a central focusof the media and consumers. ita-

lian cuisine became unified toward theend of the 1800s, first with artusi andsubsequently with fascist movement’sefforts with the magazine Italian Cui-sine. in the past italian families alwaysate together and this affected the wayfood was served. in the poorer familiesdishes were often served, and consu-med, in turns when there wasn’t enoughroom at the table. in the past two cen-turies, the food - often soup or pasta -was the same for everyone, with thepossible exception of men who per-formed hard labor and therefore neededmore protein. well to do families atedifferently. the french serving system,which prevailed until the beginningof the 19th century, called for all dishesto be placed on the table at the sametime: hot and cold, sweet and spicy, sothat diners could serve themselves.the waiter only brought in the food,while the wine steward was in chargeof filling the glasses of those who asked.

the dishes, served in plain sight ontall, raised platters, were kept warmby a complicated system of small bur-ners called réchaud. in contrast, therussian system, an innovation of princealexander borisovich Kurakin, calledfor a waiter to carry each serving dishon a tray and individually serve theamount of food requested by eachdiner. diplomats, in accordance withthe thinking of anthèlme brillat-sa-varin, who at that time had publishedhis reflections on the pleasures of finedining and serving methods in his bookPhysiology of Taste (1825) created asystem that avoided waste and allowedfor enjoying tastes one at a time. thiswas also a period that saw the deve-lopment of a new bourgeois cultureduring the post-revolutionary period.this culture was hostile to the excess,flagrant display of wealth and wasteinherent in the french system. it wasKurakin who taught the great frenchchefs about the correct sequence ofcourses: appetizer, soup or pasta, fish,meat, salad, cheese, sweets, pastriesand finally fruit. the passage from thefrench form of service to the russianalso had the advantage of allowingbetter pairings of food and wine. dinerswere provided with a list, or menu,that indicated the order of the dishes.the russian system is still the one usedby most families, without, of course,the benefit of waiters. most italians have been raised to respectfood, condemn waste and to take onlyas much as they can eat. it is a goodrule of thumb to pass each dish aroundthe table twice so that diners can servethemselves a second time. even in re-

BY SIMONETTA AGNELLO HORNBYAcademician, London Delegation “Franco Marenghi” Study Center

Multi-course meals are an increasingly absent element from restaurant tables.

Pre-plated meals

staurants the service was “personali-zed”; that is, the waiter brought vege-tables and side dishes for everyone,but each diner selected the main dishthey preferred. in the past there wereonly three reasons why diners wereserved differentiated dishes: illness,diet, or to give oneself airs by servingguests rare or exotic foods. once thin-ness became synonymous with beauty,diets began to become popular. oneof these, the mediterranean diet whichwas supposedly “discovered” by twoamericans, has always been at the topof the list. but there are also incoherentdiets, liquid diets, and even those thatcall for days of fasting. such diets haveled to the near disappearance of someingredients: olive oil, which is lighter,has almost completely replaced buttereven in the preparation of the classicveal chop, as i learned recently when idined at La Madonnina, a well knowntraditional milanese restaurant.much discussion is devoted to dietsand ingredients, but little importanceis given to how we eat, in addition towhatwe eat. in england it is traditionalto use individual placemats, known as“american style”. now it seems thatthe entire world is doing so, to the de-triment of the tablecloth. the placementof silverware and glasses has remainedmore or less the same over time, butplate styles have changed. today weuse much larger plates (sometimes al-most as big as serving platters), bethey made from ceramic or delicateporcelain. one element that is disap-pearing from italian, and perhaps eu-ropean, tables, is the family style servingdish. today we seldom see the commonsalad bowl, soup tureen or tray. this isbecause of the trend toward pre-platedmeals, that is, dishing up an individual’splate without previously asking whator how much they would like, has be-come the norm. on the contrary, ihave always enjoyed having the powerto choose what and how much i eat. itis an element of good judgment thatshould be taught to children: it meansunderstanding moderation, and aboveall, learning to have a dignified rela-

