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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_272_COVER_INGLESE_Acca 15/06/15 17:16 Pagina 1

THE ASSEMBLY OF DELEGATES3 Paolo Petroni President (Silvia De Lorenzo)

THE ACADEMY ADVISORY COUNCILIN FLORENCE7 Giovanni Ballarini Honorary President

CULTURE AND RESEARCH8 The inventor of cuisine on television (Lejla Mancusi Sorrentino)

10 From the written recipe to televised cuisine (Giovanni Ballarini)

12 The colors of fish (Alfredo Pelle)

14 An uniquely italian invention: the veal paillard (Claudio Novelli)

On the cover: graphic detail of the work Paesaggio(1907-1910) by Nicholas Tarkhof. On exhibition atthe Museum of the Pétit Palais in Geneva.

S O M M A R I O

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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

JUNE 2015 / N. 272

EDITOR IN CHIEFGIOVANNI BALLARINI

COPY EDITORSILVIA DE LORENZO

LAYOUTSIMONA MONGIU

TRASLATORNICOLA LEA FURLAN

THIS ISSUE INCLUDES ARTICLES BYGiovanni Ballarini,Silvia De Lorenzo,

Lejla Mancusi Sorrentino,Claudio Novelli,Alfredo Pelle.

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PUBLISHERACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

VIA NAPO TORRIANI 31 - 20124 MILANOTEL. 02 66987018 - FAX 02 66987008

presidente@accademia1953.itsegreteria@accademia1953.itredazione@accademia1953.it

www.accademia1953.it

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MONTHLY MAGAZINEREG. N. 4049 - 29-5-1956TRIBUNALE 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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PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL

PRESIDENTPaolo Petroni

FIRST VICE PRESIDENTSeverino Sani

SECOND VICE PRESIDENTMario Ursino

SECRETARY GENERAL AND TREASURERRoberto Ariani

COUNSELORSSergio Corbino

Mimmo D’AlessioGianni FossatiFranco MilliRenzo Rizzi

Secretary of the President’s Council: Renzo Rizzi

THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL(members-elect appear in italics)

Luigi Alessandro, Luigi Altobella, Roberto Ariani, Paolo Basili, Piero Bava, Dino Betti van der Noot, Gianni Carciofi, Umberto Cenni, Franco Cocco, Sergio Corbino, Marinella Curre Caporuscio, Mimmo D’Alessio,

Victor Pablo Dana, Giuseppe de Martino, Benito Fiore, Gianni Fossati, Paolo Grandi, Salvino Leoni, Adriana Liguori Proto, Guido Mascioli, Renzo Mattioni, Franco Milli, Maurizio Moreno,

Berardo Paradiso, Elena Pepe, Paolo Petroni, Renzo Rizzi, Severino Sani, Guido Schiaroli, Mario Ursino.

Secretary of the Academic Council: Renzo Rizzi

BOARD OF AUDITORSPresident: Gianni Limberti

Regular Auditors: Ernesto Liesch, Sergio SavigniAlternate Auditors: Giuseppe Bernoni, Marcello Fasano

ARBITRATION BOARD President: Giovanni Fusaroli

Regular Arbiters: Giovanna Palomba Sciammarella, Sergio RomanelliAlternate Arbiters: Giuseppe Saetta, Magda Garofalo

HONOR ROLLGiovanni Ballarini (Honorary President), Michele Bonino, Carlos Victor Dana, Giuseppe Di Lenardo,

Giovanni Goria, Luigi Marra, Stelio Nanni, Antonio W. SantamauraAC

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ITALIANA DELLA

CUCINA

C A R I A C C A D E M I C I . . .

BY SILVIA DE LORENZO

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T he Academy has rewarded thedeep knowledge of the organi-zation, the vast gastronomic cul-

ture, the dedication and passion pouredinto constant work for the bettermentof our institution as a collegial body, forrespecting the rules and strengtheningits authority, through his action as Sec-retary General, President of theMarenghi Study Center and principalofficer of the Academic Library. The Del-egates’ Assembly was opened by outgo-ing President Giovanni Ballarini, whothanked the large number of partici-pants: “Testimony” - he said - “of the vi-tality and dedication of the Academy”.

