Repast

The Vegetable and Fruit Frenzy of the 17th Century

Today, when we think of meals using the freshest local produce available, we automatically think of chefs like Alice Waters.  The very method of keeping ingredients simple, local, and fresh conjures up images of the Ferry Market in San Francisco.  For me, Alice Waters and Californian cuisine seems to epitomize this way of cooking.

Of course, this technique did not originate in California.  Food gurus like Alice Waters merely helped popularize a way of cooking that stems back to 17th-century France.  17th-century food writers, like Nicholas de Bonnefons, encouraged cooks to use the freshest and simplest ingredients from their gardens.  In Le Jardinier français (1651) and Les Délices de la campagne (1654), Bonnefons helped to create a revolutionary vision of cuisine by persuading aristocrats all over France to cultivate their gardens.  He believed that the flavors should never be diluted.  In other words, a pea soup should capture the essence of peas: “a cabbage soup must be completely infused with the essence of cabbage, a turnip soup with turnip.”

To me, it’s most shocking that it wasn’t until 1683 that a doctor finally declared fruits and vegetables healthy foods.  In The Essence of Style (2005), Joan DeJean states that Dr. Nicolas Venette was the first medical authority to affirm that vegetables and fruits were healthy.  DeJean explains, “In the Middle Ages, vegetables were thought to be indigestible, coarse fare fit for peasants.”  This view on vegetables clearly changed drastically during the 17th century.  In fact, Louis XIV was apparently obsessed with his garden, the famous potager du roi.  And, Versailles went insane for the freshest green peas coming out of Louis XIV’s garden.  DeJean describes a “craze for fine fruit” and “young tender vegetables being the rage.” 

She exclaims:
The second half of the seventeenth century was a golden age for fruits and vegetables.  Many more varieties than ever before began to be cultivated: sixty kinds of pears were available in France at the beginning of the seventeenth century, but nearly four hundred in Bonnefon’s day.  Asparagus, artichokes, and spinach originally became important in French cuisine; the strawberry mentioned for the first time in a cookbook in The French Cook (1651). 

So, today, when you are reading ideology about Slow Foods or eating baby green peas you could think back to the court of Louis XIV. 

Images courtesy of from top to bottom - http://www.barcelonawinebar.com/spainpictures.htm, http://www.potager-du-roi.fr/presse/presse.html, and http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/category/vegetables/peas-bataani/

Pietro Romanengo fu Stefano: Candies full of History

When I arrived at the Fancy Food Show, my boss Ihsan Gurdal (see photo of him to the left in his “element,” surrounded by cheeses!!) directed me in several different directions.  One of them was to visit Delfina Romanengo, the highlight of my experience at the show.

I reached Delfina’s booth amongst the crowds of people running around like  crazy animals eating as many samples as possible.  She stood there behind her stand as though she was completely detached from her current surroundings.  It was as if she was mentally removed from the chaotic food show and still standing in the historic shop, Pietro Romanengo Fu Stefano, on Via Soziglia in Genoa.  And so, as I approached the stall at the show, I felt like I was entering a severely reduced version of the historic store.  I briefly spoke to Delfina.  I wish I could speak Italian so that I could have explained to her how fascinated I was by her handcrafted candies, her beautifully exquisite candied fruits and fondants.

She gave me a brochure that I feel funny calling a “brochure.”  It’s more like a historical guide through her shop.  The story of Pietro Romanengo fu Stefano begins with Antonio Maria Romanengo in Genoa during the second half of the 18th century.  He opened a colonial goods and drugstore.  His son Stefano received a diploma in confectionary from the University of Genoa, and, in 1814, he opened up the store on Via Soziglia.  Stefano’s son Pietro registered the company with the Chamber of Commerce and Arts as "Pietro Romanengo fu Stefano" to ensure that his father's name lived on.  Pietro helped establish the stunning packaging.  He designed the dove and olive branch logo, a symbol of peace in the wake of the Napoleonic wars. He also established the company's blue paper packaging which was once used to wrap up sugar cones.

The candies were popular among many historical figures:

Giuseppe Verdi - his letters on Romanengo's candied fruits are kept in La Scala museum Prince Umberto and Margherita of Savoy – In 1868, they ordered the candy for their wedding – the order is now kept in the historical archives of the Commune of Genoa
Vittorio Emanuele II

Two Influences on Pietro’s One-of-a- Kind Confectionery: the Middle East and France
During the Crusades, Europe’s culinary traditions were affected by the Arab world.   Chocolate, sugared goods, preserves, candied fruit, syrups and liqueurs all first appeared in the Middle East.  Since the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Genoa had some of Europe’s most renowned confectionaries.  Despite their established success in this craft, it was not until the 18th century that these confectionaries reached new heights in their techniques.  This was due to the French.  Pietro used French industrial machinery.  Pietro drew inspiration from the Parisian confectioners. 

