Copyright @ Marcia Jabor 2011

ISBN # 1456535846
978-1456535841 ASIN: B007HBBBY2 All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author and publisher. For information regarding permissions write to mjaborcanizio@hotmail.com.

Catalog- Library of Congress Cooking; History of Food; Cinema; Literature; Recipes

Table of contents - Sumrio

Foreword 5 Chapter I -Waffles, Pancakes and Crpes three recipes in one................................................... 7 Chapter II Ratatouille one simple dish from three different countries .................................... 11 Chapter III An Artist Soul the value of a sweet dessert ........................................................... 19 Chapter IV A Word about Chocolate .......................................................................................... 26 Chapter V Lost Illusions in French Style Wild games and Meat Chapter VI - Born a Princess; born a King : kindle a candle and we glow Chapter VII From Italy to the World : a view into the future Chapter VIII The magic of Food : nourish your soul Epilogue Bonus Features The Lavoisier Principle Bibliography 40 53 70 92 99 101

Foreword
This book was first released in 2010 as a blog at google.com. During one year I did my research and published my recipes. I got more than two thousands viewers, which, for a blog on cooking, was more than I frankly expected. Then I decided to take another step forward and publish in book form an extended version of the blog. My first idea was to write in my blog http://www.donafrorcravoecanela.blogspot.com about something with no specific purpose or directed to an specific audience. As in the case of Luigi Pirandellos theatrical play "six characters in search of an author"., I thought it was possible that someone who have read the blog that has originated this book could relate my effort to the movie picture Julie & Julia, released 2008/2009. This assumption is not entirely true, I assure you. First of all, cooking has been to me a part of my "survival kit" for the last 30 years or so. Second, there has been several blogs on cooking from several countries which I have been reading some years before the release of the said pictue.

I will explain myself. First of all, I think - and I hope that I am not the only one who thinks the same way - that the food we eat in a meal or in a snack is a cultural manifestation of a nation, its people and its history. Furthermore, several known recipes are part of the cultural message sent abroad by some writers, as part of their form of Art in telling stories. One of the examples I know best is the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado book Dona Flor and her Two Husbands. Among the French and the British (more specifically anglo-american) literature, romance, novels, poetry and theatrical plays used to mention recipes even before the Era of the Enlightenment. It would be interesting to emphacize the relation between recipes and authors, as an informal kind of research that would be worth doing. Needless to say, the movies followed the same path or trend, as the one we mentionned in literature, releasing films with stories with an intimate relation to cooking such as in Babettes Feast, Cyrano de Bergerac, Marie Antoinette, Like Water for Chocolate and Chocolat , to name a few (some of them were adaptations from novels previously published). Finally, I would like to warn you that to follow a written recipe may not work out adequately in the first trial. So, don't be surprised with a failure as a first outcome...and persevere...I will try to give some tips, although conscious that the final result will depend on each cooks personnal taste and eating habits. In a nutshell I will try to emphacize tips,

rituals, stories, not forgetting to mention the sources and the changes I am, if it is the case, proposing. So... to whom it may concern, let's get to work. Marcia J.

Introduo
Minha idia inicial era escrever algo no blog http://www.donafrorcraveecanela.blogspot.com sem destinatrio especfico, como no caso de Luigi Pirandello, em sua pea teatral seis personagens procura de um autor. Talvez posssam imaginar que estou tomando de emprstimo a idia de Julie &; Julia , o filme, que entrou em cartaz entre 2008/2009. No obstante, reafirmo a existncia de inmeros blogs de cozinha internacional mesmo antes do lanamento do filme. O que me causou certa espcie na histria do filme, no entanto, que, como em novelas, romances e etc, tudo parece muito fcil e muito direto como Np momento em que a personagem Julie resolve cozinhar. Minha motivao, no entanto, de outra orientao. Primeiro, creio que comida tambm uma manifestao cultural de cada nao. Mais ainda grandes receitas fazem parte da bagagem cultural levada adiante por escritores, como se fosse parte da funo mgica, quase alqumica que a Arte ( no caso a escrita) exerce. O exemplo mais famoso do Brasil o Dona Flor e seus dois Maridos de Jorge Amado. H tambm menes a certos pratos por outros autores. Entre os Franceses e Ingleses, o hbito de misturar em romances e poesias a receitas de comida data de uma fase, creio, bem anterior aos iluministas. Desse modo, parece-me interessante uma abordagem de algumas receitas sob esse aspecto especfico. Obviamente, o cinema acompanhou essa tendncia com filmes com a Festa de Babete, Cyrano de Bergerac, Como gua para chocolate , Chocolat entre outros (alguns deles baseados em romances pre-existentes). Alm disso, comer uma refeio era, e em algumas circunstancias ainda , um momento muito especial, como um ritual a ser seguido. Falar sobre detalhes histricos ou contemporneos da etiqueta mesa em determinados pases tambm seria interessante. Uma terceiro alerta dessa introduo que uma receita geralmente no d certo na primeira tentativa, e s vezes melhor dar uma dica especial com a conscincia de que o resultado final depender muito mais da perpectiva pessoal de quem faz a receita e de sua preferncia pessoal para determinados sabores. Desse modo, minha tentativa seria no sentido de apontar para determinadas receitas, sua histria e alguns modos de faz-la sem no entanto desejar restringir o leitor a um manual fechado e sem alternativas.

Enfim, a quem interessar possa, eis aqui minha tentiva de passar adiante receitas que conheo , por meio de meu hobby, e suas histrias. Ento, ao trabalho! Marcia J.

Chapter I Pancakes, Waffles and crpes: three dishes in one recipe

Waffles, Crepes and Pancakes (panequettes); Believe it or not, there is one single recipe, which, with some additions, can be used for making crepes, waffles and pancakes. In terms of my "survival kit"(that is, things you better know how to cook, like it or not), which helped me throughout the last 30 years, this recipe is in fact very appropriate, my First Best. Needless to say, there are specific recipes (even more than one) for each dish. The recipe I am using today, nevertheless, fills very well the purpose of this book, that is to say to allow every Cook to have the necessary tools for a healthy meal in about 30 minutes with not too much fuss about it. I have, of course, tested the recipe for its three dishes as well. Waffles, crepes and pancakes ( or panequettes) are dishes of French origin, or else somehow ameliorated by French Cooking over the years. There are ready-made mixtures for sale, but I do prefer to make the whole recipe at home, choosing each ingredient carefully. Furthermore, if I would invite some friends for brunch at home, for instance, I could be using half the recipe for waffles and the other half for some exquisite crepe or pancakes, provided that I plan upfront. The Waffles exist as such since the XIIIth Century A. C. and derives from a dish that was very common in Ancient Greece called "obelios". During the Middles Ages, in France, this dish was known as "oublies", consisting in a batter pressed between two flat irons, cooked in an oven, and then rolled in the shape of a papyrus, cornnet or a flute. I remember that, in my childhood (60/70), we used to eat a snack at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro very similar to the "oublies". We used to call them "plec-plec", because of the noise made by the seller's wood and iron device, which made himself noticed at the beach.

In the XIIIth century, the French created the "waffle Iron" by changing the "oubliess flat iron into one that tried to imitate de shape of the inside cells of a beehive or hive-bee ( in French they are called gauffres or trennes). The crepes are also of French origin. They serve, by tradition, to celebrate renewal, hope, prosperity and good fortune. It is also said that it brings good luck to touch a frying pan in which the crepes are being cooked. Anatole France in his book "Le temps" describes beautifully this special dish. In the '60, the film "Hello Dolly" contributed to make the Crepe Suzette widely known and very fashionable. It is a sweet crepe "flambe" made with tangerine flavour and scent, sugar and brandy and was one of the "pices de rsistance" of the Rockefeller family Cook. More recently, in the animation movie ratatouille a crepe appears as one of the most known French dishes, shown at the cartoon picture. Similarly, the pancakes or pannequettes, although French at birth, are known mostly as a sweet dish served preferably at breakfast or at the Sunday brunch. I cannot forget the delicious "pecan pancake" I used to eat at my Sunday Brunch when I lived in Boston, nor the famous "one Dollar Pancake" that I used to eat when in San Francisco many years later. The pancake is, along with the French toast, very present in several hollywood pictures. THE RECIPE ( sweet version) - for the alternate version do not use neither the sugar nor the nutmeg 1 & 1/2 cup of Whole Milk 1 & 1/2 cup of water 2&1/2 cup of all-purpose flour 3 eggs, whisked with 4 cubes of sugar previously diluted in 3/4 cup of water (use the microwave to dissolve the sugar into the water) 3 tsp of melted butter ( use the microwave to melt it) 1 tsp of baking soda 1 tsp of grinded nutmeg In the abovementionned order, pour the ingredients into the blender and mix until it turns into an uniform liquid. FOR WAFFLES = pour the resulting liquid( do not use baking soda in the mixture) into a waffle maker, which iron pan must have been generously sprinkled with melted butter beforehand. Close the waffle maker and let it cook on medium heat for 20/30 minutes or until golden-brown. Serve with Mapple Syrup and Butter. FOR CREPES = use a non-stick frying pan, pour the mixture( without the baking soda) and add sugar and butter or any sweet filling you may choose. For Pancakes(panequettes) = Add to the mixture 1 tsp of shortening or baking soda and 3/4 cup of grinded pecans before blending the mixture. Use a non-stick frying pan or the

reverse side of the waffle maker to cook the pancakes. Serve with fruit and Mapple Syrup with Butter.

Captulo I- Panquecas, crepes e waffles: uma receita para trs pratos H uma receita bsica que pode ser utilizadfa nas trs modalidades de pratos, a saber, crepes, pancakes (panequettes) e waffles, com variaes de salgado e doce, bem como de recheio. Em termos de "kit de sobrevivncia" ela funciona at muito bem, pois se pode fazer um prato com parte da receita e outro com o material remanescente da mesma receita: timo para solteiros ou casais em incio de vida. no entanto neessrio lembrar que h receitas especficas para cada um dos pratos com variaes dependendo do livro consultado e da origem do mesmo. Waffles, crepes e panequettes so pratos de origem francesa, atualmente igualmente populares nos EUA como parte constituinte do caf da manh (breakfast) ou do cafalmoo de domingo (brunch). Tenho preferncia por sua elaborao em caso, embora existam misturas secas venda. O Waffle data do Sc. XIII e considerado como uma evoluo do "obelios" da Grcia antiga Os "obloyeurs" da Idade Mdia foram chamados "oublies", uma massa muito fina, de forma arredondada e enrolados em forma de papiro fechado, flauta ou cone. Encontravam-se "oublies" no Rio de Janeiro, nos anos 60/70, sendo vendidos na Praia de Ipanema por ambulantes que eu e meus irmos chamvamos de "plec-plec" por causa do barulho que fazia o ferro batendo na madeira do instrumento que usavam para anunciar-se. O "Leque" da Confeitaria Colombo parece pertencer a esse tipo de origem. No Sec. XIII os franceses criaram uma espce de panela de ferro a ser usada na boca do fogo, semlhante dos "oublies", mas com reentrncias de pequenos quadrados que

recordassem o forma interna de uma colmeia o chamdo "waffles iron" para fazer "gauffres" ou "trennes", nome que recebeu na Frana dependendo da regio. Os crepes so de origem francesa e considerados por muitos um prato que, ao celebrar a renovao e a prosperidade, traz boa sorte caso se toque na frigideira onde est sendo feito. Anatole France, no livro "Le Temps" descreve o prato com detalhes. Em "Hello Dolly!", o filme ds anos 60, o Crpe Suzette disseminou ainda mais a delicadeza do prato j descrito pelo escritor francs em sua verso doce e "flambe". O "Crpe Suzette" feito com a essncia de tangerina, acar e brandy era uma especialidade da famlia Rockefeller. O ratinho de Ratatouille treina seu amigo em seu pequeno apartamento a fazer crepes e o lana um deles pela janela, entre outros pratos franceses que o desenho mostra. As panquekas ou panequettes na sua verso norte-americana so uma prato doce servido no "brunch" de domingo e no caf da manh. Uma das minhas melhores lembranas foi o "pecan pancake" que eu costumava comer no Brunch na costa Leste e o "One Dollar Pancake" na Costa Oeste. Receita (verso doce)= retirar o acar e a noz moscada para a verso salgada. 1 & 1/2 xcara ( cup na medida norte-americana) de leite preferencialmente integral, 1 &; 1/2 xcara de gua filtrada em temperatura ambiente, 2 & 1/2 xcara de farinha de trigo 3 ovos previamente misturados ao 4 cubos de acar ( dissolvidos em 3/4 de xcara de gua quente - utilize o microondas) 3 colheres de ch de manteiga derretida (utilize o microondas) 1 colher de ch rasa de bicarbonato de sdio 1 colher de ch de noz moscada, ralada no momento da utilizao. Coloque os ingredientes, na ordem acima, num liquidificador e misture-os st formar uma massa liquefeita e homognea. (alguns puristas preferem no utilizar o liquidificador) Para o Waffle = prepare a mquina untando-a com um pouco de manteiga derretida ( o suficiente para pincelar a superfcie onde ser feita a massa) e coloque em temperatura mdia. Coloque o lquido em um dos lados( sem o bicarbonato), sem deixar transbordar , e feche a mquina. Aguarde cerca de vinte minutos ou at ficar dourado nos dois lados. Sirva com Mapple Syrup, e frutas ( mel poder ser usado alternativamente e sorvete, a gosto) Crepes = (utilize,preferencialmente, uma frigideira de ferro para crepes com o fundo liso ou o reverso da mquina de waffles. Alternativamente utilize uma frigideira de teflon) Coloque a massa lquida(sem o bicarbonato) e espalhe-a de forma a que fique bem fina. quando estiver quase pronta dissolva um pouco de manteiga so centro e salpique com acar de confeiteiro. Utilize o recheio de seu gosto caso a verso tradicional no agrade. Pancakes (Panequettes) = Para faz-la semelhantes s pancakes adicione 1 colher de ch de fermento em p Royal e o bicarbonato. Caso deseje fazer a "pecan pancake" da foto triture 3/4 de xcara de pecan num mini processador e adicione-os massa do liquidificador.

Utilize frigideira ou o reverso da mquina de Waffle. Sirva com Mapple Syrup e frutas vermelhas.

Chapter II Ratatouille: One dish from three countries

When you watch the animated motion picture "Ratatouille", one cannot but feel curious about this strange - apparently French - dish. "Ratatouille"; the animated motion picture, has much more to do with literature and movies than people dare to admit. In the picture, the dish is presented in its French "nouvelle cuisine" version, according to the best gourmet's new wave tradition. It is somewhat evident the reference to the French writer Marcel Proust's "Remembrances of times Past"( " La Recherche du Temps Perdu") famous passage on the Madeleines. In this specific passage, the character reflections of his own past are triggered by the taste and odors when he is invited to have madeleines and tea at his aunt house. In the animated picture, the critic's childhood memories in "Provence" are triggered by the "ratatouille" eaten at "Chez Armand". What is said, both in the book and in the picture, is that food and cooking has to do with culture and history. It is also a form of Art or artistic expression, as well as an enchantment -- a magical way of warming hearts and minds, as you bring out a musical harmony of blended tastes and spices. In a nutshell, a ritual that brings poetry into life. To have the real flavour of the image I want to stress, just watch "Chocolat", where the Cook is a sorceress (sorcerer), witch ( warlock) or an alchemist that has a somewhat unexplainable reason to bring hope and joy to a town's life. Each person receives, in this picture, a special gift, through the Cook's ability to blend, in the right measure, flavours that will certainly bewitch and bewilder people during a meal, while turning it into both a

pleasurable expeience and a milieu to bring a positive outcome for a business negotiation, for instance. The tradition of perceiving a meal as a means to facilitate human contact is thoroughly described in "kate & Leopold". Hugh Jackmann, as the British nobleman that travels through time, explains the meaning of a meal in the XVIIIth Century as opposed to the fast-meals of modern times. In fact, he is refering to an ancient tradition related to Diplomacy as well as Kings, nobleman and knights that are dated from the X/XIII Century onwards. Apart from the specific diplomatic tradition carried out by each country's Ceremonial and Protocol on States Dinners and Lucheons, there are some basic rules and notions and specific tips that must be followed during the meals, even by the simplest restaurants, and they don't apply only to the Art of setting a table, which can be also seen in "Remains of the Day" and "Gosford Park".

As a rule of thumb, when you invite guests or in a simple meal with your family, it is always good to have in mind that a meal is not a means neither to create conflict nor provoke a scandal. On the contrary, you are setting the stage to bring to a close, for instance, a "a pleasant agreement being it a love encounter or a business lunch. In other words, this means, in every instance, a search for harmony and not conflict. Having this rule of thumb in mind, keep it simple: tableware usage must be kept as easy as possible for the guests to recognize. There are, of course, some rules that remain to be followed, but you donnot have to make your guests feel unease because of the cuttlery, silverplates (sousplat in French) and serving dishes. So it is also advisable to try to adapt your Menu to the main goal of entertaining pleasantly by simplifying basic requirements such as serving salad already cut in bite-size pieces. It is a rule that in a formal dinner one is not allowed to cut some vegetables with a knife, such as lettuce and tomatoes, or else you must know how to eat artichoke and asparagus. This same rule of simplifying applies to desserts. Formal dinners usually require previous place arrangements by allotting guests on the table and marking their names on cards, that will rest on a cardholder at each guest place. Don't forget, whenever possible, to alternate man and women at the table. The placement of the guests of honnor will depend, of course, on the table shape. It is not necessary to use Menu Cards, unless the level of formality so demands. It is always good to know that sparkling water is indispensable especially when wine is served; a sherbet (sorbet) is also necessary between the courses when different kinds of meat are served. Sparkling water and sherbet are used to sharpen the guests' ability to taste the food they are eating. A small copper or silver basin with perfumed water served individually is nowadays rarely used, although sometimes very appropriate depending on the formality level. It is also a good habit to place under the table linen a cotton or felt cloth to deaden the sound. The servants must be well trainned to perform appropriately, while serving lunch or dinner, and cooperate to a smooth and friendly atmosphere by getting almost invisible to the guests.

There are those that, as in "Kate & Leopold", insist that this tradition is overdue or outdated to the fast-paced modern XXI Century lifestyle. I don't agree. Even if you want to invite someone to a business lunch or dinner in a restaurant, there are ways of reserving a table, choosing a Menu and a wine upfront. Choosing the right restaurant as well as requesting the adequate degree of privacy is possible in most countries. You will be able to provide to your guest, in this way, the opportunity to relieve himself of daily tension, therefore setting the stage to the best outcome in your business negotiation, for instance. As I said before, Ratatouille is a dish of French origin, but it has its similar version both in Italy and Spain. Its Italian version, very popular in Scicily, is called Camponatta. In Spain it is known as Pisto Manchego. In sum, it is essentially a mediterranean dish: vegetables blended in smooth flavours and odors, with definite colors which is a kind of mediterranean trademark along with olives and olive oil. Defined by some as a "veggie casserole or stew", there are though some differences among the three dishes such as time used for cooking the vegetables, quality of the olive oil used as well as the content of the "bouquet garni", the later considered the Chef's Secret. I am glad to tell you that the following recipe amounts 200 calories per serving. 2 large tomatoes 2 large eggplants 2 large succhinnis 2 red peppers 2green peppers 2 yellow peppers 2 large onions 15 sweet tomatoes 1 tsp salt. basil leaves parsley chives seedless olives (black and green) 1/3 cappers (optional) 1 clove of garlic (optional) 1 celery (optional) Dissolve the salt (preferably coarse or kosher salt) in a large pan with water and bring to a boil. Add the basic vegetable ingredients finely cut in round pieces - do not cut them lengthwise. Add the "bouquet garni" using a tea infuser ( fresh basil, parsley, chives, a small piece of celery - you can choose to change this bouquet if you like). Let it cook for 1

hour and a 1/ adding water when needed . The ingredients, especially the onions, must be smooth and transparent when the cooking is ready. Reserve the water used to cook the vegetables. Drain the cooked vegetables and cook them for ten minutes in another pan with olive oil and garlic (optional). Use cayenne pepper and more salt only if you are addicted to them. Use the reserved water to cook the 15 sweet tomatoes to almost pure them (cook for 20 minutes) and add the pure to the vegetables cooking in olive oil. Serve the vegetables with olives,parsley and chives in a plate. The sauce must be served apart. The French version of ratatouille (shown above) can be served with bread, scrambled eggs, or else, to serve accompanying fish, add cappers. The Italian Camponnatta requires that celery be cooked along with the other vegetables. The sauce is sweetenned with sugar and red wine vinegar. Green olives are used instead of the black ones. The Spanish version uses only green peppers ( neither the red nor the yellow). The ingredients are cooked in a clay casserole and on top of them you place a raw egg with olive oil and black pepper. The dish is ready when the egg is cooked.

French nouvelle cuisine version: To prepare this version of ratatouille reduce the amount shown above by half and cut the vegetable in very thin slices. Cook zucchinni, eggplant separately for 20 minutes until "al dente". Don't cook the tomatoes and onions. Prepare the sauce separately with the peppers, 1 extra onion and the sweet tomatoes, adding the same bouquet garni. In an oven dish previously greased with olive oil arrange eggplant, zucchinni, onion and tomatoes alternating each slice of one vegetable with the other slices. Pour the sauce gently over the vegetables until they are covered. Place foil paper over the cooking dish. Cook in low heat for 30 minutes. Serve hot with fresh parsley and chives along with the remaining sauce. Hope you like my tips as well as check on the movie pictures and books I have mentionned.

