GONZAGA'S KITCHEN

Re-edition of  "THE ART OF WELL COOKING" by Bartolomeo Stefani and modern reinterpretation of his recipes (Rizzoli Libri Illustrati)

Bartolomeo Stefani was a Bolognese cook at the service of the Gonzaga court in Mantua. He owes his fame in particular to having written and published in 1662 with the Osanna, ducal printers, "The art of cooking well and instructing the expert men of this praiseworthy profession Where they still teach how to make pies, flavors, sauces, jellies , Cakes and More dedicated to the Marquis Ottavio Gonzaga ". The merit of Stefani is to give instructions to distinguish orders, arrange food, give and decorate dishes, according to the different economic possibilities so as to satisfy every palate. So for the first time attention is paid to the economy of the food proposed, even if Stefani, working in the Gonzaga court, offers elaborate dishes for sumptuous and refined banquets.
Stefani's book also tells of the three banquets ordered by the Most Serene Duke of Mantua for Queen Christina of Sweden, converted to Catholicism, passing through to go to Rome and receive communion from Pope Alexander VII on Christmas Eve.
In the last of the three banquets offered to her by the duke, on November 27, 1655, Stefani also describes in great detail the opulence of the equipment and the abundance of services, and the grandeur of the triumphs: "In the middle of the table stood a triumph made of sugar, and it was Mount Olympus with the altar of faith, at the top of which were two little putti who supported a royal crown over the weapon of His Majesty. " The succession of services was also sumptuous in which other "sugar triumphs", real sculptures, were often presented. Banquets were prepared to show the power, wealth, generosity of the Lord. Thus the art of dining was a communication tool and the banquet was transformed into a spectacle and theater of wonders.
Among the many initiatives connected to the exhibition "Gonzaga. La Celeste Galeria", the publication for the Rizzoli Libri Illustrati series of a paperback volume "The kitchen at the Gonzaga's time" with the complete re-edition of Stefani's seventeenth-century book.
In the second part of the volume, 40 original recipes by the Bolognese cook, updated and reworked by Mantuan chefs to make them attractive even today. All the dishes prepared by the chefs will be reproduced in photos.

Here are some of Stefani's recipes in the original version.

Fennel soup

You will remove the well peeled fennel, and wash in fresh water, and first made again in lean broth, cutting it into bite-sized pieces, and you will put it in a glass jar with a little capon broth, and when it is cooked, you will put a little raisins, a glass of milk cream, 2 ounces of pickles washed in pink water, bruised in the mortar, and you will squeeze it with a broth of four egg yolks, and lemon juice, and under it will limit to the slices of bread and fried in butter, so you will make soup, which will be very delicate, serving it hot, pulverized with cinnamon.

Fish pie

Pasticci pies, one for each guest, filled with gurnard fish pulp, pier fish, shrimp tails, brugnoli, and the usual species, and if you make them over a soup of egg yolks, and butiro, it will be good, and you will serve them hot with sugar on top, and a cover made with jealousy.

Pheasant

The pheasant is fat, young, and well fatigued by hunters in winter time; let himself be dead for four days. It must be larded for a minute, cooked on a skewer over low heat served with royal sauce.

Fraghe cake

You will take two pounds of well-peeled strawberries, washed in milk, leaving them to dry well, you will make a sheet of fine paste, and you will place the fragas in a stone vase, you will put six ounces of butiro, mostaccioli powder, four ounces of fine sugar, an eighth of cinnamon, and with a silver spoon you will mix the said composition, and on top of the other sheet, carved with some whimsical foliage, served cold with sugar.