Food and flavor, a gastronomic guide to health and good living . VIII EPICUREAN ITALY THE CRADLE OF MODERN COOKERY. HE fact that Roquefort cheesewas relished by Roman epicurestwenty centuries ago indicatesthat French gastronomy is notentirely a product of moderntimes. Yet it was not till thereign of Louis XIV (who diedin 1643 that France began tolead the world in this branch of civilization. Thecradle of modern culinary art was Italy. Katharineof Medici brought its higher branches from that coun-try, which, in the sixteenth century, was supreme in allthe fine arts, the chefs included. Italian
Food and flavor, a gastronomic guide to health and good living . VIII EPICUREAN ITALY THE CRADLE OF MODERN COOKERY. HE fact that Roquefort cheesewas relished by Roman epicurestwenty centuries ago indicatesthat French gastronomy is notentirely a product of moderntimes. Yet it was not till thereign of Louis XIV (who diedin 1643 that France began tolead the world in this branch of civilization. Thecradle of modern culinary art was Italy. Katharineof Medici brought its higher branches from that coun-try, which, in the sixteenth century, was supreme in allthe fine arts, the chefs included. Italian cookery differed in those days from that of other countries as French cookery, with its entremets, 309. 310 FOOD AND FLAVOR ragouts, and salmis, its diverse light viands and deli-cacies differed in latter centuries from that of otherparts of the world. What gave the Italian cooks theirsupremacy was that they were alive to the importanceof Flavor. Montaigne expressed admiration of thesesame cooks who can so curiously temper and seasonstrange odors with the savor and relish of their meats. Is it a wonder that the reform was hailed with de-light, Voltaire going so far as to exclaim: Un cuisinierest un etre divin? Venice was the gate by which Oriental luxuries en-tered Italy. At the same time there were culinarytraditions which came to the Italians of the MiddleAges direct from their own ancestors. Sicilian cookswere favored by the ancient Romans just as Frenchchefs are in modern Europe. Among the Greeks, also,the cooks from Sicily were in great demand, andSicilian cookery was proverbially good. The Caremeof his time was the Sicilian Archestratus, who, we read,traveled far and wide in quest
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Keywords: ., bookauthorfinckhen, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