tionship with food. food waste is un-justifiable and downright sinful, andit is doubled when food is pre-plated(unless the portions are miniscule,which is not uncommon. in which caseone goes hungry). on the one hand,serving even a small amount of foodalready plated give diners the right tojust leave the food on their plates. buton the other hand, excessive importanceis devoted to decoration and presen-tation. foods are always carefully ar-ranged to enhance their attractiveness.in the past this was only done withthe actual food in the dish; today it isalmost always carried out with ingre-dients put there strictly for their esthe-tics (sprigs of thyme, lettuce or bayleaves, fennel leaves, sad and lonelyslices of tomato, large basil leaves orcarrot or radish curls).pre-plated dining even changes thesense of conviviality, a term that refersto eating in company, enjoying foodtogether, which also means enjoyingthe sight of a nice roast chicken, aturkey larded with crispy bacon, or asplendid filet mignon that is sliced atthe table and served with sauce, of afish cooked whole…instead of findingsmall unidentifiable pieces of food onour plate. the visual aspect of food isimportant and today’s cooks try to sa-tisfy that requirement by plating foodsin complicated ways. even the descrip-tion of a dish can be a triumph of con-fusion. often, a plated dish is shapedlike a tower: on a bed of some sort ofpuree rest slices of vegetable, thenmeat or fish. a few leaves of somethingare added and a cream or sauce is pou-red over all. sometimes even a pieceof fruit or vegetable crowns the creation.modern pre-plated dishes are tiny ma-sterpieces that have to be dismantledto be eaten. because of the way thevarious elements are sliced the flavorsare often amalgamated in a way thatthey should not be.in italian and european cuisine saucesplay a fundamental role. but when di-shes are pre-plated sauces are decora-tively drizzled like doodles. now i don’texpect that they be served in a proper

sauce boat, as would be appropriate,so that each diner can choose whetheror not, or how much sauce to use ontheir own plate. but at least the sauceshould be abundant. sometimes thethreads of sauce are so thin that onemust use one’s finger to taste thembecause it is impossible to gatherenough on one’s fork or spoon. andthe sauce should always be accompa-nied by bread, which today is servedseparately in almost every english re-staurant, while in some italian esta-blishments you have to order it. in myopinion, the pleasure of dining is greatlyreduced by pre-plated dishes, especiallyif those gathered around the table havechosen different dishes. even conver-sation is affected because i eat my foodand just tell you if it is good, and youeat yours and just let me know if youlike it. my thoughts go back to the daily familymeal, where we talked and discussedhow the food was cooked, with eachdiner contributing their opinion andsharing new recipes and techniques.today’s youth probably have nothingsimilar as they have lost sight of thereal fulcrum of the table: food.finally, i believe that artistically pre-plated dishes lead us to eating poorly.in an italian restaurant in chelsea, irecently consumed a chestnut soupwith fried red onions. it was excellent,but i was unable to perceive the tasteof the onion. then i realized that therewas a small clump floating in the soup.it was the fried onion, so stuck togetherthat it was impossible to separate iteven by squashing it against the sideof the bowl with the spoon or vigorouslystirring it. in the end i put the entirelump in my mouth as there was no al-ternative. we must have the courageto ask restaurants to offer us meals fortwo or three people served from a com-mon serving plate. we should also en-courage people to order the same disheswhen dining out in order to be able todiscuss and share our ideas, as oftenhappens at our convivial academicmeetings.

SIMONETTA AGNELLO HORNBY

PAGE 4



A gainst their will, americans aregetting ready to start eatinggenetically modified salmon.

in europe it’s a different story. the usfood and drug administration (fda)recently approved “genetically enginee-red salmon” for human consumptionand sale in supermarkets. it was a longbattle, but in the end it was a smallcompany that prevailed. aquabountytechnologies applied for approval backin the 1990s. environmental and con-sumer groups opposed genetically mo-dified salmon with every weapon avai-lable to them, from advertising to legalchallenges. Just a few hours after thefda, a government agency chargedwith protecting consumers, made theapproval announcement the first chal-lenge was made in a federal court. the

director of the center for veterinarymedicine, a branch of the fda, respon-ded with a rather huffy clarification:“the fda has analyzed and evaluatedthe data presented by aquabounty” -the press release stated - “and it hasreached the conclusion that it is safe toconsume this fish”. the salmon produ-ced by aquabounty (the name Bountyis famous for its association with thehistoric mutiny, and also means “abun-dance”) is actually an atlantic salmonthat has been genetically modified tomake it grow faster than normal salmonand thus reach the market in half theusual time.according to the fda itself, gm salmondoes not require the special labelingrequired for other genetically modifiedfood. however the agency does not op-

BY MARINO DE MEDICIDelegate, Washington DC-Maryland-Virginia

This is the nickname of the genetically modified fish that the United States FDA recently approved for sale to consumers.