Captulo III- Ratatoiulle: Um prato de trs pases

Quando se assiste ao desenho animado Ratatouille, no se pode deixar de ter curiosidade pelo prato batizado com esse nome assim como sobre sua origem. Obviamente a verso cinematogrfica apresenta-o com roupagens da "nouvelle cuisine conforme a nova tradio de gourmets internacionais. No obstante, o real valor do prato, no desenho animado, seu efeito de fazer o crtico de restaurantes retornar ao passado....numa clara aluso ao livro de Marcel Proust "Em busca do Tempo Perdido"(A la Recherche du temps Perdu). No livro em questo, o , protagonista comea a recordar sua infncia e seu passado ao sentir o sabor de Madeleines molhadas no ch, ao visitar seus familiares. Com isso, o que o autor pretende, entre outras coisas, demonstrar que cozinha fenmeno cultural, social e instrumento que remete nacionalidade. Mais que isso, arte; mgica, encantamento -- um ritual capaz de rejuvenescer os mais cticos glutes. No desenho animado, o cozinheiro uma espcie de mago ou alquimista, capaz de associar sabores diferentes para produzir, na exata medida, ou como dizem os franceses la juste mesure, a mistura de sabor que levar perfeio dos sentidos do paladar, olfato e viso. O cozinheiro seria, ento, o bruxo capaz de enfeitiar os comensais, tornando uma refeio no somente um prazer mais tambm um entretenimento, um lugar ideal para propiciar o bom resultado de um acordo de negcios, ou apenas um reencontro entre velhos amigos. A antiga tradio existente entre cavalheiros, nobres e reis, de utilizar as refeies como meio de desenvolver relaes de amizade entre naes data do seculo X / XIII e descrita no filme "Kate & Leopold", onde o nobre ingls viajante no tempo e inventor do elevador, representado por Hugh Jackmann, revela uma srie de dicas sobre a funo e os prazeres decorrentes de uma "boa mesa". No quero entrar em detalhes especficos sobre o cerimonial de refeies oferecidas para Chefes de Estado e de Governo ou Delegaes

Estrangeiras, os quais envolvem certas regras normalmente pblicas, tais como a ordem de precedncia, que so especficas da diplomacia e para cumpri-las muitos pases formam profissionais especializados nas mltiplas facetas das relaes internacionais. Sobre esse aspecto pode-se ver o filme "Vestgios do dia" (Remains of the Day) ou Gosford Park. No obstante, fora da rea diplomtica, h algumas dicas bsicas, dela decorrentes,que devem ser utilizadas por todos de forma a facilitar a boa convivncia. Primeiro, uma refeio com convidados no se deve nunca constranger os comensais e sempre solicita-se aos anfitries manterem-se alertas para contornar grosserias ou o que poderia ser interpretado como tal no evento. No que toca s regras bsicas de utilizao de talheres e a ordem em que so postos mesa, os pratos a que so destinados; h atualmente um princpio a ser seguido -- mais educado simplificar de modo a permitir que os convidados fiquem mais vontade. Em jantares mais formais os lugares so marcados, mas no h necessariamente a obrigao de se colocar mesa, junto a cada convidado o carto de "Menu". Regras importantes so: sempre servir gua mineral gasosa junto ao vinho e, quando necessrio ou no caso de um Menu a partir de cinco pratos (courses), entre os pratos o "sorbet" (ou Sherbet), pois ambos servem para aguar o paladar permitindo aos convidados aproveitrem melhor o prato e a bebida. A "lavanda" com ptalas de rosa servida em pequena tigela individual de prata ou cobre a partir da vinda da famlia Real portuguesa para o Brasil, dentro do melhor costume francs e das cortes europias, ainda pode ser utilizada mesa dependendo do Menu do jantar. Deve sempre haver a preocupao de no deixar que os sabores e o vinho saiam da sua harmonia necessria. Toalhas e guardanapos de linho so obrigatrios e no se pode esquecer de colocar sob a toalha de mesa uma cobertura de feltro ou algodo com a finalidade de evitar barulhos desnecessrios dos talheres e loua e da prataria. A refeio, na realidade, um complemento a um evento mais importante e, como tal deve-se colaborar para que o mesmo flua naturalmente, de maneira leve e positiva, o que inclui o treinamento dos copeiros/copeiras de forma que o servio francesa, se for o caso, seja cumprido satisfatriamente. H ligeiras variantes entre os hbitos mesa e servios originrios de cada pas, um exemplo seria verificar o filme "Gosford Park" e outros do gnero para fins de comparao. Em geral porm de bom tom treinar os empregados para que na refeio transmitam s visitas a impresso de que so quase invisveis. Algumas pessoas costumam afirmar que essa tradio esfacelou-se diante da vida atribulada do sculo XX/ XXI. Particularmente no creio. H atualmente alternativas, inclusive, de se reservar mesas em bons restaurantes , acertando antecipadamente at mesmo o Menu. possvel at garantir-se espao reservado parte do salo principal em Restaurantes badaladissimos como acontecia na "Nouvelle poque" retratada pelo filme "Gigi" Tais restaurantes permitem ao seu cliente criar a oportunidade para os seus convidados de quebrar a tenso dos dias atribulados e corridos o que pode influenciar positivamente um almoo de negcios por exemplo.

Ratatouille um prato de origem francesa que encontra o seu correspondente na Espanha (Pisto Manchego) e na Itlia (Camponatta). um prato da cozinha mediterrnea por excelncia, utilizando-se de azeite, azeitonas e as cores de verduras e legumes misturadas a ervas e especiarias. H quem defina o prato como uma "caarola vegetariana" em razo de seu cozimento lento, embora haja diferenas entre os pratos mencionados de cada pas. Os puristas franceses preferem cozinhar separadamente cada vegetal para depois adicionar o azeite e lev-los ao forno, detalhe mantido pelos adoradores da "nouvelle cuisine". O ponto de cozimento exato depende da preferncia do Chef assim como o contedo do "bouquet grani", segredo guardado sete chaves. Segue abaixo a receita do ratatouille francs: 2 tomates grandes 2 beringelas grandes 2 abobrinhas grandes 2 pimentes verdes 2 pimentes amarelos 2 pimentes vermelhos 2 cebolas grandes 15 a 30 tomates cereja ( adicionados depois) 1 molho de salsa (adicionados depois) 1 molho de cebolinha (opcional -adicionados depois) 1 talo de salso 2 folhas de manjerico 1 xcara de azeitonas verdes (opcional-adicionados depois) 1 xcara de azeitona preta sem caroo (opcional-adicionados depois) 1 xcara de alcaparras (opcional-adicionados depois) 1 pitada de sal grosso tratado para uso na cozinha 1 dente de alho a gosto

Bouquet garni : salsa, cebolinha, manjerico frescos. Pode-se eventualmente adionar um pedao do salso ( para acompanhar com peixe) ou uma folha de louro. Coloque o sal grosso numa panela grande com gua filtrada e deixe ferver. Adicione os ingredientes bsicos cortados em rodelas juntamente com o bouquet grani que deve ser colocado dentro de um infusor de ch para ser retirado aps o cozimento. Deixe ferver por uma hora e meia, adicionando gua filtrada sempre que necessrio. Os legumes devem ficar quase translcidos mas no devem perder a consistncia - eis quando esto prontos. Separeos da gua, que dever ser reservada para o molho. Coloque os legumes em uma panela menor com azeite e refogue-os. Adicione alho e pimenta caso o deseje. Na gua que foi reservada deve-se cozinhar os tomates cereja at engrossar o caldo. Adicione azeite e junte os tomates aos legumes. Sirva, como os franceses, com po e o molho parte, com ovos mexidos. Adicione a salsa e a cebolinha e azeitonas pretas com azeite no prato que vai servir. Pode-se servir como acompanhamento de carnes. Para servir o ratatouille com peixe, adicione alaparras no lugar das azeitonas

Na verso "nouvelle cuisine" reduza a quantidade pela metade; cozinhe separadamente abobrinhas e beringelas cortadas bem fininhas (use um processador se tiver) Prepare o molho parte com os tomates cereja e os pimentes (que no sero utilizados no prato) Unte um prato refratrio com azeite e coloque as rodelinhas intercalando tomate, beringela, cebola, abobrinha. Adicione o molho at cobrir os legumes. Coloque em forme mdio por vinte minutos o prato coberto com papel alumnio. Sirva quente. A camponatta siciliana utiliza o salso e o molho leva uma pitada de acar e de vinagre de vinho tinto( ou aceto balsmico) para dar o sabor agridoce. Utilizam-se azeitonas verdes ao invs das pretas. O Pisto Manchego utiliza apenas os pimentes verdes e o cozimento final feito numa panela de barro sobre a qual colocado um ovo cru e algumas gotas de azeite com pimenta do reino. Cozinhe no forno at o ovo ficar pronto que a medida do tempo de cozimento.

Chapter IV Na artists soul: the value of sweets

Since my theme is still related to table manners as well as the tradition of centuries of history, of diplomacy, commerce and the struggle for power, lets keep our attention to two beautiful XIX Century books that inspired movie pictures and are worth writing about. One of them is the latest Disney release of Tim Burtons "Alice in Wonderland", a real source of enchantment which unfold a thounsand and two possible interpretations of Great Britains Golden Age under Queen Victoria. The other one is Martin Scorceses "The Age of Innocence" inspired in Edith Wharton book, that can be interpreted as a parallel about the United States to Mr Carroll book. Both Pictures have a flavour of the Age of transformations, near the dawn of a new century, or else, the wonder stated by Edgard Allan Poes "The Thousand-and-Second Tale". Everyone can imagine that, on the brink of a new century, the discoveries brought about by the establishment of the British Empire as well as the Industrial Revolution would certainly change the very concept of the Art, Science and Society. In the specific case of Lewis Carroll, it would change also the concepts around teaching logic, mathematics, among other things. As a reader or as audience to the movie picture one may form his/her own interpretation of the work of Lewis Carroll. I will allow myself to stress a few remarks, as a non-expert, before presenting my recipe. Like several writers of his time, Lewis Carroll was trying to express some subtelties of his Era through his literary work. Is there no better way to point out subtelties than by being absolutely subtle? Mr. Lewis. Carroll work as a whole, furthermore, is a lifelong struggle to teach children how to think. Education is something that comes along with the ability to understand things beyond their simple appearance, learn to trust only your own efforts, as well as to know how to deal with bereavement. Furthermore, his universe was all about Logic, games, puzzles, chess, back-gammon, syllogism, fallacies and riddles. He spent part of his writings trying to revive the works of Euclid, the greek mathematician, and renew math teaching methods of his time. This enchanting world was all about solving mysteries, interpreting symbols, understanding logic. In a nutshell, learning to read and trying to understand what you read, as well as trying to apprehend subtelties. As for the movie picture, apart from the fact that it is an invitation for children to understand the purposes of school and the learning process in a different way, I believe there are some messages they convey through this famous book: first, not everything is exactly what it seems to be... either you are tall or short, for instance, your importance depends on several other factors; second, to live in society, especially in a foreign country,

require learning several new codes that are sometimes difficult to understand and accept; third, every child has their personnal private fight with their own choices and doubts, no individual is the same, and they have to think for themselves- such as in the case of Alices socially accepted marriage; fourth, every personnal choice has a consequence - so after you have carefully decided your path, think about the Tale of Medusa and dont dare to look back and ask yourself What if I took another path instead of the one I took - You will turn into stone or salt; fifth, dont expect to be accepted by everyone; sixth, it is good to study history in order to understand the subtle metaphors Mr Carroll uses. I wish I could devise all the existing angles of the book as well as the movie picture, both of them I believe are Masterpieces. It is like devising a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, that is a real caldron of stories, of magic, of sorcerers, of scientists, of several forms of Art something sometimes beyond human apprehension.

I chose to present the recipes of the sweets served at the tea party when the Mad Hatter recalls Alices past to convince her to fight the jabberwocky. This moving scene is especially important because, instead of what happens in Marcel Prousts work, to my understanding Alices choice of "the road less travelled by" would lead to a better ending and thus would make all the difference for her. Thats my optimistic understanding of this specific work.

The "Age of Innocence" explains, in a more direct and simple fashion, the difficulties embedded in XIX century US society with details, and how people can be scorned by those who dictate the rules. The issue is always the choices you make and the extent to which people are bounded by social rules and personnal preferences. Sad to say, from my point of view this is a pessimistic perspective with a flavour of Jean-Paul Sartres "The Age of Reason". The same sweets are served as individual desserts in one of the meals, the one to bid farewell to Countess Olenska, that appears in this specific movie picture.

The sweet pudding I want to present the recipe, a sweet plate of British origin, has several variations as well as several designations, according to The Larousse Gastronomique - The New American Edition - First Printed in 1988/reprinted 1990. It can be known as Pudding, Charlotte, Bavaroise, or Mousse depending on its ingredients. It has been a very fashionable dish through the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries. The pudding is defined as "any of numerous dishes, sweet or savory, served hot or cold, which are prepared in a variety of ways." Among the traditional puddings the Diplomat ( the one we

are going to present the recipe) and the Nesselrode were especially fashionable in XIX Century Europe and U.S. The Charlotte received this denomination, in the end of the XVIII Century, in honour of Queen Charlotte wife of George III of England. It is made from thick fruit pure, flavored with lemon and/or cinnamon, poured in a round mold, and sometimes alternating layers of buttered bread (sponge fingers or ladyfingers). The dish is baked in the oven and served warm, with a custard cream ( glace). Later on, the Charlotte Russe was invented: a chilled uncooked dish consisting of vanilla bavarian cream (or chocolate mousse, coffe mousse, bomb mixture or chantilly cream) and poured into a mould lined or not with sponge fingers (lady fingers). There are some savory Charlottes made from cold vegetables and fish too. Given the wide range of ways of baking the dish as well as of varieties of sweet and savory Charlottes and Puddings, it is not so easy to define this dish. Nonetheless, I prefer to call the recipe I will present " Diplomat Charlotte aux prunes and aux fruits rouges"( page 375/376 of the Larousse Gastronomique) , instead of calling it Diplomat pudding. It is important to stress that it is a dish that labels a specific century: XIX Century. Diplomat Charlotte ( variation from the recipe in page 375/376 of the Larousse Gastronomique) 3 Egg Whites 3 Teaspoons of sugar 400 ml of coconut milk 100 grams of coconut flakes 50 grams of colorless and flavorless gelatin 1 tbsp of melted butter to grease the mould prunes and/or red berries to garnish Wisk the egg whites until a thick foam is formed and set aside in a large bowl. In another bowl mix the sugar, the coconut milk, and the coconut flakes very gently to allow a slow absortion of the flavors. Mix the egg whites with the coconut mixture and add right away the gelatin, previously melted in warm water for 15 seconds in the microwave oven. Pour the final mixure into the already greased mould. Cover with foil paper and put in the refrigerator for at least four hours ( better to make in the previous night of your meal) Serve cold, with the prunes, or make individual servings and add red berries and cramberry syrup. Both of the possibilities are shown in the photos below.

This recipe can be used as a model for several kinds of cold charlotte or puddings. You can add butterfingers previously soaked in kirsh, rum or frangelico. Depending on the main ingredients you can use also whipped cream, chantilly cream, brioche crumbs, actual fruits in syrup, among other things. There are, of course more elaborate ways to make this recipe. It is, though, my belief that the recipe above is a little more flexible and healthier for nowadays standards.

Hope you enjoy, both movie pictures and books. Please take your time to think about the real value of those books/pictures. I sometimes ask myself how all these gifted artits ( writers, directors, actors and all) are capable of grasping the subtle colors and shades of our all too human wonderworld...and let us have a simple glimpse of it...

Captulo IV A alma de artista: o valor dos doces.

O tema deste blog relaciona literatura, cinema, cozinha, boas maneiras mesa e fala da tradio de anos de diplomacia em direo a um mundo social e economicamente globalizado que pode ser visto nas melhores pginas literrias produzidas pela humanidade. H em especial dois livros deliteratura anglo-sax do Sculo XIX que inspiraram dois belos filmes sobre os quais vale a pena escrever. O primeiro o lanamento do Disney Studios "Alice no Pas das Maravilhas", dirigido por Tim Burton - obra encantadora que nos revela mil e duas interpretaes da Era de Ouro da Rainha Vitria. O outro livro/ filme a obra de Edith Wharton , dirigida por Martin Scorcese "A Idade da Inocncia' - o paralelo norteamericano obra de Lewis Carroll.

As duas obras - livros e filmes- transmitem-nos o sabor da Era das Transformaes iniciada pela Revoluo Industrial, quando despontava a aurora do Sculo XX, com as maravilhas relatadas pelo conto "A Fbula da Milsima Segunda Noite" de Edgard Allan Poe. Todos achavam que as transformaes da Revoluo Industrial e do Estabelecimento do Imprio britnico viriam a modificar o conceito de Cincia, de Arte e de Sociedade. No caso de Lewis Carroll, a Nova Era iria modificar o conceito de ensino de lgica, matemtica e de cincias entre outras coisas. As interpretaes sobre a obra de Lewis Carroll e o filme podem ser inmeras e algumas muito pessoais, por isso farei apenas algumas observaes mais genricas para convidar eventuais leitores a refletir sobre elas. Como todos os escritores de sua poca, Lewis Carroll tentava apresentar as sutilezas sociais e econmicas de seu tempo atravs de seu trabalho literrio. H maneira melhor de apresentar certas sutilezas do que sendo absolutamente sutil e pictrico? Lewis Carroll passou a vida tentando ensinar crianas a pensar, a entender as coisas alm da aparncia superficial, a acreditar no prprio esforo e a lidar com as perdas e suas escolhas individuais. Seu universo era em grande parte um mundo que girava em torno da lgica, de jogos, de quebra-cabeas, xadrez, gamo, silogismos, falcias e enigmas. Tentou recuperar o matemtico da Grcia Antiga, Euclides para revolucinar o ensino de seu tempo: interpretao de smbolos, lgicas e falcias. Era preciso aprender a ler e escrever e essencial entender o que se l, especialmente o que parece invisvel ao olhar desatento. O trabalho de Lewis Carrol como encontrar o famoso pote de ouro ao fim do arco-ris - um cadinho multifacetado de histrias e de enigmas sob a forma mais refinada de Arte, que transcende at a percepo humana. A receita que escolhi apresentar a da "Charlotte Diplomata com ameixas pretas em calda ou frutas vermelhas" que aparece na cena onde o Chapeleiro Maluco recorda com Alice as vezes anteriores em que ela teria ido ao Pas das Maravilhas para convenc-la a lutar contra o Jabberwocky Essa cena especialmente comovente para mim porque, ao recordar o passado o Chapeleiro ajuda Alice a decidir-se por um caminho que, ao contrrio do que acontece com Marcel Proust, a levar s melhores escolhas e far toda a diferena em sua vida futura. a viso otimista. Na "Idade da Inocncia", o jantar de despedida da Condessa Olenska, onde so servidas Charlottes Diplomatas individuais, o tema parece ir tambm na direo oposta, rescendendo ao mesmo incenso desencantado e almiscarado que Sartre impe ao seu livro "Idade da Razo". O prato cuja receita apresento de origem britnica e representa o Sculo XIX por excelncia, quando era apreciado entre as melhores famlias das classes dominantes mundiais. De acordo com o Larousse Gastronomique, Nova Edio Norte-Americana, 1988/90, o prato tem diversas designaes; conhecido como pudim, Charlotte, Pav, Bavaroise, Mousse, entre outros nomes. O pudim ou Charlotte definido como:" um prato com inmeras maneiras de ser feito, doce ou salgado, servido frio ou quente, que pode receber inmeras denominaes."

A Charlotte um pudim criado em honra da Rainha Charlotte da Inglaterra, mulher do Rei George III, feito de pur de frutas, temperado com limo siciliano ou canela, colocado em forma redonda e sobre o qual era adicionada uma camada de biscoitos amanteigados (conhecidos como sponge fingers ou lady fingers) embebidos previamente em licor, rum ou Kirsh. A forma era levada ao forno e servido quente, aps adicionado o glace sobre o doce. A Charlotte Russa foi criada como a verso mais leve, no cozida e servida fria, que consistia no "Bavarian Cream", ou na Mousse de Chocolate, de Caf ou de Frutas, aos quais era adicionado o creme de Chantilly ou a camada de biscoitos amanteigados embebidos em licor. H verses salgadas da Charlotte Russa, feita com vegetais previamente cozidos e peixes, sempre servida fria. Charlotte Diplomata (ariao da receita da pgina 375/376 do Larousse Gastronomique) 3 claras em neve 3 colheres de sopa de acar 400 ml de leite de coco 100 gramas de coco ralado 50 grmas de gelatina incolor 1 colher de ch de manteigas derretida para untar a forma ameixas pretas em calda e/ou frutas vermelhas com gelia de frutas para decorar os pratos Bata as clara em neve e reserve. Em outro recipiente misture o acar, o leite de coco e o coco ralado, mexendo gentilmente para que o sabor seja absorvido. Derreta a gelatina em gua e aquea por 15 segundos no microondas, misturando rapidamente aos demais ingredientes e s claras em neve para evitar que a gelatina endurea prematuramente. Coloque a mistura na forma e leve para a geladeira por no mnimo 4 horas. Desenforme, enfeite com as ameixas ou frutas vermelhas e sirva fria. As fotos abaixo apresentam a verso individual e a verso com ameixas pretas.

Essa receita a base para muitas outras de pudim ou de Charlotte ou de Pav. Espero que aproveitem das receitas, dos livros e dos filmes - 3 formas de expresso artstica raramente valorizadas como deveriam.

Chapter V: Chocolate: a mystery still unsolved

I was planning to talk about French literature and movie pictures. In fact I did cook the dishes planned to this specific chapter...unfortunately, their taste was right, but the photos I took did not present them appropriately. So, although I am not Alice, the character, I had too to follow Lewis Carroll's suggestion, given in one of his books (Symbolic Logic and Games of Logic , a mathematical recreation, Dover Publications and Berkeley Enterprizes, New York, (first published in 1958)- Foreword) and put this endeavour aside for a while before trying to cook again. Symbolic logic and The game of logic;: Mathematical recreations of Lewis Carroll Search Amazon.com for lewis carroll symbolic logic After a while I concluded that I could call this little conversation a winter/spring break and talk about a lighter subject related to cooking, literature and movie pictures...the history of chocolate...Maybe I will do better after this little break. So let's wait and see... The origin of the Chocolate must be traced back to the discoveries of the Americas in 1492 - 1500, that is to say, of the Western Hemisphere. It is made from a mixture of Cocoa and sugar to which can be added milk, honney, dried fruits, liquor etc. It's main ingredient is made from Cocoa beans, a tropical tree found in the Americas 4-12 metres high (13-39 ft). Each fruit contains an average of 30 beans, rounded or flattenned in shape, grey, purplish or blueish in colour, depending on the variety. Christophoro Columbus and his crew, according to historical records, received Cocoa beverage from the Aztecs as a welcoming token at their arrival. Apparently the majority of the indigenous population of the New World believed that Cocoa beans and powder were related to one of their Gods and had the power to enhance mental abilities as well as to cure sickness, among other things. This belief turned out to be partially true due to Cocoa's effect on the production of serotonin on the brain -- one of the substances responsible for triggering the sensation of pleasure, according to scientific studies of 1980/90.

From the time of Christophoro Columbus onwards, Cocoa beans were introduced in Europe (1503), at the courts of Spain, Portugal, France, Britain, Russia as well as to the Pope to be examined and, if possible, to be improved ( at that time there was no University as we know them today. Actually the Universities were created under Pope's seal: Bologna and Paris were the two first, created between 1.100 and 1.245.). Since the Middle Ages, the tradition was to charge nuns and priests with the task of trying new ways of using a product found in the New World, which, due to its rarity and difficulty to transport to Europe, was considered an exquisite delicacy, used only to be served to Kings, Nobleman and Heads of States. They needed Church approval for usage also, and several discussions were carried out within Vatican walls over not only Cocoa itself, but several other spices and tropical products. It is known and documented ( according to Larrousse Gastronomique) a discussion over the permission to use Cocoa during fasting. Centuries went by and specific guilds in certain cities of Europe were allowed to produce and sell chocolate. Under King Louis XV of France, Chocolate rose in popularity thanks to the Royal Decree allowing its market sale, up to the amount of one cup per person. It was only in the end of the XVIIIth Century (1778) and the beginning of the XIXth Century, Chocolate Bars and Sweets started to be sold by factories in Europe: Pelletier, Menier, Cadbury, Rowntree, Suchard, Nestl, Lindt and Kohler. At the end of the XIXth Century, apart from the belief that it was good for health, there grew also the belief, spread by word of mouth, that young gentleman should give to their sweethearts a box of chocolates due to the product capacity to stimulate the sense of pleasure. If their reasonning was right, the girl would relate the sensation of pleasure to her fianc during the time conventionally allotted for them to know each other until their marriage, an average of 1 to 6 years depending on local social rules ( we are talking about the XIX Century until immediately after World War II, don't forget). Although it may be a subject controvertial in nature, I would like to mention two movie pictures inspired on Ira Levin's books which are worth of note: one of them, Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" and the other "Stepford wifes". I won't deny, I would like to talk about the scene of the "Chocolate Mousse" and try to make some remarks on the wide range of possible interpretations of this two movie pictures, as well as to foccus a little in some specific trends of literature as we talk about "Chocolate". To understand the effect of the discoveries made on the New World, spices as well fruits and food and their effect on the human body,one must understand the historical context in which they were introduced and to whom.

