Tag: Caterina

Caterina De’ Medici, the gourmet queen – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

On Catherine de’ Medici we already know a lot but thanks to Marina Migliavacca, a writer and journalist who likes to say that there is more history to tell inside a typical dish than inside a castle, now we will know even more. In her pages she deals with past centuries, society and customs. Here is her story of the foodie queen.

Catherine de’ Medici, the gourmet queen

The friendliest ones called it la Queen Mother, for having brought into the world so many crowned heads; the most critical ones there Black Queen, and not only for his mourning after his premature widowhood. All kinds of vices have been attributed to Caterina de’ Medici, great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent: superstitious, power-hungry, poisoner… But beyond the great debate about her, the adjective that best suits her he is undoubtedly a much happier “gourmet”. A gourmet noblewoman, who from her native Florence arrived in France at the age of fourteen to marry the future king, effectively “educated” the court of Paris in what today we would call Made in Italy.

His is not a love marriage. She is neither beautiful nor very noble, she is small, round and with eyes a bit like a Medici frog. The “fat shopkeeper”, they call her. In addition, for the first ten years she is unable to have children and her husband has a wonderful lover, Diana of Poitiers. But Caterina has other strings in her bow: she is intelligent, cultured, above all she is what today we would define as a trend setter. He arrives at court with Florentine, Tuscan and Sicilian cooks and pastry chefs who will set the example. She is curious about taste, she knows that sitting at the table doesn’t just mean filling your stomach, but surrounding yourself with beautiful things. She teaches the French to use the fork, perfumes the damask tablecloths with clover and sweet clover, introduces the napkin, makes the plates change between one course and another, divides the sweet service from the savory service… These are not things that she invented , of course, but he made them everyday life.

Then there is something deeply sentimental in the fact that the young “Italian abroad” tries to find the flavors of home on her plate and really likes vegetables, from the beloved artichoke to those that he considered healthy (and even aphrodisiac), such as shallots, peas, beans, perhaps seasoned with oil from the Tuscan hills. What she cannot know for sure, by making the increasingly conquered courtiers taste particular delights such as sorbets or crepes, is that the recipes that she will import into France will have a funny fate reserved for them. They will like them so much that French chefs will make them their own, to the point that today we all think that they originate from France!

From the duck to the orange tree it will become canard à l’orange to the very Tuscan onion soup they will call soupe à l’oignonup to the glue sauce, renamed bechamela cultural short circuit is created in which Caterina will also be the protagonist in many aspects of daily life, such as when, to ride comfortably without causing scandal, she introduced the use of long shorts to wear under the skirt, or to overcome her short stature he will have high shoes made by Florentine artisans, or he will commission his perfumer Renato Bianchi, who will become Master René for the French, delicate essences of iris (iris for the French), which is none other than the beautiful lily of Florence!

Article appeared in La Cucina Italiana, March 2022
JOËLLE NÉDERLANTS recipes
recipe texts LAURA FORTI
photo BEATRICE PILOTTO
styling BEATRICE PRADA

the cannoli of the Cloister of Santa Caterina – Italian Cuisine

An absolute symbol of Sicilianity, cannoli and traditional convent sweets can be tasted directly at home, thanks to the new delivery service of the I Segreti del Chiostro di Palermo patisserie

A treasure chest of unparalleled beauty in the heart of the historic center of Palermo. Inside the sixteenth-century complex of Saint Catherine, within the walls steeped in prayer and silence that for centuries have welcomed generations of cloistered nuns belonging to the most powerful aristocratic families of Sicily, an all-female cooperative has restored the ancient kitchens of the monastery and recovered the original recipes of the conventual sweets Sicilians.

Cannolo Cloisters

After closing to the public following the lockdown, the pastry shop The Cloister Secrets (which is also the title of the volume of Maria Oliveri in which the recipes handed down by the nuns are cataloged) started during the quarantine, in line with government provisions, a home delivery service of their delicacies, in the belief that even the consolation of a kind of comfort could give relief in those days so difficult. To date it is still not possible to visit the monastic complex, but the pastry shop has been able to reopen to the public for the sale of sweets, in compliance with the rules of distancing with which we will now have to live.