Frankenstein salmon


pose possible voluntary initiatives onthe part of fish producers to label salmonas genetically modified.we should point out that this is thefirst instance of a genetically modifiedfish being introduced on the marketafter years of analysis and debate. thedelay in the regulatory process is attri-butable to the fact that the obama ad-ministration acted with extreme cautionon the issue, fearing a political backlash.in addition, we now know that it willbe at least two years before the modifiedsalmon begins to appear in supermarketsand even then only in limited quantities.this is due in part to the fact that theproduction center located in panamawill initially only produce 100 tons ofthe modified fish. the united statesimports more than 200,000 tons of sal-mon every year. in any case, it remains to be seen whetheror not genetically modified salmon, al-ready nicknamed “frankenstein salmon”will be successful in the marketplace.many supermarkets have already de-clared that they have no intention ofcarrying the product. one of the main

objections put forth by environmentalistsis that the modified salmon could windup in open seas and genetically conta-minate natural pacific salmon. largefish farms in norway and chile areoften besieged by major storms or attacksby seals or marine otters, which createholes in the net housing allowing thesalmon to escape. i have personally ex-perienced landing a wild atlantic salmonin a lake in chile high in the andes.that fish had traveled over 40 kilometersthrough the puelo river from the re-loncaví estuary where fish farms areabundant.the aquabounty company maintainsthat modified salmon will be raised in-land, in large metal basins, thus pre-venting these salmon from coming intocontact with natural ones. it is a givenhowever, that sooner or later the com-pany will establish production centersin the united states, using salmon eggsharvested from prince edward’s islandin canada. over time, other egg pro-duction sites will appear in the unitedstates to supply the fish farmers usingartificial basins in states where aqua-

culture or aqua farming is widespread.the expected markets for export includeargentina, brazil and china. for themoment, europe does not figure inthese plans. fearful that the appearanceof “frankenstein salmon” will have anegative impact on their state’s imageand their natural salmon such as themuch prized northern pacific King andsockeye varieties, senators and membersof congress from alaska have launchedstrong protests again genetically modi-fied salmon. their argument is refutedby experts who insist that productionof modified salmon will not disrupt theocean environment. in addition, thesesame experts maintain that the conti-nued capture of natural salmon is notsustainable owing to over fishing. theenvironmentalists’ only hope is thataquabounty will fail financially in theevent that european legislators and themajor supermarket chains unite to op-pose the sale of genetically modifiedsalmon. much will depend on how suchsalmon tastes, and obviously how muchit costs.

MARINO DE MEDICI

Academicians’ contributions to the magazine are notonly welcome, but essential. However Academiciansshould keep in mind some important guidelines so thattheir contributions, which are the fruit of their passionand dedication, are expeditiously published.

� Articles: it is essential that the text of articles besent via email, in MS Word format (not pdf) to the fol-lowing address: [email protected]

� Article length: it is important that articles are bet-ween 3,500 and 7,000 characters (including spaces);this is the best way to avoid cuts that are bothersome forboth the editors and those submitting the texts. All com-puters should be able to provide character counts..

� Each issue of the magazine is printed one month ahe-ad of the cover date so that it can be delivered to theAcademicians by that date. Those submissions that aretime sensitive should be sent in ample time.

� “From the Delegations” Section: In order to facili-tate reading, please limit articles to a maximum of2,500 characters including spaces.

� Please remember that in the “From the Delegations”section as well as elsewhere, descriptions of meetingsheld outside the territory of the Delegation or in thehomes of Academicians, unless they are associatedwith an important event, will not be published. Al-so, please do not include a list of dishes and wines.Such listing should appear on the appropriate ratingform regarding convivial meetings.

