The Platina Project

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:04:22 -0700

The start of this bibliography was included in the paper I presented at the Renaissance Society of America’s conference in San Francisco. It will grow as I continue to explore this project so check back often if you are the bibliography sort of person. Or leave me a comment if you have a suggested book for me to explore.

Arano, Luisa Cogliati, ed., The Medieval Health Handbook: Tacuinum Sanitatis, trans. O. Ratti and A. Westbrook, New York: George Braziller, Inc. 1976

Ballerini, Luigi, ed. The Art of Cooking, trans. Jeremy Parzen, Berkely: University of California Press, 2005

Florio, John A world of Words, London, 1598; re-print, Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1972

Martino, MS, Libre de Arte Coquinaria. 1460(?) [Microfilm copy]. Special Collections: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

_______, MS, Libre de Arte Coquinaria. 1460(?), Urb. 1203, [Microfilm copy]. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.

Milham, Mary Ella, Platina: On Right Pleasure and Good Health Tempe, Arizona, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1998

Riley, Gillian, ed. Maestro Martino Libre de Arte Coquinaria. Rome, CA. 1465 [CD-Rom], Oakland: Octavo, 2005

Rosselli, Giovanni de'. Opera Nova Chimata Epulario. Italy:1518; reprint, Rome: Bimo, 1973

Vehling, Joesph Dommers. Platina and the Rebirth of Man. Chicago: Walter M. Hill, 1941

Whitman, Joan. Recipes into Type: A Handbook for Cookbook Writers and Editors. Harper Collins, 1993

Who is this guy PLATINA?

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:20:15 -0700

Who is this guy Platina and what is all the fuss about De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine?

Bartolomeo Sacchi (aka Platina) was born in 1421 in Piadena, a small town near Mantua. He would live an active and prolific life as a military man, writer and librarian and would eventually die in Rome in 1481 at the age of 60.

Platina was the author of many important books during the Renaissance including De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine published in Venice in 1475. Platina was an Italian historian and humanist who rose to favor during the papacy of Pius the II. He belonged to the College of Abbreviators from 1458 to 1464. He was imprisoned in Rome’s infamous Castel Sant’ Angelo by Pope Paul the II in September of 1464, and subsequently was released in January of 1465. Platina went on to write his most famous book, the Lives of the Popes, in 1474. Then in June of 1475, under Pope Sixtus, he became the first Vatican librarian, a position he occupied until his death.

De Honesta, which was most likely written in the later half of the 1460’s, is divided into ten chapters, or books. The last five books of the work are filled with hundreds of recipes from the mid-15th century. These recipes were recorded by Platina from a slightly older manuscript Libre de Arte Coquinaria composed by Maestro Martino de Como, cook to Ludovico Trevisan, Patriarch of Aquileia and Papal Chamberlain to five Popes. Platina acknowledges Martino’s contribution to De Honesta in the entry about the cook. He tells the reader, “if possible, he should be completely like the man from New Como [Martino], the prince of cooks of our age, from whom I have learned the art of cooking food.” Platina took the 261 recipe entries included in Martino’s cookery book and incorporated them into the last five books of De Honesta. These recipes, range from the simple, (frittatas, sausages, and pasta), to the exotic, (“To dresse a Peacocke with all his feathers”).

For a more detailed accounting of Platina’s life and times see Platina: On Right Pleasure and Good Health or Platina and the Rebirth of Man. Or for a brief but slightly longer overview of his life there is always wikipedia!

In The Beginning

Sun, 9 Aug 2009 10:49:34 -0700

Several years ago at the Renaissance Society of America’s Conference in San Francisco I was part of a panel titled “Cookbooks and Cuisine in the Renaissance” along with my friend Ken Albala (his paper was titled Catalunya/Naples/Rome: The Foundations of Italian Cuisine from Rupert of Nola to Martino of Como) and Tim Tomaskik (his paper was titled “Selon la jambe le coup”: Marketing Strategies in Renaissance French Cookbooks). Abstracts for both these papers can be found HERE. My paper was titled “The Hidden Recipes of Bartolomeo Sacchi: An exploration of the recipes in the first five books of De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine”. This book was the first printed work on food products and cookery (1475, Venice). The last five sections of the work are filled with hundreds of recipes from the mid-15th century. These recipes were recorded by Platina from a slightly older manuscript composed by Maestro Martino de Como. Martino’s recipes have been studied and commented upon in depth in many papers and at many symposiums. And so, to a somewhat lesser extent, have the medical and humoral theory, agricultural advice and general commentary on food products which make up the first five sections of De Honesta. But scattered among Platina’s writings in the first part of his book are culinary recipes that have not been studied nearly as extensively. The paper I presented at the conference identifies and examines these recipes, classifies them as to use and explores the many interesting details they reveal about food and food-ways in the late 15th century Italy.

“The Hidden Recipes of Bartolomeo Sacchi” was the start of this project. It identified over 150 “recipes” hidden among the 139 entries in the first five sections of De Honesta. This project will go deeper. I will delve into the different categories of food products identified in the paper. I will compare and contrast recipes from the existing Renaissance corpus with the recipes in the first five books of De Honesta. I will, when appropriate and tasty, create a modern recipe from the text. And I will HAVE TONS OF FUN cooking and eating these hidden recipes.

Join in!

Make comments!

Cook along with me!

David