Once you cross the entrance threshold of Piazza Bellini, your senses are immediately enraptured by the riot of perfumes that emanate from the Converse kitchen: cassate, virgin minne, cannoli, Genoese, dark brown, fedor of the chancellor is papal biscuits these are just some of the specialties that can be ordered by phone and received comfortably at home. To characterize the production is the great care in the selection of raw materials used for the preparation of desserts, as it happened in the past when it was the mother superior who dealt with relationships with suppliers. Although the demand far exceeds the offer, the laboratory does not intend to give in to commercial enticements and production remains limited to guarantee a high quality standard.

The most requested for delivery? Obviously the Sicilian cannolo, among the symbols par excellence of Sicily in the world. Born as a Carnival cake, according to historical sources it owes its name to the canes that were used to put the wafer into shape while it was fried. According to a legend, however, everything originated from a carnival joke designed by the nuns against a religious: they brought out sweet ricotta, instead of water, from a tap that in Sicilian is precisely called cannolo.

The I Segreti del Chiostro patisserie is open every day from 10 to 13 and from 15 to 18 (Piazza Bellini, Palermo). For the delivery call 327 5882302.

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The starred sandwich according to chef Caterina Ceraudo – Italian Cuisine

A tribute to the feminine talent and beauty of Calabria and its raw materials: Petelia is the name of the limited-edition star-rated sandwich by chef Caterina Ceraudo for the opening of the new Panino Giusto First Floor in Milan

When creativity meets quality and a feminine touch is added, the result can only be excellent. The starred sandwich proposed by the chef Caterina Ceraudo for the menu dedicated to the Masters of Italian Cuisine of Panino Giusto it's a real explosion of Mediterranean flavors. A limited edition to taste as soon as possible to feel from the first bite all the essence and richness of Calabria, the land of origin of one of the most interesting young chefs on the contemporary Italian scene.

Chef Caterina Ceraudo and the Panine Giusto sandwich masters

Petelia is his name

At the opening of Panino Giusto First Floor, two levels of taste and shopping with Yamamay for a total of 1000 square meters in Piazza Cordusio a Milan, the excellent collaboration with the chef is born Caterina Ceraudo of the restaurant Dattilo, a Michelin star. Just from the Greek name of the Calabrian town Strongoli in the province of Crotone where it was born is called its gourmet sandwich, Petelia. A tribute to the feminine talent and beauty of her Calabria, the young cook proved ready to test herself on something different from the classic menu: «I accepted this invitation because bread, in its authentic expressions, is always present in my kitchen and because I had not yet attempted to conceive a sandwich, something to eat with my hands, which must take into account the harmony of everything together in the same bite! .

From surprising ingredients to special bread

The ingredients chosen by the chef Caterina Ceraudo for the Petelia they are a celebration of the raw materials of his land: capocollo, field salad and candied citrus fruits, Tropea onion marinated in raspberry vinegar and stracciatella, All enclosed in a special bread obtained from soft wheat Verna, an ancient variety grown in the Catanzaran Sila at 1300 meters high for at least 60 years, the so-called mountain grain. A choice that is certainly not accidental and that follows its path of enhancing the raw material and allowing it to involve another young Calabrese, Stefano Caccavari, creator of Mulinum, project that brings back the cultivation of the original grain, which is healthier and better because it is integral and free from invasive chemical treatments. A substantial difference that is felt from the first bite, crunchy and soft at the same time, to then reach the tenderness of the tasty filling until the final acidulous and engaging lash. The mouth water rises?

Chef Caterina Ceraudo and gourmet sandwich Petelia for Panino Giusto

Petelia is a happy expression of the kitchen of Caterina Ceraudo, based on an infinite respect for food and its natural origin, which leads it to use few elements enhancing simple flavors. Its could be defined as a balanced and light cuisine, apparently paradoxical in Calabria, which however manages to reach every dish, from savory to sweet. With the strength of the Ceraudo family behind them and their studies Niko Romito, the young Calabrian, born in 1987, already has important prizes and awards in her curriculum, such as Best Chef Woman 2017 for the Michelin Guide or Best Chef Under 35 of the 2018 Food Community Awards, as well as being part of theAtelier des Grandes Dames, network created by the Maison de Champagne Veuve Clicquot, to support the female talents of high catering. His is a pure and simple talent, visionary and creative, who knew how to conceive a gourmet version of the sandwich, a must on the menu of Panino Giusto.