He stressed that following seven yearsas President, “it is necessary that otherstake over the leadership of the Academyin a society that is going through aphase of intense transformation ofwhich cuisine is an important manifes-tation and reflection”. Ballarini pointedout that in his editorials published inthe Academy’s magazine he tried to ad-vance a set of principles to stimulatethe evolution of the Academy, along “apath marked by two aspects that I wishto call to your attention”. The first wasbrought up in September 2007 at thetime that Ballarini took over the presi-dency, i.e. the visibility of the Academy,

as a means and not an end: “It is a veryserious contemporary theme in a boom-ing society offering a spectacle that ismore and more empty and an end in it-self, even in its cuisine and gastron-omy”. While a strong temptation exists,what is missing is the fact that “A trueand lasting visibility can be built exclu-sively through solid research and cul-tural investigation”. The second aspect,connected to the first, was emphasizedin the last editorial in the magazine, bypointing out that any academy claimingsuch status must discuss and deepenthe study of the “cultural objectives”, aswe are called upon to do in our institu-

The election of the Academic Council, the Board of Auditors and the ArbitrationBoard was won by the list presented by the outgoing President’s Council.

Paolo Petroni President

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tion as was intended by its founding fa-thers. Cultural research does not equatewith ephemeral and more or less the-atrical manifestations in which theprevailing visibility as an endin itself can prove ruinous”.Giovanni Ballarini closedhis remarks with a wish: “Iam confident that ourAcademy will be able toface new and future prob-lems with a culturally ever deepen-ing effort that should be the baseof any development that is notephemeral but concrete and lasting”.A standing ovation brought to a closethe farewell speech to the Academy bythe outgoing President.It was a long day indeed, with the electionof the President the first order of business.The notary Stefano Faucci took over, as-sisted by the verifiers Basili, Diomede,Larco, Mattioni, Spezia and Tuccillo.

Twenty-four Delegates were entitled tospeak and declare their preferences. Forthe first time in the history of the Academytwo lists of candidates were presented

for the renewal of the institutionalorgans: the first was suggested by

the President’s Council withPaolo Petroni as candidateto the presidency. The sec-

ond one presented as its can-didate Antonio Caprarica. Their

speeches were intended to repre-sent their respective positions. Fi-nally, the two candidates addressed

the assembly.Antonio Caprarica began his remarks bythanking Giovanni Ballarini for his inputas a “serious scholar” in the managementof the Academy. He then justified hiscandidacy as called for at a time whenthe spirit of internal friendship seems tohave been lost. Along these lines, he citedan aphorism attributed to Winston

Churchill: “Italians lose war like footballmatches, and football matches likewars”. He went on to explain the signif-icance of the term “visibility” in his pro-gram: unlike a talk show, the intent is tomake it known outside what is intended

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T H E A S S E M B L Y O F D E L E G A T E S

by the role of the Academy as acultural institution. He men-tioned Gualtiero Marchesi, an au-thority in the gastronomic field,as someone who would not rec-ognize the Academy for its cul-tural values. (What follows is anobservation by the writer of thisreport: “Marchesi was sitting atthe table of the speakers togetherwith President Ballarini and themember of the National CouncilGianni Fossati, as a participant inthe meeting organized by theBraidense National Library onthe occasion of the 2014 showCards on the Table. In addition,Marchesi is the Dean of theALMA International School ofCuisine that a month ago as-signed awards to the Italianmembers of the Académie Inter-nationale de la Gastronomie”).Finally, Antonio Caparica ex-pressed his wish of new vitalityfor the Academy. Paolo Petroni opened his re-marks recapping his long Aca-demic life during which heworked actively for the evolu-tion of the Academy. He dwelled on theprocedures for electing the President inan increasingly democratic fashion, onthe changes made to the Statute and By-laws in order to make them more re-sponsive to the Academy and society asthey evolve, and on the election of theDelegates that is made by the President’sAdvisory Board so that the Delegationsrun smoothly. He stated that he was inagreement with a competition for thepresidency while at the same time givingdue importance to experience and com-petence in the gastronomic field. Hewent on to scrutinize the program ofAntonio Caprarica and an exchange ofe-mail messages that made him “discon-certed” because such e-mails debasedthe role played by President Ballariniover the course of years. On the con-trary, Petroni felt that the Presidentplayed a role as “engine” for the Acad-emy and that for this reason he shouldbe named Honorary President. Refer-

ring to Caprarica’s call for younger Aca-demicians to enter the Academy, he ad-vanced his idea that such youthful re-newal cannot be based on introducingcheaper quotas but on the admission ofyoung people who are truly interestedin gastronomic culture. Petroni concluded by describing hisdream. It too revolves around higher vis-ibility for the Academy, which does notcall for appearing more often and at anycost on television, but for following theexample of the path set forth by theFounding Fathers who led the Academyand preserved it from blandishments,personal obsessions and political andeconomic entanglements so that it couldremain vital and constantly up to date. Once the speeches were completed, theDelegates were called to vote. Two hun-dred eleven votes were cast (the highestnumber in an Academy election). Be-sides the President, all members of theinstitutional organs were standing for