Why would Pietro Romanengo turn to Paris? 

During the second half of the 17th century, Parisian cooks were revolutionizing modern cuisine. The 17th century was the heyday of vegetables and fruit in France.  Before this time period, they were dismissed as indigestible food for peasants.  It was not until 1683 that Dr. Nicholas Venette explained that they were good for you.  French scholar, Joan DeJean explains that French food writers were preaching the message to use the finest and freshest ingredients in the simplest way possible.  This probably helped to produce the 17th-century obsession with confitures and the science of drying and preserving fruits.  By the 18th century, many Parisian candy makers opened up shops in Italy.

Tasting the fruit gelées from Pietro Romanengo:

The day after the Fancy Food Show, Delfina came by the shop and gave me two boxes of fruit gelées.  What are these fruit gelées?  They look likes jelly candies, but taste like delicious fruit pastries.  Each gelée is inserted with the natural juices from the fruit.  Starch is used to create the coating on the outside.  When I gave one to Amy, my coworker, she explained that the outside tasted like an icing. These candies are truly works of art.  The history behind them is extraordinary.

   

Tia, Fine Indian Sweets, and the Buffalo Milk Pastry!

  It’s time that I write a post about TIA, the incredible Cheese Force at Casellula restaurant!  I feel as though there should be a photo of her dressed up as a super hero cheese woman with her many bags of interesting foods and of course CHEESES (See photo on the left!).  She should have her own theme song as she enters my store, says “hello,” and puts down her cheeses.

Tia comes into the shop almost every week to purchase cheeses for Casellula.  She almost always brings me an intriguing snack, like dried Chinese olives.  Like many of us “foodies,” gourmands, gourmets, or whatever you want to call us, Tia is perpetually seeking out new and exciting foods.  Living in Jackson Heights, Queens, Tia has access to a fascinating and delicious array of foods from all over the globe.  A couple of weeks ago, she brought me an Indian buffalo milk pastry. 

An Indian buffalo milk pastry.  Well, the history dork that I am!  A billion  questions started racing through my mind before being able to take a bite into the pastry.  But, I had to postpone those questions – stop the madness of my mind asking many different inquiries about the history and culture of this pastry.  All that had to be put aside, because Tia was standing in front of me waiting to see my response to its taste.  My older sister Sasha told me that our response to taste is extremely visceral.  In other words – you could tell if someone tastes something and is disgusted.  Their face says it all! I couldn’t agree any more. 

My visceral response said – Yum! Yummy! Yum! Yum! 
The texture: gritty, crumbly, and creamy on the palate
Taste: Sweet!  An interesting “cakey” flavor, maybe like a marble cake

I think that my obsession with these pastries is based on the fact that it combines to elements to which I have already formed a serious addiction: MILK (anything DAIRY!) & SWEETS.  Tia left me with a box of these pastries, and I’ve been snacking on it little by little each day.

But, now, I am wondering:
Are there enough buffalos in India to produce pastries with their milk?
What’s Desi Ghee?  The ingredients say – Buffalo Milk, Desi Ghee, Sugar.
   
Answers:

1 – Apparently (according to my limited online research), buffalo milk produces 45 million tons annually in the Asian-Pacific region.  **Over 30 million tons are produced in India alone!!  The photo on the left shows water buffalo in Varanasi, India.

2 – Desi Ghee – SCARY! When I googled “Desi Ghee,” I was led to a site that mentioned that Desi Ghee is one of the most unhealthy butter oils used in conventional Indian cooking.  The site reads:

Desi Ghee being rich in saturated fats has the tendency to increase total cholesterols including HDL (so called "good cholesterols") and LDL & VLDL (so called "bad cholesterols"). As such consumption of desi ghee coupled with fibre rich diet which reduces LDL bad cholesterol & physical activity which reduces VLDL bad cholesterol brings about a favourable lipid profile.

I am not sure what HDL, LDL, and VLDL mean….

Besides the ingredients of these pastries, I have to reveal the little story on the back of the box.  It answers my many questions but also raises more regarding the cultural significance of these pastries –

Milk cake is traditional Indian Sweet originating from ‘Vrindavan’ in the Pre-historic era of Lord Krishna.
Our Special Milk Cake is made from pure Buffalo Milk from the plains of North India in the traditional artisan way involving the careful cooking of protein rich milk with sugar in small lots.  The caramalization effect in the trade secret passed on from the generations.

Tia, From which shop in Jackson Heights did you purchase this box of pastries full of “Vrindavan – Pre-historic” Indian history?

