The Board of Directors of the Fondazione Azzurra would like to invite you to join us for a very special dinner on the eve of the Courtly Conviviality and Gastronomy in Early Modern France and Italy (1400-mid 1600) Conference to be held at UCLA April 2-4. conference schedule pdf
On Wednesday, April 1 famed Chef Gino Angelini (Angelini Osteria) will be preparing a meal inspired by the theme of the conference, which will include an authentic dish made from a recipe from Bartolomeo Scappi’s cookbook written in 1570.
We will hear a brief introduction about the conference by Massimo Ciavolella, Chair in Italian Renaissance Studies at UCLA.
In addition we will be treated to a short talk by UCLA professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature Luigi Ballerini who will present his book The Art of Cooking: The First Modern Cookery Book (California Studies in Food and Culture) written and published by Maestro Martino of Como in the 15th century. “Maestro Martino of Como has been called the first celebrity chef, and his extraordinary treatise on Renaissance cookery, The Art of Cooking, is the first known culinary guide to specify ingredients, cooking times and techniques, utensils, and amounts”. Our guests will receive a signed copy of the cookbook by Ballerini.
When: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Where: Minestraio Trattoria (formerly La Terza Ristorante) 8384 West Third Street, at Orlando Avenue Tel. 323-782-8384 – Map it
Time: 7:30 pm
Ticket price: $150 per person which includes the dinner and signed cookbook. This is a fundraiser for the Fondazione Azzurra therefore $90 of your ticket price is tax deductible.
Or mail check payable to: FONDAZIONE AZZURRA, 334 14th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Absolute deadline for receipt of payment is March 27, 2009.
Conference description: Courtly Conviviality and Gastronomy in Early Modern France and Italy (1400-mid 1600) – “This conference analyzes the development of gastronomy and conviviality in Italy and France and the regions in between and/or bordering (Savoy, Grisons, Ticino, Belgium) from the times of Taillevent (Guillaume Tirel, 1310-1395) to the publication of the Cuisinier Français by François-Pierre de la Varenne (1651). The center of this scenario is occupied by extremely significant historical events such as the Council of Costanz (1417) and the composition of the schism, the rebirth of Rome as capital of the Catholic world, and the sack of Rome in 1527. The central figures are Francis I, Catherine De Medici, her son Henri III, Marie de Medici and her husband Henry IV. The crucial shift from Stoicism to Epicureanism as it emerges from writings of Lorenzo Valla, Platina (Bartolomeo Sacchi) and other humanists as well as from the actual cookbooks (Maestro Martino’s Libro de arte coquinaria; Bartolomeo Scappi’s Opera; Cristoforo di Messisbugo’s Banchetti e composizione di vivande, culminating in La Varenne’s Cuisinier français) will also be explored. The gastronomical and convivial scene will be studied as the locus where theater, music, and dance receive a vital impulse toward the creation of a multimedia event avant la lettre.”
For additional information: info@fondazioneazzurra.org
Fondazione Azzurra is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization
