Here's who introduced the food "virus" into Italy
The 25th episode of the series of Italian best-selling authors is not dedicated to a narrator. It is dedicated to Pellegrino Artusi who introduced a very special "virus" into our country: that of food. He was the leader of that vast world that revolves around food. A world that in recent times has become so deeply rooted in our society as to abuse and almost cannibalize, from the media point of view, every other sector as never before.
A booming sector
Indeed, it is there for all to see how at all hours and in all channels, both public and private, there is a continuous succession of features and programs that focus on food: from its preparation to its characteristics, from the raw materials to the various ingredients, from the most famous stars to the most typical places, up to the countless other aspects that surround this primary element of our existence.
And in bookstores things go more or less in the same way, so much so that the one on nutrition remains a massive and cumbersome presence, as to push some to stop and say that it would be time to give up. But as long as the audience ratings continue to remain high, it is very difficult for this to happen, also because the sector covers a high percentage of our disastrous economy and guarantees employment to a multitude of fellow citizens.
It wasn't like that once. Once upon a time, the culture of food was reserved only for the wealthier classes, upper-class and noble, and not even always; and cooking texts were very rare, to be counted on the fingers of one hand.
For the popular and petty bourgeois classes there was no manual that provided precise indications on the subject, it was already a lot if you managed to make ends meet, to get by, not to die of hunger. Imagine if you could discuss the preparation of food. That was a matter for those with big resources.
A kitchen accessible to all
Artusi denied this rumor and demonstrated that the subject could reasonably be of interest to even the good housewife. He did it in the name of "hygiene", "economy" and "good taste", the three cornerstones that he wanted to place on the cover of his book, in this strict order. And he always adhered to them with great scruple.
He used a flat, clear, understandable and accessible language to all, albeit with some Florentine nuances, so that everyone could approach his recipes, from the expert Neapolitan cook, to the simple housewife from Bergamo, up to the Roman state employee.
And from this point of view, the manual has also played an important role in the process of linguistic unification of the country, which even 30 years after its birth, still left much to be desired and the percentage of Italians able to know and speak the official language it did not range beyond 40–45% of the population. It was not at the time of the unification of Italy, when just over 20% of the population was able to speak the language, but the road ahead for effective mastery of the language was still long.
Certainly Artusi was not Manzoni, nor even Collodi or De Amicis, who with their highly successful works contributed far more than he to the same end; but after them, if you look at the extraordinary diffusion that his book had, this amazing recipe book certainly ranks.
However, when the book came out it seemed to many an anomaly, an oddity, a whim. It seemed that the brilliant author, who until then had always shown that he had his head firmly planted on his shoulders, had let himself be attracted by some whim, so much so that he did not even find a publisher willing to publish his book for him. And if he wanted the work to come out he had to print it himself.
Science in the kitchen and the art of eating well
The book, Science in the kitchen and the art of eating well, came out in 1891 without any fanfare, and edition after edition has become that sensational long seller that is still being reprinted today 130 years after its release.
And yet, it was said, it was not possible for him to publish the book, despite being in Florence, which was certainly not lacking in publishers, even shrewd ones. But he didn't find anyone who wanted to risk their capital for cooking recipes. And then Artusi, recommended by friends with whom he often met in his villa in Piazza D'Azeglio in Florence, and who personally verified the goodness of his dishes, friends who responded to the name of Paolo Mantegazza, Yorick, Jarro, and Olindo Guerrini, above all, turned to a printer, a certain Salvatore Landi.
He published the first edition of a thousand copies of his cookbook on his own account, paid the expenses, oversaw the sales in person or by mail, and, obviously, also pocketed the proceeds, which turned out to be higher and higher, in proportion to the ever-increasing favor that the work met.
A real long seller
Giunti's 1970 edition reached the extraordinary number of the ninetieth edition. Perhaps the copies sold could reach one and a half million.
Released in 1891, when its author had just turned seventy, in twenty years it is estimated that three hundred thousand copies were sold.
The author-publisher of the work personally oversaw fifteen editions, almost one a year, enriching them each time with further recipes, so much so that these gradually grew in number, edition after edition. Later the book was printed by many other publishers, including Salani, Garzanti, Einaudi, De Agostini, Vallardi, Saggiatore, Polistampa, Giunti.
Only the latter in 1970 put the ninety-sixth reprinting on sale, for a total of over seven hundred and thirty thousand copies. It is difficult to quantify the total number of copies sold today, but we are certainly well beyond one and a half million, two million copies and perhaps even more.
Two servants helped him, to whom on his death in 1911 at the age of 91, he bequeathed the copyright of the book, as they had made a truly remarkable contribution to the realization of the work. They were an elderly cook from Forlimpopoli, who had retired from his profession and had put himself at Artusi's service, and a housewife.
They bought "the ingredients" at the San Lorenzo market, not far from where Artusi lived, and collaborated with him in the preparation of the dishes, "tried and tried again and again by myself", he wrote in the preface of the book.
The life
Pellegrino Artusi came from a family of solid merchants from Forlimpopoli, where he was born in 1820. His father had an established grocery store, but had expanded his business to other sectors, also because he had no less than twelve children.
Pellegrino had initially decided to devote himself to fine literature, he had in fact graduated in literature in Bologna and would later even compose a life of Foscolo and a study on Giusti.
And in the condition of a well-to-do young man who moved between letters and profitable trades, he spent a pleasant and serene period up to the age of thirty. Then a traumatic event changed his life completely.
In 1851, the bandit Stefano Pelloni, the famous brigand known as "The smuggler", broke into the city theater with his band of acolytes in Forlimpopoli, while a comedy was being performed. After having immobilized the papal guards, the town was in fact part of the papal state, the band of brigands robbed those present at the theater, then, taking possession of the town, looted and robbed the richest inhabitants of their possessions, including the family by Artusi.
A sister of Pellegrino was even subjected to violence, and suffered such a shock that she went mad, became mute and since then has never been able to recover from the trauma she suffered, so much so that she ended her days in a mental hospital.
The change of residence after the trauma of the sister
Artusi then decided to leave the Romagna town and moved with his family of origin to Florence, first in via Calzaiuoli, right on the corner with piazza della Signoria, then in via Cerretani, a stone's throw from the San Lorenzo district, which even then it was teeming with trattorias, where people cooked according to the true Florentine tradition.
He lived on the income of the farms that his father had left him, but also on commercial activities in the silk and financial sector; he had in fact founded a discount bank which guaranteed him secure earnings. His patrimony was conspicuous, a family had not been formed by him, even if he frequented the beautiful world and did not disdain female company; it is said he was also a talented dancer, according to the Romagna tradition.
The famous manual
In 1870, around the age of 50, Artusi retired from business, moved to a building in the D'Azeglio garden, still near the city center, where a plaque still commemorates his residence today, and devoted himself to his passion secret: the kitchen. For years he created, tested and experimented with the recipes with the help of the old cook. He checked the ingredients, cooking, flavours, yield. He studied the best way to make the kitchen appetizing, but also careful, without waste, just like a careful manager of his goods would have done. And above all he took care of its hygiene.
From this long activity was born "the manual" par excellence that has taught all of Italy the secrets of a healthy, tasty, balanced, economic diet, in which the various regional and local cuisines of the country find a shrewd dosage, ennobling that moment to the maximum of family aggregation which is being at the table. They are precious indications and even today more relevant than ever.
In the foreword to the book, Artusi proclaims that the basic objective that arises in licensing his recipes is to contribute to a healthy life, made up of open air, movement and good food. For the latter, only top quality ingredients and a lot of good will are needed. The result can only be …true art.
What can be more topical than these simple words even in our times?