election, including the mem-bers of the President’s Council,with the exception of thosewere appointed, of the Board ofAuditors and the ArbitrationBoard. The counting of votestook more than an hour in atense atmosphere of waitinguntil the notary announced theelection of Paolo Petroni, whogarnered 118 votes as opposedto 89 for Caprarica. A longwarm applause dissipated thetension that had built up. Showing his emotion and hap-piness, the President receivedthe emblem from former Presi-dent Ballarini in an ideal passageof the testimonial as a symbol oflove, passion and dedication tothe Academy. Paolo Petronithanked his supporters andpledged that the votes that wentto the other candidate will notbe lost but will represent a valu-able incentive to continue towork together. Petroni andCaprarica then shook hands onthe podium to general applause.While the notary and the vote

counters continued their task relevantto the election of other institutional or-gans, a large number of Academicianswalked to the restaurant of the BaglioniHotel where they enjoyed a workingluncheon that offered glorious view ofthe Brunelleschi dome and Giotto cam-panile. The previous evening they hadtaken part in a welcome dinner in theFlorentine tradition at the Sabatinirestaurant.The session restarted with the an-nouncement of the election of the mem-bers of the President’s Advisory Board(Consulta) and of those of the Board ofAuditors and the Arbitration Board.Right afterward, the President’s Con-sulta was officially installed along withthe seating of the President’s Council.The election of the new President wascelebrated that evening in the magnifi-cent Salone dei Cinquecento in thePalazzo Vecchio. This extraordinary lo-cation for the celebration was granted

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by the Florence City Hall to the Academyin recognition of its cultural role in thesociety. The Deputy Mayor and Councilmember for Education, University andResearch Cristina Giachi congratulated

Paolo Petroni and expressed her appre-ciation of the institution for the activitiesof the Academy in safeguarding the tra-ditions of Italian cuisine through a cap-illary presence in the national territory.The President of the Council of Minis-ters, Matteo Renzi, unable to participateto the event, sent a message of greetingand good wishes. The guests took part in the singing ofthe Mameli Hymn, the Italian nationalanthem, which stirred the emotions ofall Delegates. It was then up to the folk-loric group Madonne Fiorentine tostage a refined elegant show of Ren-aissance dances. Paolo Petroni ad-dressed the Delegates at the start ofthe banquet to thank them for theirwarm endorsement and to introducethe new President’s Council. The din-ner was served in the sumptuous hall,one of the largest and most beautifulin Italy, featuring art works by famous

artists including a Michelangelo statueand the ceiling frescoed by Vasari. Theelegant menu reproduced, both in thegraphics and in the courses served,that of a dinner given by King VictorEmanuel in 1865 when Florence wasthe capital of Italy. Taking a leaf fromthat occasion, President Petroni pre-sented as a gift to the Delegates a valu-able little volume, an reprint of thePopular Practical Guide to Florence,written for all the government person-nel that had to relocate from Turin.The Guide featured the new capital,its customs, its lifestyle, prices, the lo-cal glossary of names, and a great dealmore in use in Florence. Finally, thequartet “Firenze Classica” entertainedthe audience with a repertory of pa-triotic and Risorgimento music, wrap-ping up the performance with the cel-ebrated Va Pensiero by Giuseppe Verdi.

SILVIA DE LORENZO

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T he new Academic Consulta metfor the first time under the pre-sidency of Paolo Petroni, who

opened the meeting by conferring lapelemblems to the new members: VictorPablo Dana, Salvino Leoni, AdrianaLiguori Proto, Guido Mascioli, FrancoMilli and Renzo Rizzi. The Presidentexpressed his pride in the mission en-trusted to him, which represents achoice for continuity after his sevenyears in the role of Secretary General.He then reaffirmed the aspects thathe intends to focus on during his pre-sidency: among others, increasing theprestige and visibility of the Academy,following the pattern established byprevious Presidents. A serious paththat is not influenced by politics orparochial interests, but one that willlead the Academy to become a majorreference point in Italian gastronomy.And in the pursuit of such objectives

he counts on the valuable assistanceof the new Consulta. Paolo Petroni once again thanked Gio-vanni Ballarini for honoring the Academythrough his sense of culture and demo-cracy over the course of his seven yearsas President, and he proposed that hebe nominated as Honorary President.In this case the procedure requires thatBallarini resign from the Consulta. Hedid so with his characteristic tone of“the serious and the playful”. He pointedout that life membership in the “Aca-demic Body”, as envisioned by Orio Ver-gani, was all well and good in the 1950swhen life expectancy was considerablylower. Today it must be reconsidered,and the current Consulta is divided bet-ween appointed life members and elec-ted members. In the spirit of Academiccollaboration, Ballarini asked that theyaccept his resignation in order to makespace for a new member. Once seated, the new Consulta (seep. 2) expressed unanimity in favor ofthe nomination of Giovanni Ballarinias Honorary President. They also una-nimously voted to make Sergio Corbinoa life member of the Consulta. Theythen proceed to the selection of theteam that will comprise the President’sCouncil (see p. 2).President Petroni then put before theConsulta two problems requiring an ur-gent solution, proposing changes in twoarticles of the current By-Laws. The firstregards a term of Article 2 concerningthe Regional Study Centers. The proposalis that the nomination of the Directorand members of the RSC be within thepurview of the President of the “FrancoMarenghi” Study Center, with previous

consultation with the Delegate in whoseterritory the Delegation lies, and withthe Regional Coordinator, who is a au-tomatically a member of the RSC, eventhough he is not eligible to carry outthe role of Director of the RSC.The change was unanimously approvedby the Consulta. The second issue submitted to theConsulta members concerned Article17, requesting modification of para-graph 1, suggesting that the minimalnumber of members of a Delegationabroad be reduced from 12 to 9. Pa-ragraph 5, instead, introduces a no-velty: in a case where the members ofa Delegation abroad is fewer than 9,rather than closing it, the Delegationmay be transformed into a Legation.To that end a new Paragraph, 7 wasinserted that outlines the duties of theLegate (nominated by the Presidentand the President’s Council). As a re-presentative of the Academy abroadthose duties may be shared with per-manent (not honorary) Academicians. The Legate does not have all the rightsor duties of a Delegate and his/her ap-pointment can be revoked by the Presi-dent at any time. Paolo Petroni also ex-plained that a Legation will be formedonly if there are no other Delegationsin the territory. The modifications toArticle 17 were approved by the Con-sulta, with the only abstention by PaoloBasili.The President concluded the meetingexpressing his plan to call for a Forumhalfway through his term to assess theprogress of the program’s objectivesand discuss the life of the Academy.(S.D.L.)

The newly nominated members of the Consulta, in addition to electing the President’sCouncil, were called upon to deliberate some important proposals.

Giovanni Ballarini Honorary President

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E nough! We can’t take it anymore… our cup overfloweth!Every time you turn on the TV,

at any time of the day or night you seesomeone cooking, dispensing gastrono-mic advice or demonstrating recipesthat are, to say the least, outlandish.Often dispensed with great pomposity,as if the fate of the human race restedin the chef’s hands and his cooking isthe most important thing in the world.Certainly eating is one of man’s essentialneeds, but making the preparation of adish into the dominant theme of a tele-vision show is surely an exaggeration.Almost to the extent of the obligatoryglut of soccer games, scheduled in sucha way as to have at least one game onevery day of the week. The days are

long gone when festive or favorite disheswere reserved for special occasions orholidays, and when all the soccer teamsplayed at the same time, and only onSunday. There’s no escaping it: cooksand soccer players have become theprotagonists of our television time almostas much as, or maybe even more than,the useless and boring political debates- yet another focus, perhaps the mostpainful, of every television channel.I don’t know anything about soccer orpolitics, nor am I interested in either.However my interest has been piquedby the overdose of cooking shows ontelevision: when did this start? Whowas the first person to come up withthe idea of transforming slaving over ahot stove into entertainment? Who was

BY LEJLA MANCUSI SORRENTINOAcademician, Naples-Capri Delegation

“F. Marenghi” Study Center

Uniting culinary talent and fascinating stories of the history of gastronomy, Raymond Oliver transformed slaving over a hot stove into entertainment.

The inventor of cuisine on television

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the happy but unintentional genius be-hind this vertiginous carousel of pots,pans and plates? Because he certainlycould not have imagined such a frenetic- and lucrative - development would beborn of his brilliant intuition just tenyears later.And so I did my research and am ableto reveal that the true pioneer of televi-sion cooking shows broadcast live fromthe kitchens of his celebrated Paris re-staurant Grand Véfour at the Palais-Royal was none other than RaymondOliver, whom the world press of thetime cited as the most famous chef inEurope. Starting in 1953 every Mondayevening at 7:30 he appeared on Frenchtelevision screens to star in a programentitled “Art and Magic in the Kitchen”,with the help of the first female new-scaster of French TV, the blond Cathe-rine Langeais (screen name of Marie-Louise Terrasse). The show met withimmediate success. His culinary abilitytogether with the verve of his monologuemade him irresistible. And thus beganthe love story between television andcuisine, destined to survive the test oftime. The show made Oliver more po-pular than an actor from the ComédieFrançaise or stage or screen star. His se-cret lay in marrying procedure with cul-ture because the execution of a recipewas always liberally seasoned with fa-scinating stories about gastronomic hi-story. In an interview conducted with achronicler of the time, the famous chefdeclared that cooking “face to face withthe public” was anything but easy be-cause it required a special technique. In

order to be able to appear at ease, hespent hours practicing before a mirror,studying the image of his hands in thereflection so that he could coordinatehis words with his gestures in perfectsynchrony. Finally after practicing forseveral months he became completelyambidextrous and was able to executethe necessary maneuvers - breaking anegg, for instance - without ever lookingat his hands, although he would some-times glance at the monitor while heentertained his audience with informa-tion about the dish he was preparing.His passion for his work, his innate cu-riosity and his desire to expand on anysubject made him a truly refined expertin his field, also thanks to the rich col-lection of books on cooking and cuisinethat he had collected over the years, co-vering every era and every place. Hiscollection was one of the best in theworld and the incunabula it containedrendered it priceless. He was born in Langon in 1909 and fol-lowing in the footsteps of his father hebegan his culinary training in the kitchensof the hotel owned by his family, wherehe learned all the secrets of the art ofFrench cooking, and his dream was toachieve fame in the field. After havingseveral important experiences both inFrance and abroad, in 1948 he becamepartners with Louis Vaudable, owner ofMaxim’s, in order to re-launch Le GrandVéfour which was having great difficultyin the post-war period. He gave backthe luster to that ancient restaurant thathad opened its doors in 1784. Underhis management it soon achieved success

and was frequented by luminaries ofthe time including Colette and JeanCocteau. Within a short time it becamethe meeting point for French society’sfinest. Oliver’s fame went beyond theconfines of his own country; He wassought after by the richest and most po-werful men in the world, and invited toall the capitals of Europe, America,Africa and Australia to create memorablemeals at the exclusive and prestigiousbanquets and extraordinary fairy-taleparties of high society, where he dispen-sed refined and original gastronomicdelicacies with his unique and inimitabletalent. He was defined as world ambas-sador of French cuisine, owing to hisvast knowledge of the subject and livelysense of humor. He was often invited tohold conferences abroad, so much sothat in the 1950s he was included in alist of the ten most famous men inFrance, according to a statistic cited inan American newspaper.He wrote many books on food, includingGastronomie à travers le monde (1963),Cuisine pour mes amis (1976) Les Amisde Véfour (1983) and the truly compre-hensive treatise La Cuisine, whose latestedition was updated in 1983. He diedin 1990, but he left his television legacyin good hands, those of his son Michel,who continued the show using the sameformula that worked so well for his fa-ther.If today’s TV chefs had even one-thirdof Oliver’s culture and talent, we wouldall certainly be delighted to watch eachand every program.

LEJLA MANCUSI SORRENTINO

THE ACADEMY SILVER PLATELarge, elegant and silver-plated, with the Academy’s logo embossed onthe front. This symbolic object is the recommend gift to be presented tothose restaurants visited by the Delegations whose atmosphere, servi-ce, and cuisine are deemed particularly worthy. For further informa-tion and orders, Delegates should contact the Secretariat in Milan

(segretaria@accademia1953.it).

PAGINA 10

R ecipes, recipes and morerecipes! There is a veritableinundation of them in our cook-

books, newspapers, magazines and tel-evision shows of every kind imaginable,and they are increasingly prominent innovels and books of all genres. Everyonewrites recipes these days, recalling moth-ers and grandmothers that sometimesexist only in their imaginations. Thenthere are those recipes offered by themost unlikely people, including politi-cians, singers and many others, whichat best are hit or miss.This orgy of recipes, including the mostfar-fetched ones seems to constitute anendless culinary fireworks show, even ifit may foreshadow the end of increasinglyfatuous culinary season in which therecipe is losing its original meaning, be-coming the instrument of a new era ofcommunications that is simultaneouslyvacuous and theatrical. In this contextwe have the written recipe, which oftenis accompanied or replaced by an au-diovisual recording of the culinaryprocess. As an indicator, one needs onlylook at the specialized programs on tel-evision, YouTube, or anywhere on theInternet. A huge number of people thesedays are cooking by following the in-structions that they watch on a TV orcomputer. Whether we like it or not, wemust recognize that we are moving froma cuisine based on written recipes toone prerecorded and on our TVs andcomputers.How and when was the written recipe -whose eclipse we are beginning to see -born? Even the recipe has an ancestorthat dates back to the time when therewas only an on-the-spot oral or visual

explanation, or at most a quick synthe-sized description, as in the Roman treatiseattributed to Apicius.The word recipe is of medieval pharma-ceutical origin, and means “take” or “re-ceive”. The word was used when thephysician, or magister, indicated to thepharmacist which drugs to use, how toprepare according to his instructions,whether they were potions, salves, elec-tuaries or other forms of medicine. [trans-lator’s note: the Italian word for recipeand prescription are the same - ricetta].Many prescriptions of the past endedwith the abbreviation S.A. (SecondoArte) because the pharmacist alreadyknow what he should do. Similarly, themajority of recipes from the distant pastwere merely lists of ingredients, but sel-dom included the quantity and procedureapart from vague references, for example“to make pie” or “as a dip”, leaving theexecution up to the culinary ability ofthe preparer, leaving plenty of room forinterpretation. Only rarely were cookingtimes specified, and they were often in-dicated in terms of the time it took torecite a prayer or paternoster. Thus itwas extremely difficult, if not impossible,to determine the “original recipe”, be-cause in most cases it was just a genericculinary model, open to interpretationin a great variety of ways, just like amyth that, like all myths, always has aninfinite diversity of expression. But overtime written recipes became more preciseand as society became more technicaland scientific, the importance of the“artistic” capability of the preparer di-minished, not just in terms of quantitiesbut in the way they were executed. Atone time the inherent limits of just how

C U L T U R E A N D R E S E A R C H

BY GIOVANNI BALLARINIAcademician, Parma Delegation

The process of executing a recipe can now be followed on the television screen. What is the relationship with traditional written recipes?

From the written recipe to televised cuisine

PAGINA 11

much could be communicated in a recipewere overcome by example, whereastoday they are overcome by the imageof the process that has been recordedand appears on a television, computerscreen or tablet. Does this constituteprogress or regression? In the opinionof this writer, both.Having recipes that are increasingly pre-cise, uniform and technically correct isundoubtedly progress. However the lossof the capacity to interpret the ingredi-ents, which are always different, meansgoing backward. Another regression isthe loss of creativity or inventiveness,and worst of all, the disappearance ofthe great variety of ways of preparing adish according to local or familial customsthat developed from a single model.

There are no longer subtle differencesin sauces from one place or family toanother. There is simply the recordedversion, which is the same everywhere.The impact on the evolution of taste isalso negative, as the dominant flavorbecomes increasingly uniform, global-ized, and even in some cases “industri-alized”. Be it an advantage or a disad-vantage, the use of visually recordedrecipes should be considered in the gen-eral context of current and future meansof communication.Are recorded recipesonly one of the many expressions of themodern information society or are theymerely a trend, or even an impulsive“great leap backward”? What will betheir ultimate relationship with traditionalwritten recipes? Rather than making

difficult predictions, it is important topay attention to how often it takes placeand with what results? In this case, themost reasonable approach is to closelyfollow the phenomenon, while hopingthat no matter what, the memory oftradition is preserved and improvedupon. In this orientation it may be usefulto consider to what degree this is alsohappening in music, which after a longperiod of imitative tradition, followedby a phase in which co-written musicdominated, in more recent times wehave seen music performed and recordedlive, which coexists very well with writtenmusic but unlike it its creative improvi-sations can be easily documented, trans-mitted and diffused.

GIOVANNI BALLARINI

C U L T U R E A N D R E S E A R C H

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.

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PAGINA 12

T hese denizens of the sea aresometimes named for their col-or: there is a “white” fish, one

of those prized breeds that are servedat home or at a restaurant as if theywere a great “treasure”; and there are“blue” fish, which in spite of everyeffort to make them more appreciated,remain among the least popular of fish.And while it is true that there are somewho adore some nice grilled sardinesor porgy, or some to-die-for fried an-chovies, myself among them, as a rulethese types of fish are classified as “foodof the poor”, as if we can differentiatebetween the social classes of fish con-sumption.And it is true that since the most remoteof ancient times these varieties haveprovided people, especially those livingalong the coasts, with one of the foodsrichest in nutrients. It is also true that

after the great successes of the Greeksand Romans, they continued to beprized up to the Middle Ages. Religiousbeliefs that encouraged “lean” eatingincentivized the consumption of fish,especially during Lent and on fast days.We should also recall that the fish wasadopted by Jesus’s earliest followers asa symbol of Christ, thanks to the factthat his name in Greek, ἰχθúς corre-sponded with the initials of the expres-sion “Jesus Christ the Son of God ourSavior”. It played an important role inthe iconography of early Christianity,including its link with the miracle ofthe multiplication of bread and fishes.In those times in particular, fresh waterfish was especially popular becausefishing it required a relatively low in-vestment and more basic technology.Several centuries later, the maritimeRepublics, especially Venice, held these

C U L T U R E A N D R E S E A R C H

BY ALFREDO PELLEAccademician, Apuana Delegation,

“F. Marenghi” Study Center

There are many - more than 25,000 - edible species of fish, but only a few hundred are used in cuisine.