It all happenned at the End of the Middle Ages -- also called the Age of Darkness, due to the overwhelming struggle for political power and religious power that followed, for a thousand years, the fall of the Roman Empire. In order to rearrenge the European political map and ensure dominance over the continent, the majority of people were left in complete ignorance. Even the knowledge born from the Greco-Roman Empire was kept a secret, hidden in Monasteries and in the hand of a few. The majority did not know how to read and write and was taught at the medieval city's guilds their work by their parents. Superstitions grew over and over, out of ignorance and fear as well as out of the religious fear of the unknown devil. Kings and Religious Sects profited from this ignorance. In their struggle to

guarantee their own dominance, Church and other religious sects tried to teach their own truth, their view from right and wrong sometimes attributing to it a divine nature, even if it was questionable in nature. The Inquisition, that started in 1216a.C. , was considered the Church last resort to punish those who didn't abide by their laws. Of course this measure ensued the possibility of mass hysteria, of people trying to solve their private/personnal problems on the grounds of witchcraft, and disguise social prejudice under this rather oportunistic "mask". On the other hand, The Church in order to reinforce their own beliefs and teachings started, for instance, in Britain, to sponsor some guilds to perform "mystery (miracle) plays" about the stories of the Saints. These specific guilds were charged to write and enact those plays. In England, there are still four guilds with their whole archive documentation left entirely preserved: York; Chester; Wakefield and Hegge. Of course, as a new way, not only of entertaining, but also of teaching, the tradition that was initially born to reinforce religious beliefs took new forms and ends -- presenting from Chaucer to Shakespeare the dramas of the struggle both for power within kingdoms as well as foccusing also into folk tales such as those of "Beowulf". Mystery plays gave birth to a new kind of literary style -- Gothic Fiction. Edgar Allan Poe, Jane Austen, Bronte sisters, Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Walpole...all of them wrote essays, tales and short stories that represent this literary style. Always talking about things that people could not understand, exploring the sinister, the exoctic, the miraculous, the funny and the weird. Always talking about things that average people could not understand because of their preconceived fears, their social prejudices, their opportunistic interests or their irrationnal religious beliefs. They also gave way to another literary style, Fantasy Fiction, inspired by Shakespearean plays such as "The Tempest" and "Midsummer Night's dream" as well as by folktales and tales of wonder. This kind of literature was directed to entertain children and were of the highest quality. Authors in these specific style are JRR Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis, Jonathan Swift, among others. Could you imagine the social and religious "shock" the discoveries brought from the New World had at that time? Cocoa was sent to Europe in 1503 and was allowed to be sold in the market some three hundred years later by Royal Decree? Would you think on the costs of a new scientific discovery? What would you do to make it (your new discovery) accepted? How do you create a myth and destroy another? How do you cope with mass hysteria? How can you judge crime from social prejudice and political opportunism? Well, for me both books/movies I mentionned had a special foccus-- although some people would prefer to reinforce other angles. If you are promised, by family ties, despite or because of religious beliefs, to marry someone...or even if you marry too young someone you thought you chose; you will never really know whether he will turn into a monster or an angel, or if he will have those both sides, at the time of your marriage. There is a Brazilian Writer, Machado de Assis, who wrote in one of his books that everyone's inner beliefs and personality are bound to suffer the same effects time and weather have on the land and on the rocks. I do not like dictators nor social prejudices in general, never did.

About Stepford Wives...have you ever thought that in a sexist machoman society women are a robot doomed to nothingness? Are you ever bound by rules created to make you a "stepanything" or "stepnothing"(?): you will have always to try to fit in(?) Oh, sometimes we feel angry... Congratulations! Do you want my devilish recipe? I assure you there is no "Chalky undertaste" in it. Chocolate Mousse 600 grams of chocolate for cooking 6 egg whites 6 tablspoons of sugar Melt the Chocolate gently. Wisk the egg whites adding sugar slowly after pouring a very little bit of salt in the egg whites. Pour the melted chocolate into the egg/sugar mixture. You can add liquor to the egg whites mixture before mixing with the chocolate. .Add gelatin to put into a mold and to serve it as a Charlotte Diplomate (see photos). Minimum of four hours in the refrigerator before serving. Garnish with chantilly cream if you like

Hope you enjoy. If you want to make it only a simple mixture of chocolate, sugar and egg whites (that is, the basic recipe) it is entirely possible.

After I wrote the previous little story on Chocolate, I was still doing some research on the subject and apparently there are some controversies on its real origin. According to the Larrousse Gastronomique, the story as well as historical records leads us to believe that the Aztecs were the sole people who knew exactly about the bevereage. This fact is corroborated by a French book on the History of Nourishment from Jean-Louis Flandrin

and Massimo Montanari (Histoire de l'Alimentation- Librairie Artheme Fayard -Paris 1996). There is another book though, that states specifically: " the word Cocoa comes via Spanish cacao, which, in turn, came via the Mayas and Aztecs from a probable Olmec word Kakawa coined 3,000 years ago. Chocolate has a more complicated history. The Aztec (Nhuatl) word for cocoa water was cacahuatl, but the early spanish coined chocolate for themselves. According to historian Michael and Sophie Coe, they may have done so to distinguish the hot Maya version that they preferred from the cold Aztec one -- in the Yucatan, hot was Chocol; the Aztec name for water was atl." McGee, Harold; On Food and Cooking, Scribner, N. York, 2004 ( 1st ed 1984) That is to say that the motion picture "Chocolat" has the story right too. Well, since this was my mistake I am now in debt with you, payable through two sweet recipes/ sweet blueberry (or strawberry) Tarte and a special non-alcoolic champaign cocktail, as a transition to our next chapter. I will keep it simple, here are the recipes:

Non-alchoolic Champaign Cocktail 30-60 medium size strawberries 20 blueberries 1/3 cup sparkling water 2 5 cm thick slices of one banana 2 cherries 2 figs Ice 1 bottle/can of Guaran Antartica soda (available at Brazilian food stores) very cold In a blender pour the sparkling water and then add slowly, while blending, half the strawberries, and the blueberries. Pour a little bit ( about 1/4 of the can) of Guaran soda. Add the cherries, the figs and another 1/4 of the Guaran soda can and liquefy in the blender. Add the remaining strawberries and blueberries with the banana slices. Adjust the flavour to your taste with the remaining Guaran soda and ice. Serve cold. Tarte (blueberry or strawberry) Basic recipe for the custard

8 tblsp of all-purpose flour 75 grams of salted butter previously melted (use the microwave) 1 teaspoon of baking powder 2 egg yolks 1/ 3 cup of milk ( skimmed or whole, depending on your preferences)

Put, in the appropriate recipient, all the flour with the baking powder, and then add, mixing gently until it forms an homogeneous pastry , the melted butter. Add the milk and mix gently. Add the two egg yolks in the same way. Put the pastry in a greased oven-proof pan, cover with foil paper and put into the freezer for 30 minutes. Take it from the freezer and warm it in medium heat oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Prepare to fill in the custard with confectionners cream and strawberry/blueberry as follows.

Filling (blueberry or strawberry) Blueberry or strawberry (an average of 400 grams depending on the size of the mold) 4 cups of water ( to be increased little by little) 1 tbsp of sugar ( if the ripe fruit is not sweet enough) 1 tsp of nutmeg or cardamome or lime zest (according with your taste) Boil the fruits in water for an hour, adding the sugar and nutmeg 15 minutes before it is ready. Reserve the syrup and use the berries as filling putting it over the confectionner's cream,add a very litlle bit of the syrup. Bake in the oven at medium heat for 45 minutes or more until the custard is light brown. You can add some merengue on top or not. ( Confectionner's cream is a ready-made professionnal mixture that can be bought at specialized stores). Serve warm with the hot syrup or with ice cream.

It is worth checking out if there is a tartlet in the motion picture Cheri! At the beginning of the movie, there is a lunch where both women protagonists are having the individual version of this dish, called tartellette in French or tartlets in English. Since I am trying to

talk about French writers such as Collette and De Laclos who had their books turned into major motion pictures, it would be nice to begin presenting to you this multi-purpose recipe (shown above) .

Capitulo V Chocolate: o mistrio ainda no esclarecido

Eu estava planejando falar da literatura francesa e cinema. De fato, eu cozinhei os pratos planejados nesse captulo especfico... lamentavelmente, o sabor estava correto, mas as fotos que eu tirei no se apresentavam de maneira correta. Embora eu no seja Alice, a personagem do livro, a personagem do livro, eu tinha que seguir o Conselho de Lewis Carroll, dado em um de seus livros, e coloquei esta empreitada de lado por um tempo antes de tentar voltar a cozinhar de novo.

Talvez seja melhor procurar um tema mais leve, relacionado s Artes Culinrias...a histria do Chocolate...talvez o prato saia melhor depois desse descanso...

A origem do Chocolate deve ser retraada ao perodo anterior do descobrimento das Amricas em 1492-1500, isto , do Hemisfrio Ocidental. feito de uma mistura de cacau e de acar ao qual pode ser adicionado leite, mel, frutas secas, licor...etc.

O cacau um dos principais ingredientes do Chocolate. fruto de uma rvore tropical encontrada nas Amricas, que mede 4 a 12 metros de altura (13 a 39 ps). Cada fruto contm uma mdia de 30 sementes, de forma redonda e achatadas, acinzentada, violeta ou azulada na cor, dependendo da variedade. Cristvo Colombo e sua tripulao, de acordo com os registros histricos, recebeu a bebida do cacau dos Aztecas como um presente de boas vindas na sua chegada. Aparentemente a maioria das populaes aborgenes do Novo Mundo acreditava que as sementes de cacau e o cacau em p estavam relacionados a um de

seus deuses e tinha o poder de aumentar as habilidades mentais, bem como curar doenas, entre outras coisas. Essa crena acabou por ser parcialmente comprovada com os estudos sobre os seus efeitos sobre a serotonina do crebro uma das substncias responsveis por desencadear a sensao de prazer, de acordo com estudos dos anos 80/90.

Dos tempos de Cristvo Colombo em diante, o cacau comeou a ser introduzido na Europa (1503), absorvido pelos hbitos alimentares de Espanha, Portugal, Frana, GraBretanha e Rssia e para ser examinado pelo Papa e aprimorado (quase no havia universidades quela poca como as conhecemos, hoje. Na realidade, as universidades foram criadas com o selo Papal a partir do Sculo X: Bolonha e Paris foram criadas entre 1.100 e 1.250 d. C.). Desde a Idade Mdia, a tradio era a de incumbir a freiras e padres a tarefa de encontrar novos meios de usar os alimentos do Novo Mundo que, em razo da escassez e dificuldade de transporte para a Europa, eram considerados exticos e finos, usados somente para servir a Reis, Nobres e Chefes de Estado. Eles precisavam da aprovao da Igreja para uso tambm e muitas discusses eram levadas a cabo intramuros do Vaticano sobre o uso, no apenas do cacau, mas tambm de outros condimentos e produtos tropicais. conhecido e documentado ( de acordo com o Larousse Gastronomique) uma discusso sobre a permisso do uso do cacau durante o jejum. Sculos se passaram e guildas especficas em certas cidades da Europa receberam permisso para produzir e vender o chocolate e seus derivados.

Sob Luis XV de Frana, o chocolate cresceu em popularidade graas ao Decreto Real que possibilitou sua comercializao at o montante de 1 xcara por pessoa. Somente no final do Sculo XVIII (1778) e o comeo do Sculo XIX, barras de chocolate, bombons, trufas comearam a ser vendidos por fbricas da Europa: Pelletier; Menier; Cadbury; Rowntree; Suchard; Nestl. Lindt e kholer. Ao final do Sculo XIX, alm de ser amplamente divulgado que o produto fazia bem sade, espalhou-se a crena nos efeitos afrodisacos dos doces de chocolate. Se o raciocnio estivesse certo, facilitaria a conquista no perodo do noivado, de 1 a 6 anos, dependendo das leis sociais locais ( estamos falando do Sculo XIX e primeira metade do Sculo XX). Embora seja um tema de natureza controversa, quero mencionar dois filmes baseados nos livros de Ira Levin O Beb de Rosemary e Stepford Wives. No vou negar, gostaria de que a cena do incio do filme once comem a Mousse de Chocolate e tentar fazer algumas observaes sobre a variedade de interpretaes possveis nesses livros ao lembrar de uma delas.

Ao entender as repercusses da Descoberta do Novo Mundo, temperos e ervas, assim como frutos e alimentos e seus efeitos sobre o corpo humano, algum deve entender o contexto histrico no qual eles eram apresentados e a quem.

Tudo aconteceu na Idade Mdia tambm chamada a Idade da Escurido, em razo da luta pelo poder poltico e religioso que segui-se queda do Imprio Romano, durante mil anos. De forma a rearranjar o mapa poltico europeu e garantir a dominao da Igreja sobre o continente, a maioria das pessoas era relegada completa ignorncia. Mesmo o conhecimento nascido do Imprio Greco-romano foi mantido em segredo, escondido em Monastrios e nas mos de poucos. A maioria no sabia escrever e aprenderam seu trabalho de seus pais, por tradio oral, nas guildas medievais de cada cidade. Supersties aumentaram e espalharam-se mais e mais, em razo da ignorncia e do medo. Reis e seitas religiosas lucravam da ignorncia da populao. Em sua luta para garantir sua prpria sobrevivncia e dominncia, a Igreja e outras seitas dela derivadas tentavam ensinar sua prpria Verdade, sua concepo de certo e errado qual era atribuda natureza divina. A Inquisio, que se iniciou em 1216 d. C., foi considerada o ltimo recurso da Igreja para punir aqueles que no pautavam seu comportamento pelas leis da religio. Essa medida, claro, engendrou a possibilidade de comportamentos conhecidos por histeria em massa, de pessoal tentando resolver seus problemas pessoais, em base de acusaes de bruxaria, e mascarar o preconceito social e rixas pessoais sob essa roupagem oportunista.

Por outro lado, a Igreja, de forma a reforar suas prprias crenas e ensinamentos, comeou a patrocinar guildas a encenar peas teatrais de mistrios ( tambm chamadas de milagres) sobre as histrias de santos e da Bblia. Essas guildas especficas eram incumbidas a escrever e encenar tais peas, ou seja, possuam atores, escritores, diretores, costureiros etc. Na Inglaterra, h ainda 4 guildas cujos arquivos foram mantidos completos e preservados: York, Chester, Wakefield, Hegge. claro, como um novo meio de entreter e tambm ensinar a tradio, que foi inicialmente nascida para reforar crenas religiosas, tomou novas formas e finalidades representando, de Chaucer a Shakespeare, dramas e tragdias sobre a luta sobre poder no interior das Cortes, como tambm fbulas folclricas de todo o tipo como beowulf por exemplo.

As peas teatrais de mistrio originaram um novo tipo de estilo literrio a literatura gtica. Edgar Allan Poe, Jane Austen, Irms Bront, Arthur Connan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens...todos escreiam ensaios, peas e contos que representavam esse estilo literrio. Sempre falando sobre coisas que as pessoas comuns no conseguiam entender, explorando o sinistro, o extico, o mgico, o sobrenatural, o miraculoso, o engraado e o

estranho. Abordavam temas que a maioria das pessoas no conseguia entender, em razo dos seus medos e preconceitos sociais, raciais e religiosos, seus interesses imediatos e oportunistas ou suas crenas irracionais. Esse estilo originou outro modelo literrio a Fico de Fantasia, inspirada nas peas de Shakespeare como a Tempestade e Sonhos de uma noite de vero, assim como laudas folclricas e lendas de maravilhamento. Esse tipo de literatura foi dirigida a entreter crianas e era de acentuada qualidade. Autores representativos dessa corrente so Jonathan Swift, Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis, JRR Tolkien,.

Voc pode imaginar o choque social cultural e religioso provocado pela descoberta do Novo Mundo teve naquele tempo? O cacau foi enviado para a Europa em 1503 e passou a ser vendido no mercado 300 anos depois por Decreto Real...voc pensaria nos custos de um novo descobrimento cientfico? O que voc faria para conseguir que seu novo descobrimento fosse aceito muito mais rpido? Como voc cria um mito e destri o outro? Como voc lida com a histeria em massa? Como voc pode diferenciar o que crime do que preconceito social e/ou oportunismo poltico?

Bem, para mim, tanto os livros de Ira Levin quanto os filmes que originaram tinham um tema especial embora algumas pessoas prefiram enfatizar outros ngulos. Se uma moa prometida em casamento para algum, em razo de acordos familiares, apesar de, ou em razo de crenas religiosas...ou mesmo assim, se uma pessoa se casa muito cedo com algum que voc escolheu, voc jamais saber, no momento da cerimnia, se ele se transformar num anjo/santo ou num monstro, ou se ter esses dois lados em sua personalidade. O escritor brasileiro, Machado de Assis, que escreveu em um de seus livros que as crenas, ideais e personalidade do ser humano tender sofrer os mesmos efeitos que o tempo, o vento e a gua tm sobre o solo e a terra : eroso. Eu no gosto de ditadores, nunca gostei...

Sobre o filme Stepford Wives... voc j pensou o que em uma sociedade sexista/machista as mulheres so vistas como robs fadados ao nada? Voc j foi cerceada por leis sociais para fazer de voc uma forma ou uma massa amorfa para ser modelada aos caprichos de outra pessoa? Voc tem que sempre ceder e acomodar-se s maneiras que obrigam-lhe os outros?

Parabns! Benvindo ao inferno. Apresento-lhe minha diablica receita, sem o gusto de giz nela.

Mousse de Chocolate 600 grm chocolate apropriado para ser derretido para doces 6 claras batidas em neve 6 colheres de acar

Derreta o chocolate lentamente em Banho-maria. Bata as claras em neve, coloque uma pitada de sal e adicione o acar lentamente. Pode-se colocar 1 dose de licor de nozes s claras em neve antes de mistur-las ao chocolate derretido. Caso deseje que a mousse tenha o formato de uma Charlotte, coloque 50 grm de gelatina incolor conforme as instrues de cozimento da gelatina e deite numa forma untada. Deixe por 4 horas na geladeira antes de servir. Adorne com creme de Chantilly

Uma ltima nota a respeito do Chocolate sobre as controvrsias de sua origem. Segundo o Larousse gastronomique, a histria e a documentao nos levam a crer que os Aztecas eram as nicas pessoas que sabiam usar a bebida. Esse fato corroborado pela Histria da alimentao de Jean-Flandrin e Massimo Montari de 1996. H outro livro que atesta que o cacau era conhecido por outro povo indgena os Mayas, que preferiam beb-lo quente ao invs de frio, como os Aztecas (Harold, McGee;On Food and Cooking, Scribner, N.York, 2004). Esses dados confirmam a histria do filme Chocolat Duas receitas de bnus

Cocktail de guaran champagne 30-60 morangos 20 mirtilos 1/ xcaras de gua mineral com gs 2 pedaos de 5cm de banana 2 cherries 1 figo Gelo picado 1 garrafa de 400ml ou uma lata de guaran

Num liquidificador coloque a gua gasosa, as frutas e 1/ da garrafa de guaran. Liquidifique. Coloque o gelo picado e o restante do guaran, misture e sirva.

Torta de Mirtilo ou Morango (massa bsica) 8 colheres de ch de farinha de trigo 75 grms de manteiga com sal derretida 1 colher de ch de fermento 2 gemas 1/ de xcara de ch de leite em temperatura ambiente

Numa forma de vidro refratrio despeje a farinha de trigo com o fermento e ento adicione, mexendo lentamente o restante dos ingredientes. Coloque numa forma de torta untada e cubra com papel laminado e congele por trinta minutos. Tire do congelador e aquea em forno mdio por 10 a 15 minutos. Recheie com creme de confeiteiro (opcional) e o recheio transcrito abaixo.

Recheio de morango ou mirtilo 400 grms de mirtilo ou morango 4 xcaras de gua (adicionada aos poucos) 1 colher de acar 1 colher de ch de noz-moscada, cardamoma ou casca de limo siciliano

Ferva as frutas em gua por 1 hora, colocando o acar e a noz-moscada (ou a cardamoma ou a casca de limo siciliano) 15 minutos antes de terminar o tempo da fervura. Separe o xarope dos frutos. Deite os frutos sobre o creme de confeiteiro. Coloque um pouco do xarope sobre a torta e leve ao forno mdio por 40-45 minutos, at a massa ficar levemente dourada. Use o xarope durante o cozimento para no ressecar o recheio (Faa o merengue caso desejar)

Vale a pena ver o mais recente filme de Stephen Frears Cheri e procurar a verso individual dessa receita conhecida em francs como tartellette ou ingls tartlets . Como o prximo tema outro filme de Frears e os escritores franceses, acho que seria interessante essa receita de transio para todo o tipo de tortas doces.

Chapter VI Lost Illusions in French Style: Wild game and meat

I believe there are, for the case of the French, two corresponding books/motion pictures that foccus on the subject of these same subtle cultural message we find in Lewis Carroll and Edith Wharton. In French Literature, social subtelties were the issue for a thousand and two writers that had a thousand and two different ways of perceiving them. One of them, centered on the same century of "Alice in Wonderland" and of "The Age of Innocence" is the nowadays Classic Vincent Minelli's "Gigi", inspired on a book by Gabrielle Collette, the same author, by the way, of Stephen Frears "Cheri". Collette's main subject in the three books is the famous "Belle poque" and the way women, as courtisans, managed to survive...they were, in fact, a remanescent "class" from the Aristocratic society born under the auspices of Kings and Queens, especially after Louis XIV. Several aspects of the French culture of the End of the XIX Century and the beginning of the XX Century ( pre-first World War period) were presented in those two motion pictures based on Collette's work. Some of those stories are centered in legendary places and characters and are very interesting to tell: the story of Maxim's, the restaurant, for instance. The story told by the book/motion picture "Gigi" is one of the famous legends that happenned at Maxim's. Of course, people can sometimes add the question mark that always follows these legends: where is the boundary between truth and fantasy? This is an old question on the process of constructing a Myth - the quality of truth and the quality of fantasy. Well, at this point it is difficult to know the difference between exact facts, from fiction in the XIX Century, so let's let Historians deal with these considerations. Maxim's was a restaurant that openned in 1893 at Rue Royale, in Paris, thanks to the sponsorship of a butcher, a champaign Merchant and a beverage unionist. The restaurant began to be famous in Parisian Society after 1895, when the friends of a snobbish sugarcan industrialist, of unknown nationality, turned the restaurant into an exclusive place for millionnaires, princes and artists (especially opera singers). For decades Maxim's has been the symbol of Parisian life and some of Maxim's dishes are famous until today: Lamb Belle Otero, Souffle Rothschild and Fillets de Sole Albert. It is not at all strange when you notice that there are similarities between the motion picture "Gigi" and the story of the restaurant itself. There is an optimistic aspect the motion picture "Gigi" conveys: there is hope for little girls after all! Gigi is brought up and educated in a rather eccentric way that could

enable her to try to find a "happy ending" to her life by herself. Gigi learns the importance of not being fooled by others, even when they want to cause a huge impression by their circunstancial advantages. One of the scenes I like the most is the Ortolan scene: every XIX Century French Gourmet has a special fondness for "wild games" such as ortolan, thrush, partridges and quails that were considered an exquisite delicacy at that time and very fashionable. Gigi had to learn what it is, the way to eat and cook it, as well as some specifics of the dish. The same reasonning came along in products like wine, paintings, jewelry, cigars music...and people, of course. "Gigi" is a motion picture released during the 50's, at a time that people tried to reinforce the belief that "every little girl is born a princess", which was necessary to diminish the imbalance brought about by the two World Wars - a war based on the fight for power using racial differences as a means for creating conflict. The majority of movies and the animated motion pictures of that decade had embedded in them the psicological message designed to boost the "Baby Boomers" new Era - the war was too fresh in everyones minds and everybody needed a way to overcome it. The approach taken on Collette's other books, that is "Cheri" and "La Fin de Cheri", which inspired the Stephen Frears motion picture "Cheri" is, of course, completely different, and, for some, "more realistic". Somehow it has the same disenchanted flavour of his "Dangerous Liasons" - another Masterpiece as a book as well as a motion picture. This side of disenchantment is never less important than the enchantment of someone pursuing one's own dreams. Somehow it seems that for all writers that it is easier and more interesting to talk about unhappiness and the struggle to find happiness than to talk about bliss itself - everyone has a "Marquis De Sade" side and people do explore this side in everyone. That is why the scene in "Dangerous Liaisons" when the protagonists eat for lunch "Lamb Crown Roast" is so ironically becoming. It makes me wonder whether it is true or not that they take care not only of the ensemble, but also of every tiny detail ( as in a Seurat painting) in this form of Art such as film (motion pictures) - it depends of course on the subject, the Director and the producers, I guess.

Take a deep breath, and let's start the recipe with a few quick remarks. I chose the Crown Roast, because it could be made with Lamb or Pork. It is a recipe that takes about five to six hours to prepare (including cooking time) . When it is made with Lamb, you have to consider that the meat is of better quality and has to be cooked slowly. I recommend the book "On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee for specifics, such as temperature, type of Meat and other considerations. I made my Crown Roast with Pork simply because I couldn' t find the Lamb in the market. I had to take the photos, so I had to cook the recipe, believe me!

Crown Roast (Lamb or Pork) Pork ribs (or Lamb ribs) whole 7-8 Gala Apples

2 tablets of salted butter ( 4 tablets if you are buying Land O' Lake - I am using the French measure) 75 grms of dryied Funghi Porcini 30 pearl onions 1 kg of sugar Almonds to taste 2 Limes bayleef powder 1 tsp of Dijon Mustard salt pepper (optional) Parsley and Chives to Garnish

Take the Pork ribs and tie it up, in order to form a crown shape with it, as in the picture. Salt it using a Kitchen brush and add some bayleaves powder using the brush. Cover with foil paper and reserve while you prepare the apple pure mixture. Bring to boil, in a pan, 1/ to 1 litre of water and the apples cut in slices. Add to the apples and water the juice of one lime and lime zest. Add water to maintain the level of water for more than half the pan. Let the apples boil until golden brown adding 1 tbsp of sugar 15 minutes before ready. Take the apple slices and pure in a blender. Reserve the apple water to be used during the crown cooking. Put the pearl onions to boil in order to peel them easily. Cook them for 30 to 45 minutes. Take them from the water, peel them and add to the pure, blending as well. Melt slowly, in low heat, 25 grm of butter. Cook, adding 1/ cup of water, about 50 grm of Funghi Porcini. Add 1 tbsp of sugar, let it cook until it forms a slightly brown sauce. Add to the mixture 1 tsp of Dijon Mustard. Cook for five minutes. Pour over it the apple pure with the apple onions, the almonds and mix until the color is even, slightly golden (takes 5 minutes maximum). Pour the apple pure mixture inside the crown, as if it was a stuffing. Cover with foil paper and let it cook in a medium to low heat oven for 3 to 4 1/ hours. Note: You will have to check the roast crown each 20 minutes until thoroughly cooked. Each checking time you will have to brush the meat with the sauce from the bottom of the pan as well as add a hot sauce made from the apple water, butter and sugar (previously cooked in a pan).

When ready add some garnish. Use the sauce that remains in the bottom of the cooking pan as a sauce, you can enrich it with some whole flour (add the flour little by little and mix gently while cooking).

Hope you have time to try this recipe as well as enjoy the result. Well, this recipe was not everything I had to say in this chapter. My main theme is Food, Cooking, Literature and Motion Pictures and some sub-themes such as table manners, science, mathematics, chemistry, history, "alchemy and sorcery " ( which are old words for modern science!) and Art in general ( which sometimes is a new word for science). I confess I do not know everything about everything, so give me a break and let's consider this blog as some hints on one point of view about a interconnected issue. Please, do not take me as a know-it-all person, that is not true....

In a way, the story of Maxim's and the Belle Epoque represented the peak of an Era of discoveries which began around the time when "Dangerous Liaisons" was written. It was "le couronnement" , as the French says, of a concept of "civilization" which entailed several other notions such as "savoir vivre" and "citoyen du monde" all of them related to the Aristocracy. Since we are talking about "cuisine" (French for gourmet cooking), what I am trying to say is that knowledge on the matter seemed to had attained its peak. Had it? Some Historians believe so... By 1500-1580 a. C. the whole world -that was really round- was discovered and divided between Portugal and Spain; Royalty and the Church promoted,

among other things, the strange endeavour of discovering the usage of several new products, such as Cocoa (something that was my subject in the last two chapters), Coffee, Sugar from sugarcanne, etc... That is the chemistry of Cooking, the Alchemy (the root of the word comes from the Arabic and the Greek its usage may be different from the orthodox meaning of "transmutation of metals into Gold"- Oxford dictionnary of etymology) containned in what you cook, the way of cooking something that you will eat or drink. There is a History series in 5 volumes by Georges Duby and Phillipe Aris "Histoire de La Vie Prive" that can enlighten us in this subject. In fact, during the XV-XVIIth Centuries, the Church itself sponsored experimentations based not only on previous knowledge, they were really trying to discover new ways of using new and known products and their effect on human body and mind. As a result some overusage of products followed. Excessive mixture of spices, strange cooking techniques ocurred. One of those excesses that were well documented was the Feasts of Georges Neuvile, the Archbishop of York under Edward IV (1466-1467). After a period of unusual exaggeration, a more sensible phase followed suit. The improvement of printing methods helped disseminate knowledge. Nevertheless, the sponsorship of the King remained a key factor to cooks as well as other artists to their own improvement. Under Louis XIV, "le Roi Soleil", responsible for the construction of Versailles, this was more evident. The Moulin de Javel, a restaurant that openned in 1688 at the plain of Greville, under Louis XIV, was one good example. The celebrated and fashionable restaurant inspired Dancourt to write a comedy "Le Moulin de Javelle" in 1696. Another example, worth mentionning, is that of Mignot, a celebrated Parisian restaurateur of the XVIIth Century that was immortalized by Boileau's Le Repas Ridicule where he was portrayed as a poison-maker. Mignot complained to the King, but his revenge was to sell his already famous cookies wrapped in paper upon which he had ordered the printing of a satire on Boileau, written by Abb Cottin. Mignot's vengeance added a special spicy flavour to his biscuits and was partially responsible for their success.This episode was re-enacted in the motion picture Cyrano de Bergerac, with Gerard Depardieu. Franois Marin was a very important XVIII Century French Chef that published in 1739 the final word in the Art of Cooking under the title "Les Don des Connus ou Les Dlices de la Table" that, with the blessings of two Jesuit Priests translated the key to Cooking as an Art:"Modern Cookery, although established on the foundations of the older cuisine, requires less fuss and less equipment, but is just as varied and is simpler, cleanner, and perhaps more scholarly ...The science of the Chef consists... of blending flavours of different meats to achieve a harmonious result."(cited from Larousse Gastronomique corroborated by LHistoire de lAlimentation). This final word on cooking endured for centuries in the minds of French Chefs, a fundamental principle which makes cooking the Art of creating a new combination of flavours rather than simply using spices to flavour a dish. Restaurants et restaurateurs gathered Artists, Writers and Politicians during the XVIIIth Century. One of them was Mre Sagnet, that openned in 1784 at Montparnasse and

was originally known as "Le Moulin de La Grande-Pinte" and where the writers from the literary Romantic movement where gathered by invitation of Abel Hugo, Victor Hugo's brother: people like Musset, Delacroix, Dumas and Balzac, among others. This places were also the landscape for several of their books and novels as well as a millieu where they could discuss their ideas. On a darker side, Mot, founded in 1791 at Rue des Valois attracted mostly politicians of the French Revolution, such as Robespierre, Saint-Juste, Desmoulins and Fouquier and was the place where Marie Antoinette was condemned to the Guilliotine. Mot was closed in 1847. The Caf Mille-Colonnes, that openned at the Palais-Royale in 1807 was known by its proprietress beauty. Mme Romain was nicknamed "La Belle Limonadire". The restaurants ran by women used to be called Mres Lyonnaises and were also fashionable during the XIX Century onwards, they were small restaurants called bouchons. It seems that the last of the Mere Lyonnaises died in 1981, according to known records. La Maison Dore was a restaurant at the Boulevard des Italiens which was founded in 1840 and was mentionned in several novels written by Balzac and Zola (Nana, for example) under the name of Maison d'Or. The restaurant was one of those that became fashionable on the account of their celebrities customers, Artists, Writers and Politicians of their Era. Its decline began in 1870. Magny was also a popular restaurant at Rue Mazet that was founded 1842 and attracted the so-called "Monday-Club dinners" with Goncourt, Gavarin, Saint-Beuve, George Sand, Theophile Gautier, Flaubert, etc. It was closed in 1877. In terms of strange annedoctes, there is the one about Balzac and the Marzipan Patisserie. It is said that Balzac was fond of Marzipan sweetmeats that were included in his novel La Rabouilleuse. At that time and because of the book, there was a rumour that Balzac was the owner of the "Patisserie" specialized in Marzipans that openned at the Rue Du Viviene in Paris. He was never seen at that Patisserie, though . Another French celebrity worth mentionning is M. Toulouse Lautrec. He was fond of Gourmet Cooking, besides from being a Painter. He wrote, legend says, two books: one of Cooking and the other one on Cocktails of two types, which were very fashionable during the Belle Epoque, the greenish and the redish. Frankly, I wish I had Lautrec's Cooking and Beverage books. Unfortunately, until now I have never laid eyes on them. The issue of "Wild Games" is not over yet, but it is not now that I will talk about it( see the Bonus Features). Hope you will enjoy this specific story and return next time!
Post Scriptum :Trick me dearly

Again, I made a slight mistake in my research. The book I was using as a guide to some of my remarks is the Larousse Gastronomique. It states that the "Maxim's" mentionned in Colette's books was closed in 1951. When you research through the internet you are able to find a Maxim's de Paris at 3 Rue Royale. At this point I am not able to solve

this intriguing silent question that obviously keep returning to my mind. So, for the sake of trying to be as close to real history as possible, when speaking about facts and fiction, I decided to leave this question into the open. Note that, according to the books I am using, this historical culinary tour is worth knowing. Who would refuse a trip to Paris or to Yorkshire? Wouldn't you like to know Montparnasse, Quartier Latin. the Museums as well as the places all those strange writers met, worked, and lived? Currently I am trying to add a link to two tour maps at google maps/ google earth, you can make your own restaurant tour guide. Well, as a punishment for my fabulous mistake, I guess I owe you another extra recipe. There you go, a sample of my halloween tropical non-alcoholic cocktail. Halloween Tropical (inspired in the French dish called "Surprise") 2 cups of coconut water 1 japanese watermelon 30 seedless grapes 1 lime 1 fig 1 strawberry Carve the japanese watermelon gently and put the content in a blender. Add the other ingredients, except for the strawberry and blend well. Sculpt a face in the watermelon and serve with tiny icecubes. (If you want a sparkling flavour, add sparkling water and/or Guaran Soda,after blending and mix very gently).

Captulo VI Iluses perdidas no estilo francs: caas e carnes

Acredito que existem, no caso dos franceses, dois autores cujos livros geraram filmes centrados no mesmo tema tratado por Lewis Carroll e Edith Wharton, visto da perspectiva francesa. Na literatura francesa, as sutilezas da vida em sociedade tambm eram objeto de mil e dois autores que as abordavam de mil e duas maneiras diferentes. Um desses escritores, na verdade uma escritora - Gabrielle Collette-, contempornea de Lewis Carroll e Edith Wharton, escreveu livros que geraram filmes: o clssico de Vincent Minelli "Gigi" e o recente filme de Stephen Frears "Cheri". Nos trs livros de Collette, a vida parisiense centra-se em algumas caractersticas da famosa "Belle poque", em especial como as cortess conseguiam sobreviver na Frana...elas eram, de fato, um segmento social remanescente da sociedade aristocrtica nascida sob os auspcios de Reis e Rainhas, que ganharam fama especialmente aps Luis XIV, o Rei Sol. Muitos aspectos da cultura francesa do perodo pr-1 Guerra Mundial ( fim do Sec XIXincio de Sec. XX) foram apresentados nesses dois filmes, que realam lugares famosos e personagens lendrios da sociedade parisiense: a histria do Maxim's e de seus frequentadores, por exemplo. O filme "Gigi" nada mais do que uma referncia a um dos mais importantes frequentadores do Maxim's. Claro que difcil, s vezes, distinguir as fronteiras entre o romance e a realidade, os fatos e a fico, a fantasia e a realidade. Essa questo antiga, relacionada com a qualidade da Verdade e da Fico e diretamente ligada construo do Mito. Um sculo depois do ocorrido em Paris, creio que melhor deixar aos historiadores a pesquisa dos fatos histricos. Fiquemos, ento, com os livros e os filmes. Maxim's era um famoso restaurante, fundado em 1893, na Rue Royale, Paris, graas sociedade entre um dono de um aougue, um comerciante de Champagne e o representante dos produtores de vinho. O restaurante comeou a ficar famoso depois de 1895, quando um industrial do acar, de nacionalidade desconhecida, comeou a reunir-se no Maxim's com seus amigos, tornando-o famoso por ser frequentado por milionrios, Prncipes e Artistas, um dos smbolos da cidade, com pratos como Carneiro Belle Otero, Souffl Rothschild, Fil de Linguado Albert. Vale conferir as semelhanas entre o filme "Gigi" e a histria do restaurante Maxim's. O filme dirigido por Vincent Minelli apresenta um lado otimista para as moas, dentro da concepo de que "toda a menina nasce uma princesa", mesmo recebendo uma educao pouco convencional, h possibilidade de se chegar ao famoso "Final Feliz", to caro aos defensores do "boom" populacional dos anos '50. Gigi descobre meios de no ser ludibriada pelas aparncias. Uma das cenas de que mais gosto a da Hortulana: todo o "gourmet" poca tinha preferncia especial por caa: hortulanas, perdizes, cadornas ...etc, modismo considerado um sofisticado privilgio. Gigi tinha que descobrir no apenas como identificar e comer a hortulana, mas como deveria ser cozida. Da mesma maneira. tinha que

entender/reconhecer os detalhes da vida parisiense: Artes em todas as sua expresses, modas de todo o tipo. "Cheri", de Stephen Frears, por sua vez, aborda o terico ocaso da sociedade parisiense da "Belle poque" representada pelos frequentadores do Maxim's e transmite o tema de forma mais realista. De certa forma, nesse filme transparece o mesmo tom desencantado que o diretor imprimiu ao seu "Ligaes Perigosas"- inspirado no livro de De Laclos. Aparentemente, explora-se a faceta dos que acreditam que o desencanto e o sofrimento seriam temas muito mais interessantes do que o seu oposto, crena oriunda, talvez, de alguns poetas de linha romntica, como o ingls Lorde Byron. A cena que considero representativa desse esprito a do almoo onde servida a "Coroa de Carneiro", prato ironicamente adequado para a situao dos personagens. Os trs filmes comprovam a crena de que, como numa pintura de Seurat, alguns filmes so cuidados desde o mais simples detalhe para formar um conjunto coerente - dependendo de Diretor, Produtor, Artistas, Roteiristas e tema central, creio. Respire fundo, pois escolhi a "Coroa" que pode ser de carneiro ou de porco e leva 5 a 6 horas de preparo (incluindo tempo de cozimento). Como tenho sempre de fazer as receitas e tirar as fotos, fiz coroa de porco, pois no havia carneiro no mercado. Aqui est a receita: Coroa de Porco ( ou de carneiro) 1 pea inteira de Costelas de Porco (ou carneiro) 7-8 mas tipo Gala 2 tabletes de manteiga com sal 75 grms de Funghi Porcini seco 30 cebolas prola 1 kg de acar Amndoas em Lminas ( gosto) 2 limes sicilianos Folhas de louro em p 1 colher de ch de Mostarda de Dijon Sal Pimenta do reino (opcional) Salsa e cebolinha ( opcional e/ou para guarnio)

Pegue as costeletas de porco (ou carneiro) e as amarre com barbante prprio para cozimento, formando uma coroa como na foto. Pincele a coroa com sal e as folhas de louro em p. Cubra com papel laminado e reserve, enqunato prepara o pure de ma.

Numa panela com 1 litro e meio de gua, asse as mas cortadas em fatias. Adicione o suco de 1 limo e algumas raspas da casca. As mas estaro prontas quando douradas e ligeiramente transparentes. coloque uma colher de acar e deixe cozinhar por mais 15 minutos. Retire as mas da gua (que deve ser reservada para uso posterior) e misture-as no liquidificador at a consistencia de pure. Cozinhe as cebolas em gua fervente, para tirar a sua casca, por 30-45 minutos. Retire as cebolas do fogo, tire a casca e a parte externa e adicione-as ao pure no liquidificador Derreta 25 grm de manteiga numa panela, coloque 1/3 de xcara de gua e 50 grm do cogumelo seco. Adicione 1 colher de ch de acar e deixe cozinhar, mexendo sempre, at ficar levemente castanho. Adicione a Mostarda e misture. Com a panela ainda no fogo baixo, depeje o pure sobre o cogumelos e misture at dourar adicionando as amendoas aos poucos. Coloque o pure no interior da Coroa e cubra-a com papel laminado. Leve ao forno por trs ou quatro horas e 1/ em temperatura mdia. Nota: Voc ter que pincelar a coroa a cada 15/20 minutos at totalmente cozidas com uma mistura feita a partir da gua reservada das mas, manteiga e acar, que deve ser dourada ao fogo antes de ser usada para pincelar. Dever igualmente, retirar o molho do fundo da travessa em que a coroa est sendo cozida e pincel-lo sobre a carne.

Espero que voc tenha a coragem e o tempo de fazer esta receita e que o resultado seja satisfatrio. Bem, isso no tudo o que eu tinha a dizer sobre o tema. Estou falando de trs assuntos conexos Cozinha, Lietratura e Cinema e seus sub-temas como boas maneoras mesa, cincias, matemtica, qumica, histria, a famosa "alquimia" (antiga designao de cincia) e Arte em geral ( nova designao de cincia, talvez?) Confesso que no sei tudo sobre todos os assuntos, mas bom encarar este livro como a verbalizao de um ponto de vista sobre determinado tema. No sou uma sabe-tudo, apenas vejo alguns aspectos relacionados ao cinema e literatura....e envio algumas receitas...que podem ser deliciosas... Ento, voltemos histria por trs da Histria: o Maxim's e a Belle poque representam o auge de uma Era de descobertas - cientficas, mas tambm na rea da Arte Culinria - que se iniciou no perodo em que o livro "Ligaes Perigosas" foi escrito. Era o coroamento de um conceito de civilizao que gerou uma srie de noes como "savoir vivre" e "citoyen

du monde", todos eles ligados Aristocracia e burguesia nascente, consequncia da permisso de uso e da disseminao do conhecimento sobre sua utilizao dos produtos oriundos da poca dos descobrimentos. Se estamos falando de "Cuisine" (do francs para designar Arte Culinria, do ingls "Gourmet Cooking"), e necessrio lembrar que alguns historiadores consideram que tinhase realmente chegado ao pice nesse tema. Entre 1500-1580 d.C. o mundo conhecido - que j era redondo e no plano- estava sendo descoberto pelos Europeus e dividido entre Portugal e Espanha. Reis e a Igreja de Roma determinaram, entre outras coisas, a estranha empreitada de analisar e descobrir novas utilidades para os produtos descobertos: tanto as conhecidas especiarias provenientes de Constantinopla, quanto os novos produtos como cacau, milho, acar de cana, baunilha...etc. Assim, a qumica-fsica da Arte Culinria, a Alquimia ( a raiz da palavra de origem rabe e grega e seu uso inicial poderia no ser poderia ser diverso de seu significado atual "transformar o metal em ouro" - dicionrio Oxford de Etimologia) existente no que se cozinha, se come e se bebe passou a ser estudada sob os auspcios do Papa e dos Reis. Existe uma srie de cinco volumes, editada pelos historiadores Georges Duby e Phillipe Aris, que poderia at esclarecer um pouco mais os interessados nesse assunto. Obviamente, tais pesquisas geraram certos abusos no uso de tais produtos. Um dos exemplos desses exageros que foi muito bem documentado foram as festas organizadas pelo Arcebispo de York, Georges de Neuville, sob o Rei Eduardo IV (1466-1467). Depois do perodo de exageros, seguiu-se uma fase de uso mais razovel dos mtodos e dos condimentos. O aprimoramento de mtodos de impresso, reproduo e de disseminao do conhecimento por escrito auxiliou a consolidao das descobertas. No obstante, Reis e o Papa continuavam a exercer o papel de fator-chave em termos de patrocnio e auxlio a especialistas em Arte Culinria como aos demais artistas. A partir de Luis XIV, o Rei Sol, responsvel pela construao de Versailles, esse papel tornou-se mais evidente. O "Moulin de Javel", um restaurante que abriu em Greville, em 1688, no caminho para o Canal da Mancha um exemplo que merece referncia. O restaurante originou a comdia de Dancourt "le Moulin de Javelle", de 1696. Outro exemplo que merece ser lembrado o de Mignot, renomado cozinheiro de parisiense do Sec XVII, imortalizado por Boileau no seu "Repas Ridicule", onde foi chamado de "fabricante de venenos". Mignot foi ao Rei solicitando uma reparao, mas sua mais perfeita vingana foi vender seu j popular biscoito embrulhado em papel onde havia impressas stiras contra Boileau encomendadas por Mignot ao escritor Abb Cottin. A vingana de Mignot, apimentada pelas stiras, apenas aumentou seu sucesso e lucro. Referncia ao episdio aparece no filme "Cyrano de Bergerac", com Gerard Depardieu. Franois Marin foi um chefe de cozinha que, em 1739, escreveu o que foi considerado a ltima palavra em termos de Arte Culinria em seu livro "Les Dons des Connus ou Les Dlices de la Table": "A Arte Culinria moderna, embora estabelecida nos pilares da antiga, requer menos complicao e menos equipamento, mas to mais variada e simples e limpa e talvez mais cientfica...A cincia dos Chefes consiste...em misturar

sabores s diferentes carnes para obter um resultado harmnico" ( citado do Larrousse Gastronomique e corroborado pelo "Histria da Alimentaao") Essa afirmao sobre Arte Culinria foi considerada, nos sculos seguintes, como um dos princpios fundacionais do que faz a Arte Culinria a Arte de criar uma nova combinao de sabores e aromas do que simplesmente o uso de condimentos para dar sabor a um prato. Restaurantes e Chefs de Cozinha reuniam em seus estabelecimentos Artistas, Escritores e polticos no Sec XVIII e XIX . Um deles, o Mre Sagnet, em Montparnasse, aberto em 1794, conhecido como "Le Moulin de La Grande-Pinte", onde amigos de Abel Hugo, irmo de Victor Hugo reuniam-se: Musset, Delacroix, Dumas e Balzac, entre outros. Esses lugares serviram de cenrios para seus romances e livros e o lugar onde podiam trocar idias sobre conceitos diferentes de expressao artstica. O Mot, restaurante localizado na Rue des Valois e fundado em 1791, era frequentado por polticos da Revoluo Francesa: Robespierre, Saint-Juste, Desmoulins e Fouquier e foi o cenrio no qual a condenao de Maria Antonieta morte na Guilhotina foi decidida. Mot fechou em 1847. O Caf des Milles-Colonnes, que abriu no Palais-Royale em 1807, ficou conhecido pela beleza de sua proprietria, denominada "La Belle Limonadire". Os restaurantes dirigidos por mulheres, conhecidas como Mres Lyonnaises, eram pequenos estabelecimentos chamados "bouchons" muito em voga no Sec. XIX. A ltima das Mres Lyonnaises morreu em 1981, segundo relatos conhecidos. A Maison Dore era um restaurante no Boulevard des Italiens, fundado em 1840, mencionado em inmeros romances de Balzac e Zola ( Nana, por exemplo) sob o nome de Maison D'Or. Era frequentado por inmeros artistas e comeou a decair em 1870. Magny, um restaurante da Rue Mazet, fundado em 1842, era palco do chamado "Club dos jantares de segunda-feira", do qual participavam Goncourt, Gavarin, Saint-beuve, George Sand, Theophile Gautier e Flaubert, entre outros. O restaurante fechou em 1877. No campo das curiosidades, vale mencionar a histria da Confeitaria de marzipans. Diziase que Balzac tinha especial preferncia por Marzipans feitos de uma maneira especial, por um convento na Itlia, e incluiu o prato no livro "La Rabouilleuse". poca, e por causa do livro, abriu em Paris uma confeitaria que vendia o marzipan feito da mesma forma como era a preferencia de Balzac. Rumores corriam pela cidade que Balzac seria dono da Confeitaria que vivia apinhada de gente. No conseguiram, porm, confirmar se Balzac era o dono da loja, onde nunca foi visto. Outra celebridade francesa que dedicou-se, alm da Pintura, s Artes Culinrias, foi M. Toulouse Lautrec. Segundo relatos, publicou um livro com 100 (cem ) receitas e outro sobre bebidas e coquetis, os quais ilustrou. Esses dois livros que esto entre aqueles que ainda no consegui encontrar. Voltarei ao tema de caas e carnes depois. Houve um erro na minha pesquisa, pois encontrei informaes contraditrias sobre o Maxim's: h relatos de que o restaurante fechou em 1951, no obstante, atravs do Google Maps achei o Maxim's de Paris na Rue Royale n 3, juntamente com o endereo do Museu do Art Nouveau. Como no tenho como confirmar as informaoes a esse respeito, por exemplo sobre o que houve em 1951 e

quando o museu foi inaugurado, a questo fica em aberto. Fiz mesmo dois Tours Culinarios virtuais para serem acessados pelo Google Maps/Google Earth, sobre os lugares que menciono aqui. O link, infelizmente, no est funcionando no momento. Assim, para me desculpar pela informao que falta deixo aqui uma sugesto de bebida no-alcolica, como verso tropical do Halloween, inspirada num prato francs chamado "Surprise". Halloween Tropical 2 xcaras de gua de coco 1 melancia japonesa 30 uvas rosas sem caroo 1 limo siciliano 1 figo 1 morango

Retire o contedo da melancia japonesa, usando a faca apropriada, e coloque-o no liquidificador. Adicione os demais ingredientes, exceto o morango e liquefaa-os. Esculpa uma face na melancia usando os ingredientes que utilizou na bebida ( exceto pela gua de coco, claro): o limo, a uva, o figo e o morango. Despeje o liquido dentro da melancia.Sirva com gelo. ( Se quiser use 2 copos de gua com gs, depois de misturar tudo no liquidificador para dar a impresso de refrigerante)

Chapter VII Born a Princess; Born a King: kindle a candle and we glow
Could you imagine that Halloween will be in a month and a half or so? What are we going to talk about in this chapter, then, during Halloween Month? Sorcery, of course...but we are not going back to the middle ages (the dark ages)...we are going to talk about sorcery in the XIXth Century, under the British Empire, or else, the night after the thousand and one nights. I know that it may seem that we are stuck in the same century, but it is not true, believe me! Try to refresh your historical memory, that is, if you like to read history... Two writers should be mentionned in this chapter: Thackeray and Burnnet . Thackeray wrote one fabulous children's book, according to the Oxford Companion of English Literature, and was a writer of adult themes. His novels were turned into motion pictures such as Kubric's "Barry Lyndon" and the more recent "Vanity Fair". Burnnet was one of those writers specialized in children's books and has three books that were chosen by the motion picture industry as good for the screen: The Little Lord Fauntleroy, the Secret Garden and The Little Princess. These writers were emphasizing other issues also, that I would like to stress in this chapter. One of them is the way they were presenting the time they were living under the British Empire: wars for trade and knowledge to guarantee to the newborn capitalism its survival. India and China, or else the far east, were very important to textile industry: silk, linnen, cotton, as well as the ways they were manufactured and dyed. There were much more to learn in these places, though: their folk tales, their religion, their gods and goods -- that is to say, their culture. At the turn of the XIX Century, British writers were writing about those magical, mythical and mystical lands, like the Portuguese writer Luis de Cames did centuries before in his "Lusadas". People who read them were able to grasp this strange impressions of those, like Kippling, who were actually there and saw, sometimes amazed, sometimes scared, so many different things they had never seen before. From "Vanity Fair", I chose the "Vegetable Tandoori". Ms Sharp, at the beginning of the movie, eats a similar dish when she meets a wealthy British gentleman, her friend's brother Josh, who had just arrived from India. The recipe I am presenting is somewhat adapted from the one that is shown at the motion picture because it is a dish very difficult to identify precisely -- it may be either from Kashimir or from the New Delhi region. I chose the New Delhi region and the following recipe is inspired in one from a book called "Eat More, Weigh Less" ( my copy of the book is from 1993). Vegetable tandoori 6 pearl onions 10 small potatoes 1 cup of non-fat plain yogurt

1 clove of garlic, chopped 1 cup of ready-made vegetable stock 1 green pepper 3 small red pepper 1 tea spoon of grinded nutmeg spice mixture:: 1 bought a can of a ready-made tandoori mixture made in South Africa called NOMU. I will explain later why. Boil the onions and the potatoes for 30 minutes to peel them. Cut them in slices. Combine the spices, garlic and nutmeg in the yogurt. Toss the vegetables in a clay tajine pan for stovetop ( Le Creuzet or Maxwell Williams are the brands that I know carry this pan). Pour the yogurt mixture over the vegetables to cover them. Add to the mixture the hot vegetable stock. Cover and cook for about 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with rice.(see photos)

Tandoori Cuisine is typical from New Delhi region, and Murghi Tandoori was considered their specialty: pieces of chicken are marinated overnight in a yogurt spice mixture and garlic. Indian, Pakistani and Indonesian foods are prepared in a variety of ways, and according sometimes with their religious beliefs - each region has an specific set of dishes related to the predominant religion. Moreover, the use of spices, and the way they are mixed together are related to family roots and beliefs -- ready-made curry powder is seldom used by traditional families in India: each cook prepares his or her own spices as required at each stage in the cooking of a particular dish. Two other ingredients are necessary to the "Indian Cuisine": a kind of clarified butter and a form of condensed milk, similar to yogurt. After the arrival of the British, Indian curries and chutneys became known by other cultures, although they are not exactly the same curries and chutneys you can taste at a real Indian home. To avoid doubts over the mixture of spices sold in markets, according to what I have been reading, there has been a Royal Decree on the types of mixtures that were allowed to be sold.

Murghi Tandoori 3or 4 chicken legs 2-3 cups of non-fat plain yogurt

10 small potatoes 5 pearl onions 4 garlic cloves 1 tsp of grinded nutmeg 1 tbsp of saffron 1 green pepper chopped 3 hard-boiled eggs Chicken stock spice mixture: ready-made tandoori NOMU Marinate overnight the chicken in the spice, yogurt, garlic and nutmeg mixture. Boil the potatoes and pearl onions for 45 minutes to peel them. Toss the chicken and yogurt mixture on the Tajine pan, along with the potatoes, pearl onions and green pepper. Sprinkle the saffron over it and add the chicken stock. Season with a little bit of nutmeg if necessary. Cook for 45 minutes in low heat, mixing the mixture to avoid excessive burning. The yogurt mixture will gently evaporate a little, giving the aspect that it has shrunk. Serve with rice and the hard-boiled eggs ( Indian rice is made only with water, no butter, no oil. Cook it in water for 15 to 20 minutes, the put in a warm oven for a little while to let possible water residues to evaporate)

Look at the photos at the right and the left. I made the dish except for the hard-boiled eggs. The chicken acquires a soft consistency and may be a little crispy on the edges. Actually, it melts in your mouth. To eat, I advise you to cut in small bits and alternate a piece of the vegetable with the chicken. The sauce is very hot and spicy. It is good to recall that before the British spices and their usage were a business carried out by Arabs or "turks". Middle Easterns were traditional merchants whose duties were to travel, learn and sell spices back and forth. From Constantinople to Fez, Arabs travelled, selling aromas, flavours, scents, spices and stories - tales from their own lands and the lands they visited. There is an interesting book on Moroccan Food, by Paula Woffert called "Couscous" in which it is mentionned the arabic word "Kimia" (I'd like to remind you of last chapter's note on the word "alchemy") related to those who know how to blend flavours and spices and cook, they are blessed by the Gods and the Spirits (page 13) Their habit was to let the girl, when still a child, watch and hear about their knowledge. Once she is grown up and given in marriage, she would learn how to cook with her husband's family - this habit was widespread among Arabs and Indians as well, especially because women was left illiterate. There is also an interesting explanation on the role of the

inhabitants of the North of Africa and their influence on the Mediterranean food, especially in Portugal and Spain. Unfortunately, I do not have the specific history books to confirm Ms Woffert's sinopsis on the role of the Arabs, although it is my understanding that there are slightly different versions. To understand the magical mystique simbolized by those traders, try to read the Arabian Nights or try to watch motion pictures/animated motion picture related to the Arabian Nights such as Alladdin and the latest Disney Studios release "The Prince of Persia".

The fact is that those beliefs and behaviours, culturally different from those of Middle Ages Europe or from those of Post-Napoleonic Europe, were seen by many as sorcery or witchcraft. Illiterate and ignorant populations have a much more acute predjudice than someone who reads and informs himself/herself - their reactions towards the unknown are both aggressive and radical. Their lives are based in their simple surroundings and their simple explanations, as if they were standing over a concrete foundation that would assure them their righteousness, as well as their own sense of "superiority". So, their reasoning would be to destroy everything that could be seen as a menace to their already laid foundation. Co-existence would be impossible. Illiteracy and excessive religious convictions could only worsen this dark picture. Fanaticism usually ensues. Inquisition, death by drowning or by fire, mass hysteria, was the historical result of a quest for power and knowledge in Europe. During the Middle Ages, Miracle (Mystical) Plays and the British Guilds of Artists had a very specific role both in helping the Church and conveying to illiterate people news of what could happen within the Court, inside the Royal Palaces. During the XIX Century, British writers played the same role such as the one played by the Artist's Guilds of the XIIIth Century. The difference between the Middle Ages and British Emperial Colonialism was their major foccus or concern. In the Middle Ages, their quest for dominance was mainly religious and cultural. Under the British Empire, their foccus was mostly on trade. Therefore, under the British the approach was a little bit different and, to some extent, the British wanted that other cultures could be accepted by their subjects. Childrens Books were one of their means of teaching people to accept new ways. It is easier to a child to understand and accept the magic contained in other cultures as well as be captured and enchanted by stories about distant lands: strange plants, animals, aromas and tastes. "The Little Princess" is a tale on how to deal with prejudice -- even for those who were thinking only in money and power, like the headmistress of the School for Girls. The scene I like most is the one when the two girls who were living in the attic wake up and find a beautiful breakfast- provided, apparently, by their neighbor's Indian Buttler. There is always one message: there is hope for those who dream and see the world through the eyes of a girl who believes that every girl is born a Princess and every boy is born a King. In other words, damned will be the one who destroys a childs dream, especially if this dream is not intended to hurt anyone. Thank god for those who can see

through different eyes from those of judgemental headmistresses and headmasters. In the example of this book, it was the eyes of a foreigner. In the case of the secret garden it was the insight of a girl who lived in a foreign country. Do not forget that you are not judged by one only person- at least we hope so. Here is the recipe for the sweet bread in that scene. Sweet Bread 1 cup of water 1 tsp of salt 1/4 cup of mapple syrup (or cramberry syrup) 1 whole egg 3 cups of whole-purpose flour almonds in slices (optionnal) 1 tsp of grounded nutmeg 1 tsp yeast Mix the ingredients in the order above until forming a dough. Knead it for about 15 minutes and let it rest in a cool place for half an hour to alow it to double in size. Knead it gently again for more 15 minutes and let it rest for 30 more minutes. Take small pieces from the dough and give to it the desired form. You can add jam or jelly, inside or above if you like. You can add confectionner's cream instead. Put the bread in a baking dish or mould, previously sprinkled with whole purpose flour. Brush it with an egg yolk and on top of it an egg white mixed with a tsp of sugar. Bake at medium temperature in the oven until golden-brown. Baking time depends on the size of the bread.

I hope you are willing to try any of this. They are worth the dream.

One of the books of my "Most Wanted" list arrived recently...just in time to allow me to wrap up this historical sinopsis on the XIX Century.

Photo of Lautrec's the Art of Cuisine front cover

Guess what...Toulouse-Lautrec's "The Art of Cuisine"...yes, the very one 1966 edition in English. In fact, I really wanted the early XX Century French edition, but it turned out to be an interesting acquisition. Toulouse-Lautrec was one of "Belle poque's" main representative, Paris was his stage...where he found the right characters for his paintings. According to Paul Leclercq, a symbolist poet who was his friend: "Lautrec cooked as well as he ate. Cooking a leg of lamb for seven hours or preparing a lobster l'amricaine held no secrets for him."

Menu written by Lautrec ( a sample of what he presented to his dinner guests)

One must understand a little bit of Lautrec's personal history as well as the existing beliefs of his Era, that is to say, the Belle poque in order to grasp his behaviour towards the Culinary Arts. First of all, Toulouse-Lautrec's family roots were linked to royalty: his father was a Count and his mother a Countess and, some say, he inherited his family interest in food and love for Culinary Arts, as it was the fashion in those times among nobility. As it is stated in the Book's preface "Lautrec learned from his family this domestic style in which the Lord of a Estate did not leave culinary matters to his servant but took a direct interest in the table." His artistic expression had this specific side, following a trend among writers and other French artists, painters who lived in Paris and so on. According to the preface in "The Art of Cuisine" ; "Lautrec, Joyant and their circle of friends lived in a milieu that was quietly free from social prejudice. They took their pleasures with all the classes of society though, even with their love for novelty, they seemed to share a horror of excess, an evident predilection for subtle sensations." It is always good to recall that between 1815 and 1910, the years of "peace" derived from the success of the Westphalian Balance of Power, the silent promise of prosperity left the way open to other concerns. The British Empire abroad was beginning to blossom, Industrial Revolution was in expansion... as we can see through Charles Dickens books. There has been so many novelties that concerns on the role of man and around the term "culture", "civilization" and related concepts were enriching the debate among intelectuals. The dawn of modern times required a new concept of education also. The debate endured in several aspects, but the german notion -at least in philosophical and pedagogical fields - of "bildung" and "Kultur" , the human being as a whole and learning as a lifelong experience, was on the top of most intellectual's ranking of priorities.(there are some books on this issue such as Ringer, Fritz; The decline of German Mandarins, Harvard university Press, 1969-) This reasoning applied equally to Artists in general -- artistic expression revealed itself in many aspects of an artist life, including their love for this new form of Art - the Culinary Art was officially recognized as such in France in 1739. (look up at the Chapter on Wild Games). One example of this specific debate is on Lautrec's book and maybe it confirms this strange idea of Art and kimia: there are no quantities specified on the recipes...when they printed the 1966 English version, they added footnotes with suggested quantities in order to help those who wanted to cook his recipes I chose two different recipes to wrap up the XIX Century, one of them inspired in Lauctrec's sweet pastry Nun's Fritters also known as "pets-de-nonne" or "beignet", except that my own is savory a if it was a kind of nugget. So you can have the directions of two (savory and sweet) in one only recipe. The other recipe is a pr-halloween beverage for Brazil's tropical climate.

Nun' s Fritters of Sole with Tartar Sauce (pets-de-nonne ou beignet de sole avec sauce Tartar) 1 cup of water 25 grms of salted butter 1 tsp of salt 1 tsp of sugar 1 cup of flour or a mixture of 1/ 2 semolina flour and 1/2 whole purpose flour (you can add breadcrumbs about 2 tbsp) baking powder 4 eggs Olive oil Cook the sole fillets beforehand in water and lime juice, green pepper, onions, parsley and chives and salt, for 30 minutes. Reserve the water and the fish. In another pan mix the water and the butter, salt and sugar and let it boil. Pour the flour ( or semolina mixture) already with the baking powder entirely in the pan and mix, taking from the heat and putting it back if necessary, until an homogeneous pastry forms. Add two eggs, mix it, with the same procedure until the eggs are absorbed. Add the remaining two eggs, in the same way. Use the water from the cooked fish and adjust the amount of flour if necessary. Make small balls with the pastry and insert a small piece of the cooked sole inside. Order the very small balls in a baking pan and bake in low heat for 45 minutes. Fry them in a pan with olive oil until golden. Serve with rice and Tartar Sauce; white wine (sec) and sparkling water.

Pineapple Halloween Dream 1 whole pineapple 1 whole papaya steamed turnip or steamed peppermint Ice Two grapes 1 strawberry

Carve carefully the pineapple, putting its content in a blender. Add the papaya and the turnip(or peppermint) and the ice. Blend everything in liquefying speed. Use the same

method as in the case of the Japanese watermellon: sculpt a face in the pineapple and pour the juice inside. (photos)

I have something more to say: sweet beignet pastries are used in French dishes such as profitteroles; clairs; and Paris Brest.The savoury pastry can be made with other kinds of fish, such as cod, and with cheese. In a certain way, Lautrec was right, you have to cook it yourself and season accordingly. Lautrec's book is a good source also for wild games and it is worth reading, although I did not find any beverage recipes in it.

Captulo VII Nascida princesa, nascido rei: ilumine seu brilho.

Voc j imaginou o Halloween festejado daqui h cerca de 1 ms e meio (31 de outubro)? Sobre o que se falar nesse captulo do ms do Halloween? Bruxarias e encantamentos, claro...mas no se falar da Idade Mdia, tema j abordado, mas a bruxaria no sculo XIX, quando o mundo estaria sob o domnio do Imprio britnico, ou seja sobre a noite seguinte s mil e uma noites (um conto de Edgar Allan Poe). Sei que pode parecer que se fala da mesma coisa em todos os captulos, como se vivssemos a mesma coisa a cada sculo, ou a cada milnio, mas no verdade. Vamos avivar o conhecimento histrico, isso se voc gosta de Histria... Dois autores ingleses sero mencionados: Thackeray e Burnnet. Thackeray escreveu um livro para crianas, embora fosse escritor de temas adultos, seus livros se tornaram filmes como Barry Lyndon e o mais recente "Feira de Vaidades". Frances H.Burnett escritora especializada em literatura infantil e trs de seus livros tornaram-se filmes: Pequeno Lord Fauntleroy, O Jardim Secreto e a Pequena Princesa.

Esses escritores estavam enfatizando outros assuntos de que vamos falar nesse captulo -um deles a maneira como apresentavam a maneira como viviam sob o Imprio britnico: lutas e acordos de carter comrcio e tentativa de monoplio de conhecimento para garantir ao capitalismo sua sobrevivencia. ndia e China, ou seja, o extremo oriente, eram muito importantes para a industria textil: seda, linho, e algodo e as formas de serem tecidos e tingidos. Havia muito mais o que aprender nessas terras: seus contos populares, suas religies, suas crenas, seus Deuses e seus bens -- suas culturas, em outras palavras. Na aurora do Sculo XX, escritores ingleses j haviam feito romances sobre essas terras longnquas e msticas como o poeta portugus Cames havia feito em "Os Lusadas". Seus leitores tinham mais possibilidades de captar esse mundo de diferentes impresses de gente que, como Rudyard Kippling, que l esteve e viu s vezes maravilhado, outras assustado, tantas coisas que jamais tinham visto. Do Vanity Fair, escolhi a primeira cena em que Ms Sharp se defronta com os temperos da India, ao ser apresentada ao irmo de sua amiga, recm chegado de l. Como no filme ficou difcil identificar o prato que era servido, escolhi o "vegetable tandoori" ( tandoori de vegetais - em verso estilizada), como na regio de Nova Delhi o tempero predominante e a forma de cozinhar o tandoori, achei melhor mencionar esse estilo. O detalhe, no mencionado no texto em ingls que tandoori um tipo de forno e minha sugesto a utilizao do "tajine" ( uma panela vendida pela "Le creuzet" ou pela "Maxwell e Williams") como alguns livros de cozinha indiana sugerem a utilizao do "broiler"( inexistente nos fornos de fabricao brasileira) para a elaborao desse prato. A receita a seguir inspirada no vegetable tandoori do livro "Eat More Weigh Less" (minha edio de 1993). Tandoori de vegetais 6 cebolas prola 10 batatas pequenas 1 copo de iogurte natural desnatado 1 dente de alho ( cortado em fatias) 1 xcara de caldo de vegetais j diludo em gua 1 colher de ch de noz moscada 1 pimento verde cortado em fatias 1 pimenta dedo de moa cortada mistura de especiarias (tipo de curry chamado tandoori) : utilizei a mistura j pronta, de fabricao sul-africana, da marca NOMU (comprar a mistura "tandoori" especfica para pratos tandoori)

Ferva as batatas e as cebolas em gua quente por cerca de 30 minutos para facilitar que sejam descascadas. Corte-as em fatias grossas e reserve. Misture 1 colher de ch da mistura tandoori, o alho em fatias, a noz moscada ao iogurte. Coloque as cebolas, batatas, o pimento e a pimenta na panela Tajine e cubra os vegetais com a mistura de iogurte. Adicione o caldo de legumes e cozinhe por 30-40 minutos, mexendo de quando em vez para garantir o cozimento homogneo e para evitar que a casca que se forma passe do ponto. Sirva com arroz e adicione (caso queira) ovos cozidos em fatias. Recomenda-se, para suavizar o efeito apimentado do molho, comer os vegetais sempre com um pedao do ovo, por exemplo. O molho extremamente apimentado. O "Murghi Tandoori" considerado uma especialidade da regio de Nova Delhi: pedaos de frango (sem pele) marinados por 24 horas em uma mistura de iogurte natural, alho e a mistura tandoori de especiarias. As cozinhas indiana, paquistanesa e indonsia so preparadas de forma variada (de acordo com a regio) e segundo convices religiosas. Onde predomina determinada religio, a maneira de cozinhar segue determinados preceitos dessa religio especfica: um conjunto de pratos, bem como uma mistura de especiarias correspondente que esto relacionadas a tradies familiares. Misturas prontas de temperos raramente so usadas por famlias tradicionais indianas: cada cozinheiro prepara sua mistura para cada estgio do cozimento do prato que est elaborando. Outros dois ingredientes caractersticos da cozinha indiana so a manteiga clarificada ( Ghee, "beurre mani") e um tipo de leite condensado semelhante ao iogurte. Depois da chegada dos britnicos, "chutneys" e curries" ficaram populares em outras culturas, embora no fossem os mesmos pratos que se encontrariam na casa de famlias tradicionais indianas. Para evitar dvidas e erros nas misturas de especiarias vendidas nos mercados, as mesmas foram estabelecidas por Decreto Real, o que possibilitou sua comercializao e disseminao dos pratos indianos em outros pases. Segue abaixo a receita do "Murghi Tandoori". Murghi Tandoori 3 ou 4 coxas ou sobrecoxas de frango sem pele 2-3 xcaras de iogurte natural (desnatado ou no conforme sua preferncia) 10 batatas pequenas 5 cebolas prola 4 dentes de alho (cortado em fatias) 1 colher de ch de noz moscada 1 colher de aafro 1 pimento verde (cortado) 3 ovos cozidos 1 xcara de caldo de galinha prviamente derretido em gua.