17th-Century Prohibition on Foreign Cheeses and the Creation of Mimolette Cheese

While mentioning trendy 17th-century cheeses in my previous post, I forgot to point out Louis XIV's prohibition on foreign cheeses.  This obviously had an effect on the cheeses that people were eating and producing at the time.  I think that it is worth stressing that the king had two agendas in this regard:

1. Economic Protectionism – Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the finance minister, sought to increase French economic prosperity by keeping imports as low as possible and exports as high as possible.  Joan DeJean underscores Louis XIV's goal to take over luxury trade:

In particular, he wanted to overshadow the country he contemptuously referred to as "that nation of shopkeepers," the Dutch, then Europe's greatest mercantile and shipping power.  The King resolved that France would become a mercantile superpower and that it would achieve this status fully on its own terms. […] In such a climate, Colbert's bottom line was plain: first, to make sure that all the goods Louis XIV considered essential to the promotion of his image as the wealthiest, the most sophisticated, and the most powerful monarch in Europe would be produced in France and by French workers; and second, to make certain that as many people as possible would be slavishly following the Sun King's dictates and buying only the same French-made luxury goods that the King features at Versailles.

2. Centralization of France – Although France existed as a unified entity, it was separated by different regional customs, and, perhaps, more importantly; it was divided by aristocracy in each region.  Louis XIV broke down peoples' loyalty to their lord and increased their loyalty towards him.  If they wanted to be influential in any way, aristocrats had to leave their homes and head for Versailles. 

If you can't import it – Replicate it, and then perfect it

Edam Cheese       Mimolette Cheese

Regions of France along the borders were culturally affected by the king's agenda.  For example, in northeastern France, Flanders (now, part of Belgium), people ate Ducth food.  Their diet consisted of foods imported from Holland.  In the city of Lille, Edam was probably the most common cheese, the most popular at the time.  However, in response to laws forbidding importing Edam, French living by Flanders created their own Edam-like cheese – Mimolette.  The cheese is produced in the same way as Edam; as a result, many believe it originated in Holland.  Although they both have a spherical shape and same texture, Mimolette has a natural rind.

I first came across this cheese during my year-abroad in Paris.  I entered one of the many cheese shops on Rue Mouffetard with the intention of buying my usual: Saint Nectaire and Comté or Beaufort.  But, as I walked into the shop it was as though all my senses were drawing me closer to this large bright orange cheese the size of a bowling ball.  I was intrigued by its shape and color.  The appearance is breathtaking.  It didn't matter why I originally came to the shop.  Nothing mattered but the cheese that I had to try.  It was surprisingly sweet; it tasted of butterscotch. 

When I came back from France, I was shocked by the high prices of the cheese in NY.  Nevertheless, I think it is worth every penny!  Mimolette is made from raw cow's milk and is aged 6 months.  Besides eating the cheese plain, you could add it to pratically any dish.  Check out Clotilde Dusoulier's blog chocolateandzucchini.com, and look at her recipe for Soupe Broccoli Mimolette.  Go out and search for this cheese today! 

Cheeses made popular at the court of Louis XIV

  During the 17th-century, Paris and Versailles were the places where food, clothing, décor, hair styles, and more became “trendy.”  Henri de La Ferté-Saint-Nectaire, Maréchal de France, brought Saint-Nectaire to Louis XIV.  Louis XIV had a love affair with soft-ripened cheeses; it’s no wonder this cheese became such a hit. 

Of course, the origins of Saint Nectaire are not limited to 17th-century France.  In fact, the history of Saint Nectaire probably goes back well before the Romans discovered the high quality cheeses of the Auvergne, the region where Saint Nectaire is produced.  Throughout the Middle Ages, the cheese sat on rye straw, known as “gléo,” to ripen.  During the Middle Ages, this “gléo cheese” became a form of currency.  Peasants paid their lords with the cheese.  It was not until Henri de La Ferté-Saint-Nectaire presented a wheel of the cheese to the “Sun King” that the cheese was named Saint Nectaire, named after the man that introduced it to the court. 

Saint Nectaire is probably one of my favorite cheeses.  It is exquisite with its creaminess and delicacy.  The rich complex flavor is due to the Dore Mountains’ pastures where the cows are grazing.  The Auvergne region has over 2,500 species of flowers and is home to 100 rare protected plants.  The non-active volcanoes in the region have left volcanic ash deep into the soil that has produced an incredibly rich geography, an accessible Garden of Eden.  You’ll hear more about the Auvergne region in future posts – that’s for sure!

Saint Nectaire is not the only cheese that was brought to Louis XIV court.  Roquefort and Cantal also became trendy cheeses.  In Savinien d’Alquié’s book Les Délices de la France, he lays out the best places to buy these cheeses.