The most influential cookbook ever, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, was published in Florence in 1891 by Pellegrino Artusi. John Dickie’s Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and their Food tells the story of this incredible historical figure.

The Artusi Family in Florence

Pellegrino Artusi, the father of Italian cuisine, was originally from Forlimpopoli, a delightful town in Emilia-Romagna. After miraculously escaping some brigands who looted their home, the Artusi family decided to relocate in Florence. Here, they found a place to stay in via Calzaiuoli, just a stone’s throw from Brunelleschi’s Dome.

In 1851, Florence’s historic center was still quite medieval and the architecture had not changed much since the 14th century. The Old Market (now Piazza della Repubblica), just streets away from Pellegrino’s house, was so squalid and unsanitary that upper-class Florentines avoided it. We might imagine the streets smelling of  fish and black cabbage, while butchers stacked their tripe and other cheap meats.

Moving to Piazza d’Azeglio

In 1859, Grand Duke Leopold II left the city and Pellegrino witnessed the excitement anticipating the official creation of the Kingdom of Italy. In the same year, his mother died after a long illness and he was finally free from financial duties. He decided to move to a new house on the edge of the city to continue his literary career away from the hustle and bustle of the old city center.

Pellegrino’s new residence was 25, Piazza d’Azeglio, one of the squares that best represents the  Renaissance of Florence as the capital of Italy. Massimo d’Azeglio was, in fact, one of the few politicians who suggested that Florence should be the new seat of government. Even if many feared this decision, Florence got ready to welcome bureaucrats, politicians and lawyers. The bourgeoisie needed hygiene, air and light so entire areas like the Old Market were marked for demolition. The city walls and the medieval gates gave way to elegant squares and boulevards that improved circulation and boosted civic pride.

Pellegrino was one of the patriots who claimed that Florence was the perfect capital for the new Italian state, so he wasn’t happy to learn that Rome became the central government after the French withdrew their military support from the papal state. The frustration might have prompted one of the most interesting literary projects of his career. Pellegrino wrote a cookbook for the Italian middle class, whose diet Pellegrino thought should represent the dignity and respectability of the new Italian state!

Science in the Kitchen

The title of Artusi’s book was Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. In this unprecedented recipe book, Pellegrino gives advice on principles such as hygiene and physical exercise, which are important components of a healthy life. The bourgeois diet should be moderate because only bandits and aristocrats swing from binge eating to starvation. Waste is vulgar and should not occur, which is why meals with leftovers are such a great idea. Some meals are just for the family, like porchetta, while others can make a good impression on guests, like a Caesar’s mushroom soup!

Science in the Kitchen was not an immediate success. The Florentine publishing élite rejected it because Pellegrino was neither famous nor a restaurant owner. However, everything changed when Paolo Mantegazza, the celebrated anthropology professor, endorsed the book and its publication. By 1902, he had sold thousands of copies all over Italy and with each new edition he added new recipes, making the old versions obsolete so that the readers wanted to buy the latest ones. When he died in 1911, at the age of ninety, his book contained over 790 recipes!

An Inclusive Cookbook

Pellegrino’s knowledge of Italy and its regions helped create a portrait of Italy in food: varied, regional and traditional, where the word tradizione (“tradition”) is inclusive rather than exclusive, comprising French and Germanic dishes along with Italian ones. As a Florence immigrant, Pellegrino clearly expresses a preference for Tuscan and Emilian food, but the choice of dishes from the Appennines to the coast, from Parma to Naples, signals a more extensive project of Italianization, as John Dickie so perfectly describes in his book.

Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and their Food by John Dickie can be found on Amazon.com

Pellegrino Artusi’s legacy is very much alive in the food culture of Italy and Florence. Our new and improved Art & Food tour will make you discover the history and the art of food in the city of the Renaissance!