� Rating forms for convivial meetings: should be sentto the Secretariat ([email protected]). Itis also important to limit remarks in the “notes and com-ments” section of the form to 800 characters (maxi-mum 1,000) spaces included in order to avoid cuts. Ra-ting forms that reach the Secretariat more than 30 daysafter the event will be discarded.

� We also request that you not submit reports on convi-vial meetings held outside the territory of the Delega-tion, or that take place in the homes of Academicians,or are otherwise not held in restaurants or public ve-nues, as they will not be published.

GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MAGAZINE


T he perception of food shouldbe considered to be one of ourmulti-sensory emotions par ex-

cellence. foods are something we canlook at, touch, smell and taste: thuswe use many senses, including hearing(when we chew and swallow). sincewe have a unity of mind and body, thatwhich passes through all our senseshas the same impact as that which pas-ses through our stomachs. music isgood for us because it nourishes themind just as food nourishes our bodies.the neurological institute of the uni-versity of montreal has demonstratedthat the good music activates pleasurecenters in the human brain by raisingthe level of dopamine. in the sameway, when eating good food our brain“responds” in the exact same way aswhen we hear a pleasant piece of music,so much so that it can affect various

vital function of the human organism. creativity is another element thatfood and music have in common. mu-sicians compose or reproduce musicalsymphonies just as cooks create orreproduce dishes that are like melo-dies for the eye, nose and palate.like the weather, music can alsoinfluence our perception of severalfundamental flavors: spiciness, aci-dity, sweetness, saltiness and bit-terness. certain symphonies arealso known to enhance or alterthe flavor of some foods. forexample, jazz amplifies our per-ception of chocolate.how many sounds are producedduring the preparation of a dish?

the kitchen becomes an incredible mu-sical stage where forks, spoons, knives,whisks and pots constitute the primaryinstruments. and of course “the singingcook makes the kitchen a happy place”.indeed, many women enjoy hummingtheir favorite tunes while going aboutpreparing a meal.both its opera and cuisine have broughtitaly worldwide renown. the music ofgiuseppe verdi represents the musicalpillar of the italian risorgimento, whileartusi united the italian populationaround the table.in his interesting book Food at the Opera:Music and Food in Emilia Romagna,giancarlo fre states that “the frequentstravels of various musicians and operaticperformers provided an excellent op-portunity for convivial encounters andencouraged understanding and exchan-ges of different gastronomic practices”.some famous dishes bear the name ofcelebrated artists: eggs in the style of

auber, berlioz and bizet. the elvis pre-sley sandwich (made with peanut but-ter). beatles apple cake. then thereare “mozart balls” made of chocolateand marzipan. the composer attributedgreat importance to food and fine dining(see his letters to his cousin). and thenthere is Risotto alla Verdi, since thatcomposer enjoyed food made with localcountry products. pietro mascagni ado-red the traditional doughnut and hisfamous peach melba. and arturo to-scanini believed in the power of a goodbean soup.gioacchino rossini was also famous asa gourmet: indeed, he created marve-lous dishes, including the famous “tour-nedos rossini” made with truffles andfoie gras. it is said that at the tenderage of six he was known to finish offbottles of holy wine in the sacristies ofpesaro, thereby demonstrating an earlydesire to satisfy his palate. the firstproduction of The Barber of Seville in1816 at the argentine theater in romewas a huge debacle owing to envy onthe part of the musical world. in de-scribing the event to the love of hislife, the singer isabella angela colbran,he explained: “but what interests memuch more than the music, dear angela,is the discovery i made of a new salad,for which i will shortly send you therecipe”. he joined music and food inthis metaphor: “the stomach is themusical master that both controls andstimulates the great orchestra of passion;the empty stomach plays the bassoonof resentment and the flute of envy;the full stomach shakes the sistrum ofpleasure and the beats the drum ofjoy”.

BY ROSALIA SORCEAcademician, Siracusa Delegation

Both are expressions of arts that promote wellbeing, evoke memories and help us share emotions.

