the heavy use of spices, sugar, and sauces based on vinegar—
something began to change noticeably. Messisbugo’s description
of banquets reveals a diversity of dishes bordering on perversity,
spectacles and surprises, and ingenious novelties—all of which
show that mannerist esthetics were at play. A typical banquet, some with as many as a dozen separate courses,
included salads, soups, vegetables, pastries and pies, sweets—
especially little allegorical scenes made of sugar called trionfi —as well
as fi sh and meats in nearly every single course. Rather than presenting
an orderly procession of dishes, the diner was meant to be overwhelmed
by the variety and elegance of each successive presentation. Some of Messisbugo’s recipes contain crushed coral or pearls,
deemed to be restorative, but they would certainly have been
impressive for the cost alone. The sugar, spices, and rose water
that fl avor so many of the dishes would have been considered just
as luxurious. There are also a lot of foreign dishes—including
German, Spanish, Turkish, French, and Hungarian—showing that
these were adventurous eaters eager to taste the new and exotic.
However, not all the recipes were so outlandish.Bourdieu, Distinction.
Capatti, Italian Cuisine.
David, Harvest of the Cold Months.
Jeanneret, Feast of Words.
Martino of Como, The Art of Cooking.
Platina, On Right Pleasure and Health.
Riley, Italian Food.
Serventi, Pasta.
Unger, Beer in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
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