
Cooking for the Pope - Thevet
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/03/03/sensory-delights/
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Mikeb85
Good article. Shame he isn't necessarily considered to be part of the 'canon'
of historical cooks and mentioned in the same way as Carème, Escoffier, La
Varanne or even Taillevent.

I also love how elaborately seasoned dishes were from that time period. A lot
of people view cuisine as something static, and they see French, Italian,
Russian cuisine as something frozen in time, with only 'indigenous'
ingredients. Never mind the fact that all these cuisines retain ingredients
from the new world, the silk road, and techniques from abroad.

It's also an interesting historical anecdote about the excesses of the
Catholic Church during that period.

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xutopia
I'm afraid historically speaking his contribution to the cooking field hasn't
been that big of a deal. Which technique did he popularize? Which dish do we
still eat today that were his invention?

Carême was the first chef ever to pipe meringue. Escoffier created the brigade
as we know it today. La Varenne introduced béchamel sauce, popularized (or
some say invented the use of roux), first one to make use of what is called a
"fond" (stock). Taillevent... well I think his contribution was accidental.
His greatest work might not even be his.

I question in all of this how important Scappi's contribution was. He served
important people... meh...

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Mikeb85
You mean they were the ones to codify these things. Stocks and sauces have
existed ever since it was possible to create cookware that can simultaneously
hold liquid and be heated, the 'brigade' is a basic concept of organisation of
human labour, Escoffier just codified it, and milk based sauces, or sauces
thickened with starch (often crushed bread or grains), go back a long, long
time as well.

I mean, I know the real reasons Carême and Escoffier are considered so
important (they codified the canon of French cuisine which had its heyday in
the generations after WWII and became global 'fine' cuisine), but that style
of cuisine is on it's way out, even in places such as Paris. Nowadays global
fusion is the standard cuisine, and brigades are getting smaller and less
rigid due to economic circumstances.

Anyhow, I came up through the industry in rigid brigades headed by a French
chef. I know all the terms, techniques, etc... Nowadays though, a successful
restaurant is just as likely to be headed by some hipster doing Chinese-
Italian cuisine, with techniques that would make my old chefs cringe. But it
doesn't matter. Tastes are becoming more cosmopolitan, and all that matters is
what's on the plate nowadays. I just came back from a culinary tour of another
city, visiting acquaintances in the industry, and the 'top' restaurants are
all tiny, loud and have very eclectic menus.

I personally think Scappi could be quite relevant in today's culinary
atmosphere.

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mrob
Bread sauce (still popular in British cuisine) has a very different texture to
Béchamel sauce. And unlike bread sauce, making Béchamel sauce is not at all
obvious. If you gave somebody who'd never heard of it some flour, butter and
milk, and told them to combine them into a smooth sauce, they would probably
fail. Béchamel sauce was a real innovation.

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mhink
> Just as every Scappi banquet had jokes woven into each course, so the Opera
> contains one bitterly ironic gag: this gourmandizing epic was dedicated to
> Pius V, nemesis of the mouthwatering.

With a sense of humor like that, it sounds like he'd get along just fine with
most of the cooks I've met!

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Mikeb85
You need a sense of humour when your art is something that takes hours/days to
prepare, and disappears in an instant.

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harveywi
I wonder if the Pope has any dietary restrictions or follows a program such as
the Imperial Diet.

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astine
The modern Pope? No, nothing beyond what ordinary Catholics have to follow. He
may self-impose fasting or abstinence but that's optional.

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jamiethompson
'Cooking for the Pope' would be an excellent name for a band.