Food and music: a perfect union

Gioacchino Rossini


T he word “orange” most likelyderives from the persian wordnarang, but there is no dearth

of scholars that maintain that the wordcomes from the latin aurantium, mea-ning golden fruit. at any rate, legendhas it that the three hesperians aretusa,egle and hesperia, daughters of thenight, together guarded the “goldenapples” given by zeus (Jupiter) to hera(Juno) as a wedding gift from theperils of the dragon ledone. and oneof the labors of hercules was to steadthe apples from the hesperians by kil-ling the dragon and therefore encou-raging their diffusion not only as anornamental flower but a flavorful fruit.their symbolic meaning commemora-ting the wedding of Juno still exists.Zagare, the italian word for orangeblossoms comes from the arabic zahar,meaning splendor. these flowers arestill carried in bridal bouquets to sym-

bolize a happy marriage. the orangesupposedly had a long, slow migrationfrom its origins in china and Japan. itfirst appeared in europe at the begin-ning of the first century a.d. thanksto the romans after they managed toenter the kingdom of alexander thegreat where they first encounteredoranges and lemons. however it ap-pears that they were appreciated moreas an ornamental plant than as a fruit.current wisdom has it that the silkroad was the path followed by theorange on its journey to europe. owingto their commercial and trading activity,the portuguese can take credit for theirimportation and diffusion -- so muchso that the citrus was also known as a“portogallo”. we think it is only fair,however, to point out that some scholarsattribute european knowledge of theorange to the genoese, who supposedlyintroduced citrus fruits after their long

voyages along the black sea coast,where they met up with the caravanscoming from india and china. however,setting aside the interesting discussionof their origin, provenance and name,we can state that there are two speciesof citrus: Citrus Aurantium, which isbitter orange, and Citrus Sinensis, thesweet variety.the earliest known oranges were ac-tually bitter and therefore only eatensporadically. we would have to waituntil the 8th century when the arabsintroduced them to spain and sicily.at the beginning of the first millennium,the sweet variety, as we know it todayfirst appeared. sicily was foremost incontinuing to produce oranges andstudying their cultivation and diversecharacteristics. studies continue todayand in recent year significant progresshas led to the development of new va-rieties, some of which are destined to

BY PUBLIO VIOLADelegate, Rome Appia

From the gardens of the Hesperians, the long journey of a fruit with great biological and gastronomical value.

Oranges in history and in health


produce the juice that is increasinglygaining in popularity.from a nutritional point of view, oran-ges are of notable biological value. ho-wever this is not related to their energyproducing power (from sugar content),which equals 35 calories per 100 gramsof the edible fruit. their biologicalvalue is in fact tied primarily if not ex-clusively to the presence of vitamin c(ascorbic acid) contained in all citrusbut present in especially high quantitiesin oranges. they also have other im-portant components, including vitaminsa, b1, b2 and b6, some polyphenols,and a balanced mineral content. theyare high in potassium and low in so-dium.it is important to point out that in ad-dition to combatting scurvy, vitaminc has many other protective healthbenefits, including high antioxidantpowers. these properties actively com-bat the negative effect of free radicalswhich are responsible for some serioushealth problems to which we are con-stantly exposed. in addition to vitaminc, this antioxidant activity is carriedout by the above cited phenol com-pounds, constituted primarily by fla-vonoids, including anthocyanin presentin all citrus fruit but which is especiallyhigh in blood oranges. polyphenols,in synergism with vitamin c carry out

an efficient protective action, interve-ning favorably in the face of many pa-thologies, including cardiovascular andinfectious diseases and malignant tu-mors, by reinforcing the immune sy-stem. we should also recall that vitaminc performs an important function inthe intestines by encouraging the ab-sorption of iron that, at the metaboliclevel, protects and restores vitamin ewhen its supply has been exhausted.in addition to the noteworthy healthbenefits of oranges and citrus fruits ingeneral, we should examine their im-portant role in terms of gastronomy.the orange is an easily digested foodthat is enjoyed for its fruit and its juice,but it can also be used to produce mar-malades or sauces for special dishes.its nutritional importance is thus as-sociated with an organoleptic one thatis especially pleasant - it allows us toeat something healthy while at thesame time satisfying our taste buds.to be precise, there are no substantialnutritional differences between bitteroranges and sweet ones, or regularand blood oranges. before closing the discussion, i wouldlike to recall the serious illness that iscaused exclusively by a vitamin c defi-ciency. scurvy, which fortunately todayhas been eradicated, was responsiblefor many major health problems and

