Pellegrino Artusi and his Science in the Kitchen. This year we remember the bicentenary of the birth of the author of the Italian cooking manual par excellence. A classic of the classics that has put together the best of recipes, creating aItalian culinary unit of dishes that come from all regions. It was 1891 when the first thousand copies of this volume were printed. At the expense of the author himself and sold by mail order, since Pellegrino Artusi had not been able to find a publisher willing to publish his manual. Already at the beginning the volume had some success. Twenty years later, sales were in the tens of thousands, 80 in 1914. Currently we are talking about over one million copies sold, 11 editions, translations in Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, Russian and recently also in Japanese.
The first editions are gradually enriched - by the same author - with new recipes until 1910, the year of the fourteenth edition which collects a total of 790 recipes, the first had 475. The same 790 recipes that appear in the latest edition on the market. Pellegrino Artusi died the following year, in 1911, leaving the copyright of the book to the two faithful Francesco Ruffilli and Marietta Sabatini, respectively cook and housekeeper of his house in Piazza d'Azeglio in Florence.
The first edition of La Scienza in Cucina sold by mail order
Pellegrino Artusi, who was born in Forlì on 4 August 1820, arrives in Florence in 1852. From a wealthy family dedicated to trade, he decides to leave Romagna after a violent episode against his family (and not only, also against other rich people of the area) of the bandit Stefano Pelloni known as the Passatore. In Florence, business is still going well and, at the age of fifty, Pellegrino Artusi decides to retire to private life. First he devoted himself to literature, actually with little success. Then he goes into the kitchen with the faithful Francesco (also from Romagna) and Marietta, from Tuscany, who will become precious collaborators-cooks of his culinary experiments. Here the alchemy of a three-way collaboration takes place which translates not only between pots and stoves but also in the commercial management of the newborn manual that will be sold, initially, only by mail order.
Pellegrino Artusi tells the unification of Italy at the table
The story of La Scienza in Cucina and the art of eating well “resembles that of Cinderella”, are the words of the same author, precisely because no one was interested in its publication and, despite this, success was certainly not long in coming. Pellegrino Artusi adds: “I finally decided to publish this volume, the material of which… was only for my use and consumption. So I offer it to you as a simple amateur as I am, sure not to deceive you, having tried and tried these dishes several times by myself ".
Dishes that tell the unification of Italy from a gastronomic point of view because they belong to the cuisine of all Italian regions. But Artusi (as it is commonly known) is not just a recipe book but a true classic of Italian literature. It tells about cooking, the traditions of the table are told, foods and flavors are described. The volume brings together the recipes that the author had collected during his travels in Italy. Collected and experimented, precisely because cooking for Pellegrino Artusi, a great positivist, is a real science, and he tells us so from the title. Even if he then enriches his pages with many anecdotes and comments.
Like the one referring to the mayonnaise salad (recipe number 251): "Certain chefs with bad taste present this salad made up of so many concoctions that they have to recommend the following day to castor oil ...". Or the one dedicated to Signora Adele's flan (recipe number 346): “The beautiful and very kind Signora Adele would like to introduce you to her flan with a very delicate taste”. This is a timeless volume by Pellegrino Artusi, which transforms the recipe into a life story full of memories.
The Festa Artusiana in the bicentenary year
Forlimpopoli, the birthplace of Pellegrino Artusi, has been organizing the Artusian party, an event dedicated to gastronomy which includes cultural and entertainment events. In particular this year for the bicentenary, despite the Coronavirus. Appointment therefore at Casa Artusi, in Forlimpopoli, on 9 and the 10 October for the convention The liberated recipe (free admission upon mobile registration +39 349 8401818 mail [email protected] subject to availability). The Pellegrino Artusi 1820-2020 exhibition. Comic book recipes by Alberto Rebori (until 25 October). The exhibition will then continue to Paris, at the Italian Cultural Institute, from 17 November to 23 December 2020. In addition, aspecial edition of the manual with recipes and anecdotes accompanied by illustrations by Augusto Majani known as “Nasica”. To the reader the pleasure of savoring the taste for the art of cooking enriched with his popular imagination.