The colors of fish

PAGINA 13

fish in great esteem be-cause of their nutrition-al value. The govern-ment of La Serenissimaexercised strict controlover the fish market atRialto, and vendors whosold fish that was notfresh faced severe penal-ties. Then its consump-tion slowly declined,leaving a vacuum thatwould be filled by meat,always considered to bea noble food destinedfor the tables of the richand powerful. An im-portant reason for thiswas the difficulty in con-trolling the amount oftime between the fishbeing caught and its cooking, as it is aproduct that quickly deteriorates. Thatproblem no longer exists and modernwidespread distribution of fresh andrefrigerated fish allows consumers tohave choices that once were not possible. What is our relationship with fish? Thesituation is definitely improving: everyItalian eats about 23 kilos (51 lbs.) offish each year (still very little whenyou consider the extent of the Italiancoastline), and that amount is contin-ually going up. And what kind of fish,exactly, do we eat? We must considersome facts. The amount of wild Mediter-ranean fish that we consume only con-stitutes 10 percent of the total. Therest is farmed or comes from the Atlanticand Pacific oceans. In fact, our ownMediterranean is miserly with the littlefish is still contains: even 30 years ago,Fernand Braudel wrote that “the watersof the Mediterranean are poor and thetotal amount of fish it we get it repre-sents only one-third that of Norwayalone”. He called the Mediterranean a“thrifty nutritional source”! In reality,there are more than 25,000 ediblespecies of fish, but only a few hundredare used in cuisine. And there are twofronts on the battlefield of fish: fishfarmed in seawater (primarily giltheadbream) with the goal of reducing deep

dragline fishing that is destroying thesea bottoms. Today it is possible to fishat a depth of 600 meters (1,970 feet). Italy has also been successful in farmingturbot, especially the spiked variety.Since this species doesn’t survive tem-peratures higher than 16 degrees C (61F) it is almost impossible to farm it inthe Mediterranean. Therefore they haveresorted to the construction of basins,over 50 meters deep (164 feet) wherethe water temperature can be maintainedat a constant appropriate level. Sincethe marketing of fish is based on valuesthat are more or less constant (eventhough the complex world of the fishand fish products market has risen dras-tically, now reaching astronomic heights,close to 90 billion dollars a year) itsconsumption is also on the rise. The increased use of fish in cuisine isalso attributable to home cooks’ in-creased concern over nutritional valueas opposed to just alimentation. Todayfood is increasingly classified in termsof its nutrition. And certainly its in-creased availability everywhere, fromsupermarkets to fish markets to seasidefood trucks and vendors (which hadall but disappeared due to the prepon-derance of frozen and pre-cooked foods)has made fish a food that is makingever more frequent appearances on our

tables. Even seafood restau-rants, once limited to placesnear the seashore (we stillhave the erroneous impres-sion that we can alwaysfind fresh fish near thecoast) have discovered thatfish is an essential item ontheir menus and the de-mand for it continues torise. Fresh water fish, ex-cept for farm-raised trout,has all but disappearedfrom our tables. Carp,chub, pike and catfish arealmost impossible to findtoday. There are still somelake fish to be found insome restaurants, but rel-atively few. What will thefuture hold?

A call of alarm is rising from our oceansand rivers: many fish are at risk of ex-tinction. Our fish reserves are not infiniteor renewable. Industrial fishing is notwithout fault, especially owing to itspractice of indifferent deep draglinefishing.Water, be it fresh or salt, will reflecthumankind’s behavior on terra firma.None of the water quality problemsthat afflict our seas, rivers and lakes -their temperature, density, health andeven survival of their fish, originatewith the water itself but only as a con-sequence of what happens on land andthe way in which humans behave. Wecan only hope that human beings willbecome more responsible in terms ofthe “well being” in the future, respectingthis silent world that brings us goodand healthy foods - a world that occupiesalmost 70 percent of our planet.Mankind must understand the “regen-eration of resources” also applies tothe marine populations, and we mustbecome responsible participants. It isessential that we return to “sustain-ability” by creating marine reserves,establishing and respecting catch quotasrather than turning a blind eye. Andwe had better do it soon, because “hewho sleeps catches no fish”!

ALFREDO PELLE

C U L T U R E A N D R E S E A R C H

PAGINA 14

Do you remember back in theday when you tried to impressa girl on an increasingly tight

weekly budget you could manage toscrape together enough money to allowyou, with prudence, to take your “Beat-rice” to a good - not a 5 star but decentand popular - restaurant rather thanthe usual corner pizzeria? Unfortunatelysometimes the first dark cloud appearedon the horizon just as soon as you wereseated: the “I’ll just have mineral water”did not bode well. And when the waiterapproached, those clouds became cu-mulous, a dark omen of the distressingdelusion that would soon follow. Hedidn’t even both to ask “what wouldyou like to order?” but went straight tothe fateful “Fish or meat?” The girlblows him off with “prosciutto and can-taloupe and then a small paillard welldone. Extremely uncomfortably we re-