even led to death. in this regard it isinteresting to note that in while at seaaboard the ship Salisbury in 1767 thephysician of the british fleet Jameslindt, faced with several cases of scurvyamong the sailors decided, from amongthe various therapies available at thetime, to try administering some orangesand a lemon. to his great satisfactionhe was able to note that unlike theother members of the crew, those whohad been dosed with citrus improvedrapidly. so much so that they were ableto resume their work, and one of themwas considered completely cured. thenews spread rapidly throughout en-gland, and on the basis of this finding,in 1795 the british admiral orderedall war ships to carry enough citrusfruit on board to allow each crew mem-ber to have a daily ration. the sameprovision was not followed by othercountries, such as france, and thereforeone might believe that history mayhave more to do with nutrition thanthe genius of generals and valor of tro-ops. perhaps the consumption of citrusfruits themselves played an importantrole, thereby contributing to weakeningthe naval power of napoleon.so maybe we should ask ourselves whoactually won the battle of trafalgar:nelson or the oranges?

PUBLIO VIOLA

ECUMENICAL DINNER 2016The Ecumenical Convivial Dinner that finds all Academicians in Italy and around the world gathe-

red around the same virtual table will be held on October 20, 2016 at 8:30 pm, withthe theme “The cuisine of Reuse. Against Waste, the Family Tradition Offers Leftoverswith Gusto and Imagination”. This theme was chosen by the “Franco Marenghi” Study Center and approved by

the President’s Council, with the purpose of retrieving, within the traditionalcuisine, those preparations that while originating from partially used food-

stuff go on to create new recipes and diverse tastes. The Delegates will take great care that the Ecumenical Dinner will be accompanied by an

appropriate report of cultural character to illustrate the important theme of the convivial whose me-nu will offer and honor the chosen food.


D it was said about enrico ca-ruso, the great neapolitantenor, that he was a passio-

nate cook endowed with an exceptionalappetite. this is the case with all operasigners. as a good neapolitan, he wasa great lover of pasta. in addition, hewas an expert cook. during his life inthe united states, from november1903 to december 1920, a rumor spre-ad that he endeavored to obtain ame-rican citizenship for fifteen neapolitancooks and that he helped them finan-cially to open restaurants and pizzeriasin order to secure for himself the logi-stical familiar support away from hishome city.it was said that “the spaghetti dinnerwas sponsored by caruso more than

any other person…”. being a neapoli-tan and a typical italian male, carusoalso boasted that he was a great cook.his vanity was in full view when hestrived to show restaurant owners howto cook pasta and prepare sauces (g.prezzolini). the situation, however, is a bit com-plicated because some food historiansare convinced that it was caruso him-self who invented spaghetti with asauce of mushrooms and chicken liverswhile others maintain that the inventorwas a neapolitan chef who dedicatedthis course to the great tenor. stillothers attribute the specialty to thechefs of well known restaurants wherecaruso regularly came to dinner.someone pointed out that the pasta

BY CLAUDIO NOVELLIAcademician, Naples-Capri Delegation

The great Neapolitan tenor was also a good cook.

