Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1480) of Lucrezia Borgia, famed sister of Cesare, Giovanni, and Goffredo Borgia, and daughter of Pope Alexander VI with his favored mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei (so much for celibacy). Not much is known directly about Lucrezia, but she has been portrayed in numerous works of art, novels, films, and television shows as the archetypal femme fatale.  But it is quite likely that this image is unwarranted.  It’s more likely that she was a pawn in her family’s game of ruthless politics and sexual intrigue that dominated the Renaissance papacy. Her brothers arranged several marriages for her to powerful men in order to advance their own political ambitions. She was married in succession to Giovanni Sforza (Lord of Pesaro), Alfonso of Aragon (Duke of Bisceglie), and Alfonso I d’Este (Duke of Ferrara). Tradition has it that Alfonso of Aragon was an illegitimate son of the king of Naples and that Lucrezia’s brother, Cesare, had him murdered after his political value waned.

For Lucrezia I have chosen a recipe from Libro de arte coquinaria (c. 1465) by Martino de Rossi, usually known as Maestro Martino, and universally acknowledged as one of the great chefs of all time.  In fact he is sometimes referred to nowadays as the first celebrity chef.  Unfortunately the details of his life are sketchy.  He was born in 1430 and it is known that at the end of his career he was the head chef at the Vatican.  So it is possible he was chef to Pope Alexander.  This dish, Ambrosino, is typically noble in its quantities – ½ a capon per person (plus many other dishes served with it).  I notice in scanning his recipes that the maestro has a fondness for almonds; there’s barely a main dish in his collection that does not feature them in some fashion: whole, slivered, ground, and pulped.  He also uses the normal range of dried fruits and spices as flavorings.

This recipe is typically vague and needs a little help to make it viable.  For example, it is not clear if you add any fluid to the capons after you have given them an initial sauté and added the fruit and spices.  Probably not, but you would want to make the second sauté rather brief before adding the almond milk.  A modern interpretation can be found on this site: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1509089  I have not made this dish myself but I would be inclined to follow the original recipe more closely – using whole spices (rather than powdered), and jointing a whole capon rather than using chicken breasts.

IV. Ambrosino good and perfect and such.

If you want to make ambrosino for twelve people take 6 lean capons, 2 pounds of almonds, a pound of currants, 1 pound of dates and a pound of prunes.  Also take one and a half* ginger, half a whole nutmeg, cloves, saffron and half a pound of sweet spices.  Take the capons and cut into seven portions each and fry in clean lard in a pan.  When the capons are well fried add the saffron rubbed, the nutmeg that has been chopped finely, the cinnamon broken into pieces, whole cloves, whole peeled almonds, dates, currants [and prunes].  Add a large amount of sweet spices and let it cook a little longer.  When it is cooked reduce the heat or remove from the flame.  Take unskinned almonds, grind, and distemper with a little vinegar, strain the almonds and add the almond milk to the dish, and add to the sauce spices and enough saffron.  This dish should be sharp and sweet and red in color.  Serve in a bowl with powdered spices over it.

* Presumably means ounces.