1 colher de ch de mistura tandoori da marca NOMU.

Deixe de vspera os pedaos de frango sem pele na mistura de iogurte, noz moscada, alho e mistura de especiarias tandoori. No dia seguinte, ferva as batatas e cebolas por 45 minutos para descasc-las com mais facilidade, corte-as em fatias de 1 ou 2 cm. Coloque cebolas, batatas, pimento e a mistura de frango e iogurte na panela chamada "Tajine" Espalhe o aafro em p sobre a misture de iogurte, galinha e vegetais e depois adicione o caldo de galinha. Cozinhe por 45 minutos, mexendo sempre, de forma a evitar tostar demais as partes externas do frango e dos legumes, deixando-os crocantes. O molho dever evaporar um pouco. Ao servir acrescente ovos cozidos (cortados em fatias) e arroz (o arroz indiano feito apenas com gua e sal Deixe quinze a vinte minutos de cozimento em gua, lave em gua fria rapidamente, coloque em recipiente refratrio e deixe em forno morno para a evaporao da gua remanescente).

As fotos mostram o prato na panela Tajine, exceto os ovos cozidos e o arroz. O frango adquire maciez por dentro e algumas partes crocantes por fora. Por estranho que parea, os pedaos de frango se derretem na boca de to macios. Aconselho que se corte o frango em pedaos pequenos, durante o cozimento, retirando os ossos. Ao servir com ovos cozidos e arroz, recomende aos seus comensais que alternem frango, vegetais e o ovo para reduzir o efeito do molho apimentado.

Observao: as fontes da receitas receitas so o "Larousse gastronomique e tambm o Livro "Classic Indian Cooking" de Julie Sahni. Outros livros poderiam ser recomendados para entender-se as variaes regionais. No menciono livros especficos porque creio que cada aspirante a cozinheiro ou diletante interessado nessa Arte da Culinria, por tantos desprezada e esquecida, dever fazer sua pesquisa individualmente. bom lembrar que antes da chegada dos britnicos ndia, as especiarias e seu comrcio era um trabalho levado a cabo pelos rabes e "turcos". Os habitantes do Oriente Mdio eram mercadores tradicionais cujo servio era tambm viajar entre Europa, sa Central e

Extremo Oriente, aprender as formas e os usos das especiarias, compr-las e revend-las. Entre Constantinopla e Fez, rabes viajavam e vendiam aromas, sabores, especiarias e histrias - contos, folclores e supersties de suas terras e das terras que visitavam, assim como os portugueses e espanhis fizeram com a conquista do globo terrestre atravs da navegao. H um livro interessante de Paula Woffert, intitulado "Couscous", em cuja pgina 13 mencionada a palavra rabe "kimia" (lembre-se de nossa observao sobre a palavra de origem greco-rabe "alquimia") que para os rabes est relacionada capacidade de misturar sabores e cozinhar sob a beno de deuses e espritos benignos. costume antigo, entre rabes indianos, indonsios e paquistaneses, o de instruir suas meninas, deixando-as assistir e ouvir histrias sobre seus conhecimentos culinrios. Quando a moa entregue em casamento, ela orientada a aprender a cozinhar com a famlia de seu marido. Esse costume era disseminado em todo o Magreb africano, Oriente Mdio e Asia Central, especialmente porque as mulheres eram deixadas analfabetas. H tambm no livro de Paula Woffert um resumo sobre o papel dos rabes no Norte da frica e sua influncia na cozinha mediterrnea -- especialmente em Portugal e Espanha. No pude confirmar exatamente em outras fontes a verso da autora, embora creia que seja interessante procurar abordagens mais aprofundadas ou perspectivas alternativas. Para se entender a magia e o misticismo envolto nas aventuras de tais comerciantes/ viajantes, tente ler "As mil e uma noites rabes" ou assistir filmes e desenhos animados relacionados ao tema, como "Aladdin" e o recente "O Principe da Prsia". O fato que tais crenas e valores, culturalmente diferentes daqueles da Europa da Idade Mdia e da Europa Ps-napolenica, eram percebidos por muitos como bruxaria e feitiaria. Populaes analfabetas e ignorantes tm um preconceito mais acentuado do que aqueles que tentam informar-se atravs do estudo e dos livros A reao dos que detm esse tipo de preconceito geralmente agressiva, brutal e radical, pois suas vidas so fundadas em valores simplistas e inalterveis de percepo da realidade, que garantem a sustentao e permanncia de sua auto-imagem e identidade enquanto grupo. Na medida em que outros valores e percepes do mundo, ou maneiras de ser culturalmente so percebidos como ameaas potenciais aos marcos fundacionais dessa identidade, o conflito se desenvolve de diversas maneiras (deboche, caricaturas, acusaes de magia negra, rotulaes de todo tipo, at mesmo a violncia pura e simples para forar a submisso ou eliminao total) com a finalidade de destruir a potencial ameaa. A coexistncia parece sempre impossvel, ou seja, faz-se parecer impossvel aumentando at a simbologia contida na provvel ameaa. Analfabetismo e fanatismos de cunho social e religioso apenas enegreciam esse quadro. At mesmo no interior da Igreja Catlica observa-se esse tipo de comportamento. A Inquisio apenas um dos exemplos mais conhecidos. Quem estuda a histria das universidsades ao longo dos sculos -isto , desde a fundao da primeira universidade -e as duas primeiras foram Bolonha e Paris- at os nossos dias, com o ensino laico, testemunha desse comportamento. Na Idade Mdia, como j foi dito, at os Mystical (Miracle) Plays e as guildas de artistas tinham um papel muito especfico - o que inicialmente era usado para reforar valores religiosos de populaes que no sabiam ler nem escrever acabaram por se transformar em instrumento de informao tambm das lutas internas nos palcios reais, como nas peas de Shakespeare.

Durante o Sculo XIX, os escritores ingleses desempenharam um papel semelhante ao das guildas medievais. A diferena entre a Idade Mdia e o Sculo XIX era que o colonialismo britnico tinha foco especfico -- o comrcio. Assim, em certa medida, desejava-se que os sditos britnicos aceitassem as novas culturas que faziam parte das possesses ultramarinas do Imprio. Livros infantis tambm serviam a tais desgnios. mais fcil para uma criana aceitar a noo de mgica, o encantamento contido em tais culturas e nas histrias de terras distantes: plantas estranhas, animais exticos, aromas e sabores inusitados. "A Pequena Princesa" a histria sobre como lidar com o preconceito -- at daqueles que s desejavam dinheiro e poder como a Diretora da Escola para Meninas no livro que menciono neste momento. A cena de que mais gosto aquela na qual as duas meninas condenadas priso no sto e aos trabalhos forados na cozinha, acordam de manh e encontram seu caf da manh dos sonhos realizado, arranjado pelo mordomo indiano de seu vizinho. H uma mensagem: h esperana para os que sonham e vem o mundo atravs dos olhos de uma criana que acredita que toda a menina nasce princesa e todo o garoto nasce rei. Em outras palavras, no destrua os sonhos de uma criana, sobretudo se no vo fazer mal aos outros. Abenoados so os que podem ver as coisas com outros olhos, alm dos da inveja e os da sede de poder. Nesse livro especfico, os olhos so o de um estrangeiro. No Jardim Secreto, os olhar diferenciado o de uma menina que morou nas longnquas terras do Imprio Britnico na sia Central. Aqui est a receita do po doce com gelia de damasco apresentado na cena que menciono. Po Doce 1 xcara de ch de gua 1 pitada de sal 1/4 de xcara de ch de mapple syrup 1 ovo 3 xcaras de farinha amendoas laminadas 1 colher de ch de noz moscada 1 colher de ch de fermento biolgico Misture os ingredientes na ordem acima. Sove a massa gentilmente por quinze minutos at ficar homognea. Reserve em prato coberto em lugar seco por meia hora. Retire e sove a massa gentilmente por mais quinze minutos. Deixe descansar por mais trinta minutos e dobrar de tamanho naturalmente.. Com as mos untadas de farinha, d massa do po o formato desejado.Pincele com gema a parte superior. Depois pincele com uma mistura de clara de ovo com acar. Coloque em forno mdio por 30 ou 50 minutos ( o tempo depender do tamanho do po). Voc poder incrementar o pozinho doce colocando gelia de damasco ou creme de confeiteiro dentro antes do cozimento. Ou fazer um buraquinho e colocar gelia ou creme depois do cozimento. Antes de servir polvilhe com acar de confeiteiro.( Veja as fotos)

Veja a novidade, consegui comprar a primeira edio (1966) em lngua inglesa do livro de cozinha de Toulouse-Lautrec. Na verdade, eu estava procurando a edio em francs, mas at essa edio valeu a compra.Toulouse-Lautrec foi um dos principais representantes da "Belle poque" e Paris era seu palco de atuao e seu principal objeto de estudo artstico, onde encontrava os personagens para suas pinturas. De acordo com Paul Leclercq, poeta simbolista que era seu amigo: "Lautrec cozinhava to bem quanto comia. Cozinhar um pernil de carneiro por sete horas ou preparar uma Lagosta Americana no tinha segredos para ele." Deve-se entender um pouco da histria pessoal de Toulouse-Lautrec bem como as crenas e hbitos da poca em que viveu ("Belle poque") para entender seu comportamento em relao Arte Culinria e Cultura. A famlia Toulouse-Lautrec era ligada realeza seu pai era conde e sua me era Condessa ( ela mesma autora de um livro de culinria) e, alguns dizem, herdou o interesse da famlia por comida e sua paixo pelas Artes Culinrias, como era moda entre os nobres. Dizia-se quela poca, conforme consta do Prefcio do seu livro "Arte da Cozinha" que:"Lautrec aprendeu com sua famlia esse estilo no qual o Nobre no deixava ao seu servo questes culinrias, mas tambm supervisionava pessoalmente os procedimentos culinrios em seu Castelo". A expresso artstica de Lautrec transcendia a

pintura, e apresentava outras facetas especficas, conforme era tendncia entre escritores franceses e outros artistas, franceses ou no, que viviam em Paris. Ainda segundo o Prefcio do Arte da Cozinha: "Lautrec, Joyant e seu crculo de amigos viviam num meio que era discretamente livre de preconceito social. Eles exerciam sua Arte e desfrutavam das boas coisas da vida e das novidades, mas partilhavam um evidente repdio aos excessos e tinham predileo por sensaes sutis." sempre bom lembrar que, entre 1815 e 1910, os anos de "paz" decorrentes da Balana de Poder do Concerto de Westphalia, a discreta promessa de prosperidade deixou o caminho aberto para outros temas, alm da guerra e do conflito. O Imprio britnico de ultramar estava comeando a florescer, a Revoluo Industrial estava em espanso... como se pode ler nos livros de Charles Dickens. Havia tantas novidades relativas ao papel do Homem em todas as reas do conhecimento e em torno dos termos "cultura" e "civilizao", que at o debate entre intelectuais encontrava-se mais enriquecido. A aurora dos tempos modernos requeria um novo conceito para muitas coisas, inclusive para o conceito que envolvia a noo de educao. O debate perdurou por muitos anos em diversos aspectos; mas a noo de origem germnica -- pelo menos nos meios pedaggico e filosfico-- de "bildung" e de "Kultur", pela qual o ser humano deve ser considerado uma totalidade e portanto ser educato em todos os aspectos de seu ser por ser assim considerado ( uma totalidade) prevalecia. Desse modo, acreditava-se que a experincia educacional deveria durar ao longo de toda a vida do homem. Esse debate estava no cume da lista de temas prioritrios dos intelectuais do Sec XIX ( Ringer, F: "The Decline of the German Mandarins" Harvard University Press, 1969). Essa linha de pensamento era aplicada igualmente nas discusses sobre a funo do Artista e seu papel social -- acreditava-se que a expresso artstica revelava-se de vrias maneiras na vida de um Artista, incluindo naquela forma de arte, um tanto desprezada nos dias de hoje -- bom lembrar que a culinria foi considerada oficialmente Arte na Frana em 1739 ( veja o captulo sobre as "Iluses Perdidas no Estilo Francs"). Um exemplo dessa concepo encontra-se no livro de Toulouse-Lautrec e talvez possa confirmar nossas suspeitas sobre a relao entre "Arte" e "Kimia": no h quantidades especficas nas receitas...deixa-se a cargo do cozinheiro o manejo dos ingredientes. Na edio em ingls de 1966 foram acrescidas s receitas notas com as quantidades dos ingredientes, para auxiliar os que desejavam fazer as receitas do pintor francs. Sem esgotar o assunto, gostaria de fechar esse passeio pelo Sc XIX apresentando duas receitas: uma delas inspirada em Lautrec -- o beignet ou pets-de-nonne -- que pode ser traduzido como "Bentinhos" - receita que pode ser doce ou salgada. A outra receita uma sugesto tropical para o Halloween de 31 de outubro. Bentinho de linguado com Sauce Tartar (pets-de-nonne ou beignet de sole avec Sauce tartar) 1 xcara de gua 25 grms de manteiga com sal 1 colher de ch de sal

1 colher de ch de acar 1 xcara de farinha ou de uma mistura de 1/ farinha de trigo e 1/2 de semolina 1 colher de ch de fermento em p 4 ovos azeite de oliva Cozinhe os fils de linguado em gua, sal, suco de 1 limo siciliano , pimento, salsa, cebolinha, cebola, por trinta minutos. Reserve o peixe e a gua depois de cozidos em separado. Em outra panela, misture a gua, o sal e a manteiga e deixe ferver. Quando estiver fervendo, desepje de uma vez s a mistura de farinha e o fermento. Mexa, retirando do fogo e retornando ao fogo se necessrio, at formar uma massa homognea. Adicione dois ovos, com o mesmo procedimento. Depois os dois ovos restantes, agindo da mesma forma. Use a gua em que o peixe foi cozido na mistura e ajuste a quantidade de farinha caso necessrio. Faa pequenas bolas e insira o peixe dentro. Coloque as bolinhas com o peixe numa forma e leve ao forno mdio por cerca de 45 minutos. retire-os e cozinhe-os numa frigideira com um pouco de azeite at dourar. Seque em papel-toalha. Sirva com arroz, sauce tartar, vinho branco seco e gua mineral (veja as fotos)

A receita de Halloween tropical uma idia especfica para aguentar o calor da primaveravero brasileira. O suco fica mais gelado dentro da casca da fruta e leva mais tempo para sofrer os efeitos do clima quente dessa poca do ano. Halloween Tropical Dream 1 abacaxi inteiro 1 mamo papaya hortel ou couve manteiga picados e cozidos no vapor gelo 2 uvas 1 morango Retire o contedo do abacaxi sem danificar a casca. Coloque o contedo do abacaxi no liquidificador com o mamo papaya ( sem casaca e sem os caroos) a hortel ou a couve e o gelo. Liquidifique tudo. Faa o rosto no abacaxi usando as uvas, o morango e a casca de mamo. Coloque o suco dentro.

H algo mais a respeito dessas receitas: os bentinhos doces so usados em pratos franceses (por vezes no so fritos) como profitteroles, bombas de chocolate ( chamados clairs) ou Paris Brest. Os Bentinhos salgados podem ser feitos com bacalhau ou queijo. De certa forma Toulouse-Lautrec estava certo, tem-se que cozinhar por si mesmo, testar por si seu temperos. O livro de Lautrec tambm boa fonte de receitas de caa (coelhos, perdizes, codornas etc.)

Chapter VIII- From Italy to the World: a view into the future.

We begin this chapter at the early years of the XXth Century: on one hand, the Industrial Revolution was still in its peak and Great Britain was an Empire with lands all over the globe; on the other hand, European countries were undergoing political changes: French political upheavel between Monarchy and Republic (with restoration and so on); German and Italian unification; Monarchy and Aristocracy being questioned in Eastern Europe (from the Balkans to Russia). The beginning of the XXth Century was a turning point towards Modern Times and Great Britain found itself at the pole position in this race. Wealth and improvements on technology allowed British citizens to travel more frequently and with greater comfort. It became a common usage among the wealthy to send their sons and daughters to Italy to accomplish their education on the History and Arts of the birthplace of greco-roman culture, a notion inherited from the Enlightenment. The Roman Empire and their notion of "mare nostrum" (our sea - The Mediterranean) were responsible for the foundations of several aspects of our culture: languages that derived from Latin such as French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese; science and Arts that were born from the knowledge gathered from the people who lived around the Mediterranean Sea (Greek, Turks, Arabs, Egyptians, Byzantines, Jews, Persians --as well as the people who tried to conquer them Goths, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Normands, Lombards etc); ...the same applies to their cooking habits, food consumption and religion ( we will try to explain this as we go on in this chapter).

E. M. Forster's books are a symbol of the dawn of the XXth Century. I chose "A Room with a View" and the corresponding James Ivory motion picture because it is one of the masterpieces that can clarify the many aspects of the new XX Century way of life lead by the British. E. M. Forster was always in defense of freedom of Artistic expression, (for instance, he stood by D.H. Lawrence at the time of the scandal around his book "Lady's Chaterley Lover", among other issues) and did not hide his interest in knowing personnally the British colonies. He did travel to Italy, Greece and Germany at first, and then to Egypt and India. He wrote about British citizens and their stories abroad, sometimes jokingly, sometimes seriously. His whole work is a real voyage throughout his time, with a very critic perspective. The stories are set in a very specific landscape of British dominance in certain areas of the globe. The scene I like most is the last one, when the couple (Miss Honeychurch and Mr George Emerson) are gathered with other British citizens in the "italian pensionne", like the one scene in the beginning, eating- I guess- salmon. I chose my own recipe inspired on those of "Il cucchaio d'argento" (the silver spoon), that goes as follows

Salmon with Prosciutto (or Bacon) Delights 1/2 kg of fresh salmon 1 green pepper (cut in slices) 1 medium size onion (chopped) 50 grms of butter (previously melted) 1 clove of garlic 3 Basil leaves 3 limes 30 grms of prosciutto (italian smoked ham from Parma) or bacon (cut in strips or squares) Parsley (chopped) Chives (chopped) Juice of Lime Raisins (left for 1 hour in a glass water) 3 endives aceto balsamico di Modena (to clean the endives) 1 fig flowers (prepared for consumption) for garnish Marinate the already clean fresh salmon in a mixture of water a lime juice onion, garlic, parsley, chives and basil for one hour. In an oven proof dish arrange the salmon (cut in strips and squares), green pepper, onion, parsley, chives, basil and the Bacon or Prosciutto. Pour over the ingredients the melted butter. Add a little bit of the water where the fish has been marinated. Cover with foil paper and let it cook in medium heat oven for about 45 minutes to one hour. Arrange the plate with the endives adding to it the juice of one lime. Put inside of each endive leaf the cooked salmon and bacon or prosciutto, along with the green pepper,and onions. Add to it the raisins. Sprinkle the fresh parsley and chives. Arrange the plate, decorating it with the flowers, fig and 1 lime cut in a flower shape.

Note: The dish in the pictures was made with bacon small squares, but it can be made with prosciutto di Parma.(smoked ham from Parma). Below we have the same dish, with prosciutto instead, improved as a cannelloni pasta dish with the butter sauce. (You have only to add Cream Cheese to the pasta's inner content, then sprinkle grated parmesan cheese and cook for ten more minutes in low heat oven. Garnish with one raddish cut in a star shape)

with butter sauce

There are some records that Pope Paulo VI had a special preference for Italian antipasti; Pope Joo Paulo II invited once an Italian cook to prepare to him a flower salad; and that Pope Bento XVI used to prefer a dish of salmon with lemon when he was cardinal and ate at the restaurant for the cardinals of the Vatican called Santa Marta. Most of the recipes and stories on this meals and banquets are still kept within Vatican Walls, though. The role of the Church during the centuries that followed the Fall of The Roman Empire are not really valued for its positive consequences, by many. Despite all complaints of the stern Church critics, I would like to emphasize here a historical perspective on the role of the Catholic Church. We all know that when we are speaking of the quest for power --justice is an ambiguous concept. Everyone is aware that there can always be counterarguments that will add stories of horror and terror, historically speaking of course. Nonetheless, I am still willing to stress some very positive points, based on the research I found in the following books, apart from those previously cited in the other chapters: Montanari & Capatti: Italian Cuisine - a cultural history; Montanari; Food is Culture; Tannahill; History of Food;

Eva Celada; Os Segredos da Cozinha do Vaticano (translated from the Spanish edition Los Secretos de La cocina del Vaticano - The Secrets of the Vatican Cuisine); History of the University in Europe ( 3 volumes - it seems that there is an upcoming 4th volume). The oldest elected dynasty on earth is the Roman Catholic Church; since the year 42 a.d. Rome fosters the Catholic Church -- an hierarchical institution, that until nowadays has the juridical atonomy of a City-State -- The Vatican : functionnaries, a protocol, the equivalent to diplomats, summing up rights and duties as any National State. During 21 Centuries, the Church of Rome exercised its influence on Courts, Ducats, Kings and the people: dictating rules, mediating agreements, regulating monastic orders, sponsoring universities and Artists. To deal with Kings, Gran-Dukes, Knights and Armies, from other "Nation-States", the Pope had to have a similar structure as a King's Court and have an especial structure designed to deal also with peasants and guild workers ( a network of priests and monks of lower rank). Of course, I am not speaking strictly of religion but of a Church that had influence all over Europe with a set of rules and functionaries to guarantee the endurance of its influence: an "institution". As we have seen in previous chapters, even in India and among the Arabs and Jews, cooking and food had much to do with religious beliefs -- the same applies to the Roman Catholic Church. In these 21 centuries, the Pope had an important role on the adoption of certain foods, spices, and the way they were cooked and eated; especially among the cultural elite. Located in Rome, it received the immediate influence of its neighbors of the Mediterranean Sea (Mare Nostrum) as well as the cultural inheritance from the former Greco-Roman Empire- fish, olive oil, wheat, bread, almonds and other nuts, Etruscan pasta, almond milk, wine ( the symbols of Christianity: Bread, Wine and Oil) Greeks, Arabs, Romans, Turks, Jews, Persian, Byzantines...all of them had some contribution to the "Vatican Cuisine". There are several very curious facts related to the Roman Catholic Church and the laws and Arts of Cooking that are worth of note. From Antiquity until very recently, recipes came along with a notion of time related to religion. For instance: "Knead the dough during 10 Holy Fathers - which meant around 20 minutes to complete the kneading of the Bread. Or another example: "Cook in the oven while praying one Rosary". The interference of God in cooking was paramount -- in all aspects. In small towns, the Church Bells until very recently were the Clock that marked the passing of time for the whole town -- Edgard Alan Poe's Poem "the Bells" is a beautiful and sensitive symbol of the Church's influence. Between 1080 and 1.250 A.D., the Church sponsored the foundation of Two of the first universities in Europe Bologna and Paris. From that time until the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, even Priests that wanted to be "promoted in rank" to Cardinal, had to study at one university in order to receive a degree granted by the Pope himself ( doctoris bullati) This fact, in many ways, helped the Church to maintain control over the research, and help its organization, even on the newly found products derived from the discovery of the Americas and the maritime trips to Africa and Asia (we are speaking strictly about food here, which includes spices)- the case of Cocoa, mentioned in my First Addendum is but one of the multiple examples recorded in world history.