sist the temptation of other more tan-talizing dishes and find refuge in aneconomical dish of fried calamari fol-lowed by an equally low cost plate ofpenne. “So calamari and penne for thegentleman and prosciutto and melonand a nice paiardina for the young lady”.And so we began to hate that “nice pa-iardina”. Where did this gastronomicabomination come from?In his Cuoco gentiluomo, Livio Cerini diCastegnate referred to the preparationof a “slice of veal on the grill” as follows:“We have arrived at that thing that Ital-ians have called a “paillard” for fiftyyears. I cannot testify in court that thisword does not exist in France, but itcertainly is not part of common usage”.The Larousse Gastronomique says: “re-ferring to a dish created by Paillard,the name ‘paillard’ came to be used torefer to a thin slice of veal that has been

C U L T U R E A N D R E S E A R C H

BY CLAUDIO NOVELLIAcademician, Naples-Capri Delegation

A light-hearted mocking of a slice of meat, inevitably dry and stringy, that recalls little of the pleasures of life.

An uniquely italian invention: the veal paillard

PAGINA 15

flattened and either roasted or sautéedin a pan. In France this term is obsoletebut it is still used in Italy to refer to vealscaloppine”. Similar to veal piccata, butit is not dredged in flour and requiressome oil and a few drops of lemon. At this point we should explain whoMonsieur Paillard was. He was a famous1800 Paris restaurateur. In 1880 therestaurant resurfaced at the corner ofthe Chaussée-d’Antin and Boulevarddes Italiens as the new version of the1850s restaurant opened by the Bignonbrothers. In just a few years it was fre-quented by all of the European elite.Among the dishes that made it famouswere “Archduke’s chicken”, “Georgettepotatoes”, veal sweetbreads with as-paragus tips, “Cauchat fillet of sole”,but above all a stuffed duck that rivaledthe bloody rare one served at the Tourd’Argent. Eating all these rich foods withgreat frequency probably led several ofthe clients to experience some digestiveproblems. Consequently, our chef wasforced to offer a dish that had little fatand a slight astringent effect. Paillardopened another of his luxury restaurants,the Elisée Pavillion, which everyone af-

fectionately referred to as the “LittlePaillard”. One small mystery: the editionof the Larousse Gastronomique that citesPaillard is the 2001 English version.The original French edition of 1938refers to the “Georgette potatoes” stuffedwith shrimp tails Nantua style andChauchat fillet of sole and Archduke’schicken, but it makes absolutely no ref-erence to Paillard or his paillard. In factin all French dictionaries the word “pail-lard” is used exclusively as an adjective,synonymous with debauched, licentiousand given to sexual excess. There isalso such a thing as a “paillard song”,which is nothing more than a bawdysong sung with friends, fraught witherotic and sexual allusions, frequentlyanti-clerical and almost always scato-logical. In Latin, “gaudeamos igitur” or“in taberna quando sumus”. Not unlikethe base origin of our word “osteria”.Therefore the paillard is a light-heartedmocking of a slice of meat, inevitablydry and stringy, that recalls little of thepleasures of life. So tough and difficultto swallow that the Italian penchantfor genius in turn gave birth to a dishworthy of a pediatric hospital: “meat

cooked on a plate”. The undisguisedprotagonist, as always, is the usual sliceof veal. It is made thus: heat a pot thatis slightly smaller than the diameter ofa plate and fill it halfway with water.Pound the meat until it resembles aslice of prosciutto, thin as a Host wafer.While waiting for the water to boil putthe meat on a plate with a pinch of saltand the juice of a small lemon. Thenplace the plate with its contents overthe pot, which has now begun to boil,and turn the meat a half dozen timesduring the 20 minutes required forcooking. To serve, drizzle with someolive oil and some more salt. The sickliestand weakest diner to whom you servethis soothing dish is guaranteed to hateyou for the rest of his or her life.

CLAUDIO NOVELLI

C U L T U R E A N D R E S E A R C H

2015 ECUMENICAL DINNERThe convivial ecumenical meeting that brings together all the Academicians in Italy andaround the world at the virtual table, will take place on October 15 at 8:30 pm. This year’s the-

me will be Condiments: Sauces and Gravies that characterize regional cuisi-ne. This topic, chosen by the “Franco Marenghi” Study Center and approved bythe President’s Council, is aimed at recapturing, through cuisine, traditions

that are undergoing great changes today owing to our passage from homeand family cooking to artisanal and finally industrial foods. And if atone time the use of condiments was determined by neighboring cul-tures, today the field is a global one and is in a state of constant and

rapid change. Delegates are entrusted with ensuring that the ecumenicaldinner is accompanied by an appropriate presentation of a cultural character that

illustrates this important theme and that the dishes served are relevant to the topic.