Caruso’s sauce


dish, invented no later than1920, did not appear on themenus of new york restau-rants before the 1950s. howcome? when caruso was roa-ming about the city, the pre-sence of that dish on themenu would have made greatpublicity. and then there isanother issue to be conside-red, the inclusion of chickenlivers. they are rather dislikedby the american public, justlike much organ meat, nomatter how much caruso en-joyed them. nothing else isknown about another passion of ourtenor, for poultry thighs, breasts orwings, and any other use of free ran-ging chickens. the “american” recipecalls for a pound of chicken livers,well cleaned, dried, dredged in flourand quickly sautéed in a pan with aspoonful of olive oil. after that, theyare set aside and cooked with one anda half ounces of butter, 14 ounces ofmixed mushrooms to be cooked untilwater is extracted. a glass of dry redwine should be added until it evapo-rates, a 30-ounce can of peeled toma-toes must then allowed to simmer gen-tly. the chicken livers should be slicedand added to the gravy. cooking shouldtake no more than half an hour. oncea pound of pasta (either spaghetti orperciatelli) has been cooked, dish itout onto the plates and pour the sauceover it and sprinkle with parsley. par-mesan should be available to top thedish.the story is not over yet, as historiansin uruguay tell us that in 1915, follo-wing a series of concerts that broughtthe people of montevideo into delirium,the owners of the restaurant “El Aguila”,adjacent to the prestigious solis theaterwhere caruso often performed, deci-ded to prepare a special sauce to wel-come the tenor, “an exponent of worldstature”. the recipe thus created hadto be based upon a mixture of italiangastronomic traditions imported byimmigrants. reportedly, the sauce sco-red a great success and was dedicated

to caruso; needless to say, there is alegend that tells us how caruso, hisface still made up for the stage, enteredin the restaurant and dived into thespaghetti. the food quickly disappea-red. in 1950, raymundo monti, thechef of the restaurant “Mario & Alberto”in montevideo, dusted off the recipewith a few variations and married itwith orecchiette pasta. since then, thedish has taken over in the entire southamerica landmass as one of the prin-cipal sauces that accompany pastas,especially those that have fillings. theAssociaciòn Uruguaya de Gastronomiawent as far as declaring it a nationalpatrimony. the uruguayan recipe isclearly different from the one in theunited states in that it calls for milk,butter, cream, meat extract, diced coo-ked ham, mushrooms à la julienne, gra-ted cheese, salt, pepper and gratednutmeg. there is also a “prìncipe denàpoles” version, that calls for slicedmozzarella to be set over the boiledpasta and baked in the oven. it is notknown whether this version was de-dicated to the prince of savoy or todon enrico caruso. the new wave of cuisine writers in theunited states resurrect the whole mat-ter in a truly “mediterranean” style,even though apparently it may be lessexciting. in Good Living with Macche-roni, noura Korsch tells this story:“don enrico was famous for his ‘buca-tini alla Caruso’, a dish that literallymade americans and italian-americans

crazy”. at any rate, the recipedid not offer anything thatwas particularly new: lightlysauté the garlic in oil, addhand mashed fresh tomato-es, basil, parsley and somepepper. the bucatini withthis sauce were then coveredwith fried slices of zucchini”.arthur schwarz, in his Na-ples at Table, supports thisrecipe and shares it.the question is: chicken li-vers or zucchini? Tertiumnon datur? not so fast! louisdiat, the chef of new york’s

Ritz from 1910 until its closing in1951, author of several cookbooksand acclaimed inventor of “Crème Vi-chyssoise glacée”, describes “Spaghettialla Caruso” but eliminates the zucchiniand replaces it with slices of artichokeshearts to be lightly fried in a pan witha few ounces of mushrooms and chic-ken livers, all to be covered with par-mesan cheese. diat enjoyed the repu-tation of a chef with great sobriety,for his attention to the choice of in-gredients, and his constant desire toteach americans not to overdo it andto avoid industrial sauces and powde-red spices. most of all, within the scopeof the times, he was know for the li-ghtness of his cuisine. the knowledgeof his work is such that one should re-cognize the primacy of his recipe. theuse of zucchini is indeed a mere bana-lity. some recognition however is dueto the work of a cook to whom carusotried desperately to explain the com-position of “finanziera”, with dubiousresults. the fame of caruso, who gavethat cook his inspiration, unquestio-nably helped the spreading of italiancuisine in the united states. Just to complete the history of thegreat tenor in gastronomy, one shouldrecall the creation of a “cocktail caru-so”: ⅓ dry gin, ⅓ dry vermouth, ⅓cream of green crème de mint, to beshaken with small ice cubes for a fewseconds and then served in martiniglasses.

CLAUDIO NOVELLI

CIVI LT À TAVOLA - Accademia Italiana della Cucina · c i v i l t À d e l l a t a v o l a n. 2 79...

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