Nuns and Monks, it is always good to recall that, had also their role in producing some of their specialities; sweets, candies, wines, bread, vinegar, cheese. Do not forget Balzacs famous book called "La Rabouilleuse" mentioned on the Chapter on France and wild games. There is one famous anedocte on Leonardo Da Vinci's scientific and artistic influence on table manners and cooking: he was responsible for the new design of the fork and for the mandatory use of the napkin, apart from some specific advice of his on the usage of some spices. Michelangelo was the designer of the Swiss guard uniforms that are in use at the Vatican until nowadays. Both Artists were sponsored by the powerful De Medicis family ( from Florence, Tuscany). There are some known private cooks ( that had the title of " il cuoco segreto") of powerful Popes. One of them, Maestro Martino, author of Libro de Arte Coquinaria (1516), where you can find the recipe of "pastello volatilo" (flying cake) used at Pope Alexander VIs banquets, which consisted in a cake that had live birds hidden inside it. At the beginning of the banquet the valets placed the cakes at the table and openned it -- freeing the birds, that flew gracefully towards the sky. Accusations of plagiarism were usual, even among culinary artists of the Vatican, although the hierarchy of the Vatican's kitchen made authorship elusive. This is the case of Bartolomeo Scappi, appointed cuoco segreto ( secret or private cook- the one whose duty was to prevent the Pope from getting poisonned) of Pius V-- their fame and power over Christianity in matters of Food and Cooking was due not only to the proximity to the Pope himself, but also the easier access to printing and copying means. Until the XVII Century, the work of the Cooks were also mixed up with the work of physicians -- the cook that dealt with food for healing purposes was known as the "galenic cook" in honor of Galen, the famous IInd Century Physician who had left to his successors recipes that were considered breakthroughs in medicine. As we have been suspecting during the last six days of work (plus the 3 addenda): alchemists, artists, scientists, chemists, physicians, cooks -- for many centuries they were all in one person. Here follows a recipe inspired on Pope Bento XVI's favourite salmon and lime recipe, that unfortunately, I have not found the record yet. Salmon with Lime 1/ kg of fresh salmon 1 clove of garlic 1 onion(chopped) 1 green pepper ( cut in slices) 3 limes 3 lemons 1 orange salt to taste parsley ( chopped) chives (chopped) Olive Oil

pepper (optional) Marinate the fresh cleaned salmon in a mixture of the juice of 3 lemons, 1 orange, 2 limes, onion, garlic, salt and water for at least one hour, preferably overnight. In an oven-proof pan, greased with olive oil, put the salmon slices, onion, garlic, green pepper, half the quantity of parsley and chives and 1/4 of cup of the liquid it has been marinated. Cover with foil paper. Cook in the oven for 45 minutes to one hour (medium heat). Add more of the water used for marinating if necessary. Serve with rice and garnish with a mixture of the remaining parsley and chives with olive oil ( photo below)

Apart from the Pope's cuisine, italian cooking was not considered national until the XXth Century. The unification occurred in 1870, then what happenned before that? After the fall of the Roman Empire, during the Middle Ages "silent centuries", war, famine, invasions, illiteracy, food shortages ruled over Europe. The continent was scattered in small Kingdoms and Ducats, of which only those of Italy and Germany remained as autonomous States and City-States until Napoleonic Rule. Before the XXth Century, during the Thousand and Eight Hundred years of Christendom in Italy, we can devise two major phases by departing from this notion of "mare nostrum" when our foccus is the history of food, nourishment and cooking habits. The first phase, from the year 42 a.d. to the Discovery of the Americas (which includes "il cuattrocento" - the Italian Enlightenment, that occurred a hundred years before the mouvement reached the rest of Europe). The second phase comprises the period between the Discovery of the Americas and the Italian Unification. A Third phase, of course, is to begin in the XXth Century I am trying, of course, to emphasize the major trends and it may seem an oversimplification. Nevertheless, when the issue concerns the study of History, the only way to organize your thoughts is by trying to find events that can represent a specific "dure" (as we say in French) - a time-span that has some significance for your study. If you are suspicious of my point of view; or tend to disagree upfront, or as a behavioral principle, it can be also an invitation for you to start boldly your own research.

In the first phase, the cultural elite of the Gran-Ducats and Kingdoms in Italy received the influence of the Barbaric invasions from the North ( Goths, Visigoths, Normands, Lombards, Huns, etc) that clashed with the already established greco-roman tradition: olive, grapes and wheat ( oil, wine and bread) were confronted with lard, milk and meat. The reaction came from the Holy Church in the form of the establishment of a mandatory calendar that alternated "lean" and "fat" food consumption during the year. From the East, thanks to the Arabs and Jewish (Rhadanite Jews) traders, they had a variety of merchandises: spices from Persia and India; silk from China, dates and gold from Africa. Along with these fine and exquisite products, as we have already said in previous chapters, came knowledge for their use in a multiplicity of purposes, such is the case of some spices that were used for both medicinal purposes and cooking meat and poultry for the sake of blending flavours. The Crusades had some influence in reinforcing the habit of using spices on the food. Venice ( known as the "waist in the hourglass"), Pisa, Florence, Rome, Milan, Naples and Genoa were the cities-route, the major market centers on the East-West late Middle Ages international trade. After the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turk Empire in 1453, international trade was in jeopardy. The spice trade was a very profitable endeavour and no one but a citizen from Genoa, Columbus (following the advice of a Florentine) tried to convince the King of Spain of the advantages of finding an alternate route that meant freedom from the Ottoman Turk monopoly. Even before Gutemberg's discovery of printing procedures and the typograph (in 1434-65), some Italians were compiling recipes and listings of produce from Italy. The oldest cookbook known in Italy is a "Liber de Coquina" dated late XIII Century/early XIV Century. The initiative was not only by the Pope's instruction, but was also undertook by some powerful Italian families such as the Sforza, and the De Medicis. Maestro Martino, a Pope private cook, was known by his effort to compile recipes used at the Vatican. Giacomo Castelvetro. born in Venice, wrote in the XIV Century, from his exile in England, a famous Treatise on gastronomy and Botany "Brieve racconto di tutti le radici, di tutti l'erbe e di tutti frutti che crudi o cotti in Italia si magiamo". After the Discovery of the Americas, under Pope Alexandre VI, who settled an agreement between Spain and Portugal (Tordesillas Treaty - 1494), the work of the Church was still in its beginning: -- new food products (beverages, different kinds of peppers and chilis, tomatoes and other fruits, nuts, roots, etc) apart from gold and silver to be evaluated by priests and scientists. This evaluation was not simply a decision to classify them into two categories (lean and fat) but also to verify the product acceptability in European soil and climate. Some of these products could only blossom in tropical lands, others were adapted to certain parts of Europe, a fact that promoted some environmental changes. This kind of experimentation ensued some mistakes, such as the case of cassava and maize used originally as a complement for other foods in the Americas- and consumed in exaggeration in Spain and Africa, which resulted in scurvy and pellagra. The influence of the powerful Medicis family in France from the XVI to XVII Centuries reflected itself into two marriage arrangements. Catherine de Medicis, Queen of France, brought with her from Italy her own private cook, and revolutionized table manners. It took almost 300 years for France to accept Italy's olive oil; and Italy ( which included the Pope) to accept the use of butter.

One century after the Tordesillas Treaty, Bartolomeo Scappi, Pius V private cook, started to map food and cuisine from Italy in a major attempt of tracing Italian heritage in several volumes. He identifies 3 Italies: "lombardy" (dishes named "alla lombarda" or "alla milanese" of the region of the Po Valley) Rome ( dishes named "alla romagna" From the region of the Vatican and the Ducats) and Naples ( dishes named "alla neapoletana" or " del regno", corresponding to the South of Rome and Sicily). There are other minor references to other cities; Venice, Florence, Genoa, Bologna. His cookbook collection did not give much attention to the Piedmont, ruled by the House of Savoy; which received a mention on cheese and biscotti. Scappi's work was followed by others that emphasized the national landscape. From the XVII Century on, the tendency turned its emphasis on regionalization, which gave space to the Piedmont to gain more importance. The book "il cuoco piedmontese perfezionato a parigi" (1766) with its several editions (Venice 1789; Milan 1791) was a clear sign that Italian cuisine adopted a French style and that butter was accepted in many regional and national Italian dishes. "Il cuoco galante" (the gentleman cook) published in Naples in 1786 revealed that the same trend was being followed in other regions of Italy. Francesco Leonardi wrote "the Apicio Moderno" (1790) and Ippolito Cavalcanti's "Cuccina Teorico-pratica" was, according to reports from historians, an Italian-French cookbook. French writers corresponded to this gesture by including Italy as a subject of their stories, as we mentionned earlier in other Chapters, Stendhal's with his "La Chartreuse di Parma" and Balzac's writings are but a few examples. Collodi, the author of the known "Pinocchio", wrote a book on Italy that included culinary aspects: "Il viaggio per lItalia di Giannettino". After the unification, Italy's nationalistic tendencies included also culinary aspects, and the cookbooks on this subject were published in a "crescendo", starting with "Cuccina Nazionale" (1909) and attained its peak with "La Guida Gastronomica di Italia" (1931) and "La Cuccina Futurista" (1932); the last two books under the influence of the ruling fascist party at that time. After World War II, a new way to organize Italian Cuisine and change the remanents of an ambiguous impression left by those books that resulted from the ultranationalistic wave of the 1930's, "Il Cucchaio D'Argento" was published in 1950.This was a major effort to revive the Italian heritage and tradition and promote, also, a rapprochement with the Italians of the "diaspora"-Italian Nationals that had to migrate to the Americas (US, Brazil, Argentina, among other countries) due to the consequences of the Industrial Revolution at the dawn of the XX Century. A corresponding gesture reflected itself in major motion pictures, and animated motion pictures such as "Pinocchio" and "The Lady and the Tramp".

There is one special note on the animated motion picture "The Lady and The Tramp" and the lovely scene over the Spaghetti and Meatballs. According to testimonies you can find at the site "Foodista.com"( in questions and answers part), the dish is a symbol of Italians that had migrated to the United States. It is worth checking out the story told by the Foodista site. At the middle of 1990's, the Mediterranean diet became fashionable and recognized as the healthier diet known, especially in the United States. Somehow, the heritage derived from the notion of "Mare Nostrum" ideal returned with a new knowledge, scientifically proven, on food and cooking. The globalized world of the end of the XX Century found the same metaphor as the one of the early 1900 British Empire that derived from the notion born at the beginning of the Holy Church influence over Europe... the concept of Mare Nostrum as one of dominance. It is worth quoting the last paragraph in the last chapter of the book "A room with a view": "Youth unwrapped them; the song of the Pantheon announced passion requitted, love attained. But they were conscious of a love more mysterious than this. The song died away; they heard the river, bearing the snows of the winter into the Mediterranean."

You can find some motion pictures on Italy's famous cuisine, also made out of books, such as My House in Umbria; Under the Tuscan Sun; and the recent release of Eat Pray and Love.

Captulo VIII- Da Itlia para o mundo: a viso do futuro

Este captulo j se inicia no Sec XX. o seguinte o cenrio diante das pessoas na virada do sculo: por um lado, a Revoluo Industrial entra em seu pice e a Gr Bretanha tornada em Imprio com possesses em todo o mundo conhecido. Por outro lado, os outros pases da Europa sofriam mudanas polticas: as revoltas liberais francesas do fim do Sculo XIX marcavam o movimento pendular entre entre Monarquia ( e seus Aristocratas) e Repblica. A Itlia e a Alemanha

conquistavam a unificao nacional enquanto dos Balkans Rssia monarcas eram questionadas. O Sculo XX era a fronteira para a modernidade e a Gr-Bretanha encontrava-se na posio nessa corrida em direo ao futuro.

Riquezas e inovaes tecnolgicas (estradas de ferro, trens a carvo e navios a vapor) permitiram que os cidados da Gr-Bretanha tivessem os meios de viajar mais e com mais conforto. Comearam a incentivar e a disseminar o costume entre os mais ricos de enviar seus descendentes para a Itlia para completar sua educao em Histria e na sua noo de Arte ao visitar o bero da civilizao greco-romana uma noo herdada do Iluminismo. Conceitos nascidos na Antiguidade, juntamento com o domnio do Imprio Romano, como por exemplo o de Mare Nostrum (nosso mar- o Mediterrneo) foram responsveis por muitos aspectos da cultura mundial at os nossos dias : muitos idiomas advm do latim, ou possuem razes latinas, as cincias e as Artes nasceram do conhecimento de povos que viveram s margens do Mediterrneo (gregos, turcos, rabes, bizantinos, judeus, egpcios persas e os povos que tentaram conquist-los, Godos, Visigodos, Ostrogodos, Normandos, Lombardos, Hunos...etc)...o mesmo ocorreu com seus hbitos alimentares e tcnicas de cozinha, bem como religio que foram absorvidos e modificados.

A obra literria de E. M Forster uma espcie de smbolo da aurora dos tempos, com o incio do Sculo XX. Escolhi o livro Uma janela para o amor, dentre os livros de sua obra, e o filme de mesmo nome, dirigido por James Ivory, por serem uma das obras capazes de esclarecer ao leitor/audincia muitos dos aspectos do novo modo de vida dos Britnico no incio do Sculo XX. E. M Forster posicionou-se sempre em defesa da liberdade de expresso artstica ( por exemplo, foi

absolutamente favorvel a D. H. Lawrence poca do escndalo provocado pela publicao de seu livro O Amante de Lady Chaterley, entre outras causas que defendem) e jamais escondeu seu desejo de conhecer as colnias britnicas. Ele, de fato, viajou primeiro para a Itlia, Grcia e Alemanha, e depois para o Egito e a ndia lugares onde viveu por algum tempo.Ele escrevia sobre o comportamento dos sditos da Rainha nesses lugares e suas histrias nas novas colnias britnicas. Sua obra realmente uma viagem atravs do tempo, com uma perspectiva crtica e por vezes sarcstica. Suas histrias geralmente so passadas em lugares de dominao britnica onde o autor viveu realmente.

A cena de que mais gosto a ltima, quando o casal de noivos (Srta Honeychurch e o Sr George Emerson, dessa vez j casados) renem-se com outros sditos britnicos na mesma penso italiana em que se encontraram da primeira vez para o almoo e comem imagino - salmo. Eu escolhi para apresentar minha prpria receita inspirada no livro Il cucchaio dargento ( a colher de prata) como transcrito abaixo: Gndolas de Salmo com Prosciutto (ou Bacon)

de salmo fresco 1 pimento verde (cortado em rodelas) 1 cebola mdia ( picada) 50 grms de manteiga com sal ( derretida) 1 dente de alho (cortado em fatias) 3 folhas de manjerico 1 limo siciliano 30 grms de Prosciutto di Parma ( presunto defumado) ou tiras de bacon Salsa (picada) Cebolinha (picada) Suco de 1 limo siciliano Uvas-passa (deixadas por 1 hora em um copo com gua filtrada) 3 endvias (lavadas preferencialmente com Aceto Balsamico di Modena ou vinagre de vinho tinto)

1 figo Flores comestveis para o consumo.

Limpe o salmo e deixe-o marinar numa mistura de suco de limo, cebola, alho, salsa e cebolinha e manjerico por 1 hora no mnimo. Numa travessa refratria, arranje o salmo cortado em cubinhos ou em tiras finas no muito longas, os ingredientes utilizados para marinar, exceto o suco de limo e gua, e o Prosciutto (ou Bacon). Derrame a manteiga derretida uniformemente sobre a travessa. Adicione um pouco de gua e limo e tempere com uma pitada de sal. Cubra com papel laminado e leve ao forno mdio por 45 minutos ou 1 hora ( at o salmo estar cozido visvelmente.)

Arranje num prato as endvias, colocando dentro delas o suco de limo siciliano. Dentro de cada folha coloque o salmo, o prosciutto, o pimento e a cebola, que foram cozidos no forno. Adicione as passas que estavam de molho em gua e um pouco de salsa e cebolinha. Decore com flores, o figo e 1 limo siciliano cortado em forma de flor.

Nas fotos abaixo, est o mesmo prato feito com Prosciutto di Parma (presunto defumado), que se utilizou de massa de canelone ao invs das endvias. (Pode-se colocar requeijo ou queijo catupiry no intrior do canelone e salpicar com queijo parmeso por cima. Leve ao forno por mais dez minutos para gratinar adequadamente. Ao servir use o molho de manteiga e adorne com 1 rabanete cortado em forma de estrela).

H relatos que afirmam que o Papa Paulo VI tinha especial preferncia pelo antipasti italiano; Joo Paulo II convidou um cozinheiro milans especialmente para preparar-lhe uma salada de flores; e que o Papa Bento XVI, quando ainda era Cardeal e fazia as refeies no Santa Marta no Vaticano, preferia o salmo com limo Siciliano. Muitas das histrias sobre as refeies e os banquetes oferecidos no Vaticano, entretanto, permaneceram fechadas entre as muralhas da cidade-Estado.

O papel da Igreja Catlica nos Sculos que se seguiram queda do Imprio Romano. Nem sempre valorizado por suas conseqncias positivas. Apesar de todas as cobranas dos crticos mais irredutveis da Igreja, eu gostaria de enfatizar uma perspectiva histrica algumas das conseqncias benficas da influncia da Igreja. Obviamente quando se fala da luta por poder ustia um conceito ambguo. Historicamente falando, h tambm folclore de terror ligado Igreja. No obstante, o balano positivo, de acordo com a pesquisa que fiz nos seguintes livros, alm dos j citados em outros captulos: Montanari & Capatti: Italian Cuisine - a cultural history; Montanari; Food is Culture; Tannahill; History of Food; Eva Celada; Os Segredos da Cozinha do Vaticano (translated from the Spanish edition Los Secretos de La cocina del Vaticano - The Secrets of the Vatican Cuisine); History of the University in Europe ( 3 volumes - it seems that there is an upcoming 4th volume). A mais antiga dinastia eleita existente no mundo a da Igreja Catlica Apostlica Romana desde o ano 42 D.C. a cidade de Roma acolhe a Igreja Catlica dentro de suas fronteiras uma das instituies hierrquicas que hoje em dia (aps a unificao italiana) detm a autonomia jurdico de um Estado Nacional nos moldes de uma cidade-estado: funcionrio, diplomatas, protocolos e cerimonial, em suma, direitos e deveres de um Estado-Nao, como qualquer outro. Durante os 21 Sculos, a Igreja de Roma exerceu sua influncia sobre Reis e Rainhas, Cortes, Nobres, Cavalheiros e sobe o povo ao mediar acordos, ditar regras de comportamento e patrocinar artistas e universidades. De forma a poder pedir lidar com Reis, Nobres e Cavalheiros, o Papa tinha que ter sob si uma estrutura similar das cortes e ducados europeus.De forma a lidar com camponeses e trabalhadores

das guildas, ele tinha que desenvolver uma rede de padres e monges e freiras de diferentes ordens. e de diferentes estamentos hierrquicos. Claro, no estou falando apenas de religio, mas da Igreja como uma instituio. Como se observou em captulos

anteriores, na ndia, entre rabes e Judeus, a comida e o ato de cozinhar, a arte culinria tinha muito que ver com crenas religiosas o mesmo ocorreu com a Igreja Catlica. Nesses 21 sculos, o Papa teve um papel importante na adoo de certos alimentos, temperos e a forma de coz-los e sabore-los. A sede de Papado, localizada em Roma, recebeu a influncia imediata de vizinhos do Mar Mediterrneo(mare nostrum) peixes, azeite de oliva, amndoas, nozes e outras castanhas, massa etrusca, leite de amndoas Gregos, rabes, Romanos, Egpcios, Turcos, Judeus, Bizantinos, Persas...todos tiveram importante contribuio para a cozinha do Vaticano. H muitos aspectos interessantes relacionados com a Igreja Catlica Apostlica Romana e as leis e as Artes da Culinria que ainda merecem meno. Desde a Antiguidade at muito recentemente vinham com uma noo de tempo que fazia refeerncias religio: .por exemplo, sove a massa durante um perodo de dez Padres-Nossos ( relativo a cerca de 20 minutos para completar o processo de manipulao da massa do po. Outro exemplo, Asse no forno pelo tempo de um Rosrio A interferncia de Deus na fabricao da refeio era quase direta em todos os aspectos. Em pequenas cidades, os sinos de Igreja eram o relgio que marcava a passagem do tempo em toda a cidade tal como mostra o poema The Bells, de Edgard Allan Poe, uma delicada simbologia da influncia da Igreja na vida das pessoas do vilarejo onde se localizava.

Entre 1080 e 1250 D. C., a Igreja patrocinou a fundao de duas das primeiras universidades existentes: Paris e Bolonha. Daquela poca at o iluminismo e a Revoluo Francesa, at os Padres que queriam ser promovidos no interior da hierarquia da Igreja Catlica ao cargo de Cardeal, tinham que estudar em uma universidade e receber seu diploma outorgado pelo prprio Papa por Bula (doctoris bullati). Esse fato, de varias maneiras ajudou a Igreja a manter controle sobre a pesquisa e ajudar na sua organizao, mesmo sobre os novos produtos surgidos com o descobrimento das Amricas e das viagens maritmas para a frica e sia ( estamos falando estritamente de economia, o que inclui

temperos) o exemplo do cacau mencionado no captulo IV um dos muitos exemplos histricos registrados em documentaes antigas.

Freiras e monges, sempre bom lembrar, tiveram seu papel em produzir algumas de suas especialidades: doces, balas, vinhos, vinagres, pes, queijos. bom lembrar sempre do livro de Balzac La Rabuilleuse, mencionado no captulo sobre a Frana e as carnes de caa. H uma histria famosa sobre a influncia artstica e cientfica de Leonardo Da Vinci que chegou at as regras de boas maneiras e cozinha: ele foi o responsvel pelo novo design do garfo( aumentando seu nmero de dentes de dois, para trs ou quatro dentes), pelo uso mandatrio do guardanapo, alm de conselhos sobre a utilizao de temperos. Michelangelo foi o responsvel pelo design do uniforme da guarda sua que esto em uso at hoje no Vaticano. Ambos os artistas foram auxiliados pela poderosa famlia De Mdicis ( de Florena, Toscana).

H alguns cozinheiros particulares de Papas que ficaram conhecidos por seu trabalho (tinham o ttulo de il cuoco segreto, o cozinheiro particular, responsvel direto pela alimentao do sumo Pontfice). Um deles foi Maestro Martino, autor do Libro de Arte Coquinaria (1516), onde se pode encontrar a receita do pastello volatilo ( que pode ser traduzido literalmente como bolo voador) usado pelo Papa Alexandre VI em seus banquetes, que consistia em um bolo de vrias camadas de po de l, com pssaros vivos escondidos dentro. O bolo era usado no incio dos banquetes, vinham trazidos (em nmero de 2, quatro ou mais, dependendo do nmero de convivas) pelos empregados que serviam a mesa, e , uma vez colocados sobre a mesa eram abertos, pela parte superior, e os pssaros saam em revoada, livres, em direo ao cu.

Acusaes de plgio eram normais entre os Artistas Culinrios do Vaticano, mas a hierarquia na cozinha Papal fazia a atribuio de autoria dos pratos enganosa. o caso de Bartolomeo Scappi, cozinheiro particular de Pio V sua fama e poder em termos de conhecimento de Artes Culinrias, decorria no apenas de sua da proximidade com o Papa, mas da possibilidade que tinha de acesso aos elementos necessrios para compilao, cpia e impresso das receitas. At o Sculo XVII, os trabalhos dos cozinheiros eram confundidos com os de mdicos o cozinheiro galnico, nome atribudo a Galen, mdico do Sculo II d. C., que deixou registrada para seus sucessores receitas utilizadas ate o Sec XVII em medicina. Como tem sido dito, por sculos, alquimistas, artistas, cientistas, mdicos e cozinheiros, por muitos anos eram quase sempre qualidades desenvolvidas por uma nica pessoa. At o Sculo XVII, o trabalho dos cozinheiros eram confundidos com os de mdicos o cozinheiro galnico, nome atribudo a Galen, mdico do Sculo II d. C., que deixou registrada para seus sucessores receitas utilizadas ate o Sec XVII em medicina. Como tem sido dito, por sculos, alquimistas, artistas, cientistas, mdicos e cozinheiros, por muitos anos eram quase sempre qualidades desenvolvidas por uma nica pessoa.

Abaixo segue a receita inspirada numa das preferidas do Papa Bento XVI, quando, como Cardeal, almoava no Santa Marta, segundo consta.

Salmo em Limo Siciliano kg de salmo

1 dente de alho 1 cebola (picada) 1 pimento verde ( cortado em rodelas) 3 limes Sicilianos 1 laranja

Sal a gosto Salsa (picada) Cebolinha (picada) Azeite de Oliva Pimenta (Opcional)

Deixe marinar o salmo limpo numa mistura do suco de trs limes, suco de 1 laranja, suco de 2 limes sicilianos, cebola, alho, sal e gua durante no mnimo 1 hora ( se for possvel deixe marinar na geladeira de vspera). Numa travessa refratria untada com azeite, arrume de maneira homognea, pedaos de salmo, cebola, alho, pimento, metade da quantidade de slasa e cebolinha, e da gua em que o peixe foi marinado. Cubra com papel laminado e cozinhe em forno mdio por 45 minutos ( at o salmo ficar cozido) Adicione mais gua marinada, se necessrio.

Sirva com arroz e uma mistura de azeite, salsa e cebolinha

A cozinha Papal; a culinria especficamente italiana s foi considerada nacional no Sculo XX. A unificao foi em 1870...ento o que houve antes?

Depois da queda do Imprio Romano, durante os Sculos Silenciosos da Idade Mdia, invases, guerras, fome, pragas, analfabetismo reinaram sobre a Europa (especficamente o Oeste Europeu). O continente estava dividido em pequenos reinos e ducados ( GroDucados), dos quais apenas a Alemanha, Itlia, permaneceram como clulas autnomas (com ducados, reinos e cidades-estados) at a conquista Napolenica. Antes do Sculo XX, durante os mil e oitocentos anos do Cristianismo, pode-se distinguir duas fases principais partindo-se da noo de Mare Nostrum , quando o foco a alimentao e a Arte Culinria. A primeira fase, do ano 42 d. C. at a descoberta das Amricas ( o que inclui Il cuattrocento, o iluminismo italiano, que ocorreu 1 Sculo antes do movimento atingir o resto da Europa). A segunda fase compreende o perodo entre a Descoberta das Amricas e a Unificao Italiana. Uma terceira fase, claro, deveria iniciar-se no Sculo XX.

Estou tentando enfatizar as linhas gerais, o que pode parecer uma simplificao ou uma forma de organizar o pensamento quando estudamos o passado. Quando o tema diz respeito ao estudo da Histria procurar fatos que possam representar o sentido para a durao do tempo ou do perodo que escolhemos ( dure como dizem os franceses) que seja significativo para o foco do estudo. Se outra pessoa suspeitar ou achar que h a possibilidade de outro ponto de vista, considere tambm um convite para aprofundar sua pesquisa.

Na primeira fase, a elite cultural dos Gro-Ducados e Reinos da Itlia receberam a influncia das invases brbaras do Norte e do Leste (Godos, Visigodos, Normandos, Lombardos e Hinos etc) que entraram em choque com as tradies Greco-romanas j estabelecidas: azeitonas, uvas e trigo (azeite, vinho e po) foram confrontados com a banha de porco, leite e carne. A reao veio da Igreja Catlica por meio do estabelecimento de um calendrio anual de carnes gordas ou magras para consumo.Graas aos mercadores rabes e Judeus ( mais especficamente os Radanitas), que traziam do Leste para os italianos uma ampla variedade de mercadorias: temperos e ervas da Prsia e da India; seda da China; tmaras e ouro, da frica. Juntamente com esse produtos exticos e delicados como j foi dito antes os mercadores trouxeram o conhecimento sobre seu uso e propsito: o caso, por exemplo, das pimentas utilizadas na cura de doenas ou somente para modificar o sabor de carnes, peixes e legumes. As Cruzadas tiveram o papel de

reforar o hbito de utilizao de ervas e temperos vindos do Oriente na cozinha. Veneza (conhecida como a cintura na ampulheta do comrcio internacional), Pisa, Florena, Roma, Milo, Npoles e Genova eram as cidades-entreposto, os principais mercados do comrcio internacional Leste-Oeste durante a Idade Mdia. Com a queda de Constantinopla para o Imprio Turco Otomano em 1453, o comrcio internacional comeou a parecer ameaado. O comrcio de mercadorias do Oriente era muito valorizado e extremamente lucrativo e, logicamente, um navegador genovs ( segundo consta aconselhado por um florentino) tentou convencer os Reis de Espanha a procurar uma rota alternativa para libertar Europa do monoplio do Imprio Turco Otomano.

Mesmo antes de Guttemberg inventar as tcnicas de impresso e o tipgrafo (1434-65), alguns italianos comearam a compilar receitas e listas de produtos da Itlia. A mais antiga compilao sobre o assunto o Liber de Coquina datado do final do Sculo XIII/incio do Sculo XIV. A iniciativa ocorreu no somente por orientao do Papa mas tambm foi incentivada por famlias da elite italiana como os Sforza e os De Medicis. Maestro Martino, o cozinheiro particular do Papa, ficou conhecido por sua compilao de receitas usadas no Vaticano. Giacomo Castelvetro, nascido em Veneza, escreveu, no Sculo XIV, durante seu exlio na Inglaterra, um famoso tratado de gastronomia e botnica Brieve racconto di tutti le radici, di tutti, di tutti lerbe e di tutti frutti che crudi o cotti in Italia si mangiamo.

Depois da descoberta das Amricas, sob o Papa Alexandre VI, que mediar um acordo entre Portugal e Espanha (Tratado de Tordesilhas 1494), o trabalho da Igreja estava apenas comeando novos produtos agrcolas ( bebidas, diferentes tipos de pimenta, tomates e outras frutas, castanhas, razes etc.), alm de ouro e prata, teriam que ser avaliados por Bispos e cientistas. Essa avaliao no era apenas uma tentativa de classificao em duas categorias ( magras e gordas como as carnes), mas tambm a de verificar a possibilidade de adaptao ao solo e clima europeus. Alguns desses produtos podiam apenas florescer em climas tropicais, outros adaptaram-se a certas partes da Europa, fato que incentivou modificaes ambientais no continente. Esse tipo de experincia gerou alguns enganos,

como o caso da mandioca-brava e do milho usados originalmente como um complemento para outros alimentos que foram consumidos ao exagero na Espanha e na frica, resultando em surtos de escorbuto e de pelagra.

A influncia da famlia De Medicis na Frana, do Sculo XVI ao Sculo XVII, refletiu-se em dois acordos matrimoniais. Catarina de Mdicis, Rainha da Frana, levou com ela da Itlia seu prprio cozinheiro e revolucionou a etiqueta da corte francesa. No obstante, 300 anos passaram-se at a Frana aceitar plenamente a utilizao do azeite e a Itlia, da manteiga.

Um sculo aps o Tratado de Tordesilhas, Bartolomeu Scappi, cozinheiro de Pio V, comeou a mapear os alimentos e sua forma de cozinh-los na Itlia, numa tentativa significativa de traar e compilar em vrios volumes essa herana regional. Em sua obra, identificou trs Itlias: Lombardia (pratos chamados alla lombarda e alla milanese da regio do Vale do Rio Po) Roma (pratos conhecidos como alla romagna da regio do Vaticano e dos Ducados) e Npoles ( pratos denominados alla neopolitana ou Del regno, correspondente ao Sul de Roma e Sicilia). Havia tambm outras referncias menores a outras cidades: Veneza, Florena, Genova, Bologna. Seu livro, entretanto , exclui o Piemonte, governado pela casa de Saboia, lembrado por apenas um tipo de queijo e um biscotti.. Outros trabalhos se seguiram, com a caracterstica de pensar a Itlia de forma nacional. Essa tendncia inverteu-se e os regionalismos passaram a prevalecer a partir do Sculo XVII, o que abriu espao para o Piemonte.

O livro Il cuoco piedmontese perfezionato a Parigi (1766) com suas reedies (Veneza, 1789; Milo, 1791) foi um sinal claro de que a cozinha italiana tendia a adotar um estilo francs e que a manteiga passara a ser aceita em pratos italianos. Il cuoco galante (traduo literal seria o cavalheiro cozinheiro) publicado em Npoles, em 1786, revelou-se que a mesma tendncia estava sendo adotada em outras regies da Itlia. Francesco

Leonardi escreveu o Apicio Moderno (1796) e Ippolito Cavalcanti, com sua Cuccina Teorico-Pratica foi, segundo consta, um livro de Arte Culinria Italo-Francesa, por excelncia. Escritores franceses reagiram favoravelmente a esse gesto incluindo a Itlia como cenrios de suas histrias, como j foi dito, Stendhal com seu La Chartreuse de Parma e os Romances de Balzac so apenas alguns dos exemplos existentes Collodi, autor de Pinquio, traou um roteiro gastronmico. Italiano: Il viaggio per lItalia di Gianettino

Depois da unificao, as tendncias nacionalistas da Itlia incluram tambm os aspectos culinrios e os livros sobre o tema com aspectos mais nacionalistas foram produzidos num crescendo, comeando com a Cucina Nazionale (1909) e atingiu sua fase urea com La Guida Gastronomica dItalia(1931) e La Cucina Futurista(1932): os dois ltimos livros sob a influncia do partido Nacionalista italiano. Depois da II Guerra Mundial, um novo jeito de compilar informaes sobre culinria italiana e mudar as impresses remanescentes da fase ultranacionalista anterior, o livro Il Cucchaio DArgento ( A colher de prata) foi publicado em 1950. Esse foi um esforo de resgatar as tradies e heranas da Itlia e promover uma reaproximao com os italianos da dispora cidados italianos que migraram para as Amricas (EUA, Brazil, Argentina, entre outros pases), em decorrncia dos efeitos da Revoluao Industrial no incio do Sculo XX. Um gesto de reciprocidade refletiu-se na produo de algumas filmes sobre a Itlia e no lanamento de alguns desenhos animados como Pinocchio e A Dama e o Vagabundo.

H uma observao sobre o filme A Dama e o Vagabundo e a cena do espaguetti com almndegas...De acordo com testemunhos do site Foodista.com(na parte Q&A) o prato um smbolo dos migrantes italianos que se radicaram nos EUA. Vale conferir a informao. Em meados dos anos 90, a dieta mediterrnea voltou a receber a ateno especialmente nos EUA como uma das mais saudveis. De certa forma, a noo decorrente da ideal de Mare Nostrum, renasceu com uma base cientfica. O mundo globalizado do final do Sculo XX, encontrou a mesma metfora que no incio do Sculo XX foi atribuda ao Imprio

Britnico, decorrente dpo conceito nascido com o incio da Igreja Catlica sobre a Europa. Mare Nostrum como um conceito de domnio.

Vale transcrever o ltimo pargrafo do livro Uma janela para o amor essa noo em mente.

"Youth unwrapped them; the song of the Pantheon announced passion requitted, love attained. But they were conscious of a love more mysterious than this. The song died away; they heard the river, bearing the snows of the winter into the Mediterranean."

Chapter X: The magic of Food: nourish your soul

Ater all this fuss on Culinary Arts and History, there is one last comment worth of note. The final destination on our tour would be, of course, Jorge Amado's "Dona Flor and her two husbands" and the motion picture with the same title. Jorge Amado, a Brazilian XX Century writer, who praised Bahia for each and every detail - its people, its customs, its history and dared to pursue the Artistic tradition of making literature with a flavour of passion and food. Of course, he is not the only Brazilian writer to follow this specific trend, nor the only, in Portuguese speaking counties to do that. There are also similar books in latinamerican literature and those literary works labeled as "Hispanic-American literature". In the 90's Laura Esquivel book "Like water for Chocolate" was turned into a motion picture because it brought about the same idea. Part of the American Colonies History ( Both the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere) from the Discovery of the Americas until the XXth Century, the History of food and culture has roots that can be traced back to each first savage inhabitant of each place, as was stated several times in this book. You can find some books in Portuguese, where information on Brazil's Culinary Arts and History can be researched. I am using the following books, apart from Jorge Amado's Novel: Abraho et alii (org)" Delcias das Sinhs - Historia e Receitas Culinriasda segunda metade do Seculo XIX e do incio do Sculo XX , Arte Escrita Editora, 2007(History of private family recipes from the Coffee Platantions Landlords); Lody (org) Dend - smbolo e sabor da Bahia, SENAC, SP, 2009 ( History of Palm Oil in Brazil) Rugendas; "Viagem Pitoresca pelo Brasil ", Circulo do Livro Editores, sem data ( Voyage to Brazil ) Cascudo, Luis da Cmara; "Histria da Alimentao no Brasil", Editora Global, Sp. 2007 2 reimpresso (History of Nourishment in Brazil)

Cavalcanti, Pedro " A Ptria nas Panelas - Histria e receitas da cozinha brasileira , SENAC, SP, 2007.( The country in our pans - history of Brazilian Culinary Arts) Unknown Author " O Cozinheiro Nacional", SENAC, SP, 2008 ( The National COOK) Guta, Chaves e Dolores Freixas, Larousse da Cozinha Brasileira, 2007 (Larousse of Brazilian Cuisine) Alex Atala e Carolina Chaves " Escoffianas brasileiras" Ed Larousse, 2008 (Brazilian Escoffier) The scene I like most, both in the book and in the motion pictures is the one that, after Vadinho's death, Dona Flor, apparently tearless, cooks one of her late husbands favorite dishes; "moqueca de siri-mole" (crab cakes casserole) Siri-mole is defined by the Larousse of the Brazilian Cuisine as a Crustacean ( Brachyuda decapoda) known as crab that must be catch in the transition between youth and maturity and cooked fresh. It is believed that it has more flavour. The recipe you can find in the book is perfectly fine, and there is no doubt that anyone who follows Dona Flor will be, as stated in the book, an expert cook. Nevertheless, I will present you my own, inspired on this, and other Cooks recipes. Crab cakes casserole. 1/ a kg of crab 1/3 cup of coconut butter , grease or "lard" Coconut milk 3 large onions 3 garlic cloves 1 green pepper 1 red pepper 4 tomatoes lime juice of 5 lemons parsley (chopped) chives ( chopped) coriander leaves (chopped) salt water chili pepper (optional) palm oil ( dend - "elaeis guineensis" oil)

Marinate, after washing the crabs thoroughly in a water and the juice of 1 lemon if necessary, in a mixture of water, salt, lemon juice, and the juice of one large onion grated in a manual grater or grinder, 2 or 3 garlic cloves grinded, half a green pepper sliced and coriander leaves (chopped) for 30 minutes or enough time to allow the crab cakes to absorb the flavour.

In a frying pan, with coconut butter ( grease or lard) cook slowly the crab, along with the condiments used for marinating, for 10 to 20 minutes in low heat. Transfer the crab to a iron casserole greased with about 1/ cup or less of palm oil (dend), and, while the crab cakes cooks, add to it( all of them cut in slices) the pepper, tomatoes, 1 large onion. Add the coconut milk and season with salt and chili pepper. Let it cook for half to one hour in low heat. Ten minutes before the cooking time expires add parsley and chives. Serve with rice. Nowadays in Brazil it is easier to find the "moqueca" - this casserole - made with different kinds of fish or shrimps; made in different ways, depending on the regional custom. As we have been stressing in this book, little by little, from the Discovery of the Americas until the XVIII Century, it took almost 300 years of research/trial, under the auspices of the Holy Church of Rome, to allow its subjects to undergo a change of eating habits. On the other hand, political upheavels derived from Enlightenment in Europe led to the French Revolution and the subsequent events of the Napoleonic conquest. In Portugal, the Royal family with the whole Court needed the help of the British to flee to Brazil , a colony not yet blooming. Scientific missions came along with the Royal Family, as well as during the Imperial period in Brazil: the Dutch Rugendas, the French Debret, among several others, according to History books; I would like to remind you that we are not being judgemental here, I am only trying to pursue a known trend related to historical research from the French School of Thought of the 1930 that stressed "La dure" as a means of understanding events in certain areas of study, as questionable as it may seem to some. In terms of culinary Arts and nourishment, there has been some new issues related to slave trade: it is told that, in order to survive, the slaves brought with them from Africa a "coconut", a nut and a seed which resulted in spontaneous transference of the palm tree to Brazil - a plant called in latin Elaeis Guineensis - and its exploration in the same ways they were used in Africa, palm oil, palm kernel oil, that received in Portuguese the name "dend". When the Imperial Court of Portugal was located in Brazil, in the XIXth Century, "Dend" was used by the slaves in their candombl religious rituals. Each of their dishes was sometimes related to one or two of their God/Goddesses - in another culture the same reference to what we called before with the word Kimia. After the slave trade was over and part of the Royal Family was sent to exile, modernity was knocking at the front door of every country in the world. The XX Century, History tells us, caused palm oil plants to be cultivated in a British colony in Asia. "Dend oil" began to be tested as a vegetable margerine - starting as a substitute of the Indian butter "ghee".

From the Crash of Wall Street to the subsequent events that led to World War II the usage of margerine made from "vegetable oil" was labelled as an extreme measure, part of the war effort. Coincidently, and due to different reasons, that is, primarily World War II, there was also a "rapprochement" from the US to Latin America, a gesture that can be illustrated by Disney's "Have you been to Bahia? and Saludos Amigos!" It may be strange, but according to some of the books mentionned, "moqueca" is a dish from native Brazilian indians, that was later improved with palm oil. Well, I hope you can in the future taste the "Babel Tower" of Brazilian Cuisine, if you ever dare to try it out!

Captulo X A mgica da culinria: alimente sua alma

Depois de toda essa conversa sobre Arte Culinria e Histria, h ainda um comentrio que vale fazer. O destino final de nosso roteiro seria o livro de Jorge Amado "Dona Flor e seus dois maridos" e o filme do mesmo nome. Jorge Amado, um escritor brasileiro, que falou sobre a Bahia da primeira metade do Sculo XX e todos os detalhes que conhecia: seu povo, seus costumes, sua histria e at ousou fazer referncia tradio artstica de fazer literatura com sabor de paixao e de Arte Culinria. Jorge Amado no o nico escritor brasileiro que se utilizou desse artifcio, nem o nico a faz-lo em literatura dos pases de lngua portuguesa. H livros semelhantes em literatura latino-americana de origem castelhana e at mesmo do que atualmente nos EUA chamado de literatura hispano-americana, ao lado da americano-africana. Nos anos 90, o livro de Laura Esquivel "Como gua para Chocolate" foi escolhido para ser roteiro de filme por transmitir idia semelhante.

Como foi dito at agora parte da histria das colnias espanholas, portuguesas, inglesas e francesas nas Amricas, do descobrimento do continente em 1500 at o Sculo XX, a histria da alimentao e da cultura, em seus muitos aspectos, pode ser retraada a partir do primeiro selvagem habitante de cada continente do globo terrestre. Voc pode encontrar alguns livros em portugus, onde informaes sobre histria e Arte Culinria do Brasil pode ser pesquisado. Alm do remance de Jorge Amado, estou utilizando os seguintes livros:

Abraho et alii (org)" Delcias das Sinhs - Historia e Receitas Culinriasda segunda metade doSeculo XIX e do incio do Sculo XX , Arte Escrita Editora, 2007(History of private family recipes from the Coffe Platantions Landlords); Lody (org) Dend - smbolo e sabor da Bahia, SENAC, SP, 2009 ( History of Palm Oil in Brazil) Rugendas; "Viagem Pitoresca pelo Brasil ", Circulo do Livro Editore, sem data (Voyage to Brazil ) Cascudo, Luis da Cmara; "Histria da Alimentao no Brasil", Editora Global, Sp. 2007 2 reimpresso (History of Nourishment in Brazil) Cavalcanti, Pedro " A Ptria nas Panelas Histria e receitas da cozinha brasileira , SENAC, SP, 2007.( The country in our pans history of Brazilian Culinary Arts) Unknown Author " O Cozinheiro Nacional", SENAC, SP, 2008 ( The National COOK) Guta, Chaves e Dolores Freixas, Larousse da Cozinha Brasileira, 2007 (Larousse of Brazilian Cuisine) Alex Atala e Carolina Chaves " Escoffianas brasileiras" Ed Larousse, 2008 (Brazilian Escoffier) A cena de que mais gosto, tanto no livro quanto no filme, a em que, aps a morte de Vadinho, Dona Flor, enlutada, faz um dos pratos prediletos de seu finado marido: "moqueca de siri-mole".Siri-mole definido no Larousse da Cozinha brasileira como crustceo, conhecido como siri ou caranguejo, que deve ser pescado na fase de transio entre a juventude e a maturidade e cozido fresco. Acredita-se que esse tipo de siri tem sabor mais acentuado.

"Moqueca de Siri-mole" kg de siri fresco 1/3 de xcara de leo (azeite, gordura, banha) de coco 400 ml de leite de coco 3 cebolas grandes 3 dentes de alho 1 pimento verde 1 pimento vermelho 4 tomates grandes 1 limo siciliano 5 limes ( o suco) Coentro (folhas picadas) Salsa e cebolinha (picadas) Sal

gua Azeite de dend Pimenta ( dedo de moa ou malagueta opcional)

Lave o siri, se necessrio, em gua com o suco de 1 limo e depois deixe marinar numa mistura de sal, gua, suco de limo, suco de 1 cebola grande ralada no ralador manual, 2 ou 3 dentes de alho amassados, pimento cortado em fatias, coentro picado por 30 minutos ou pelo tempo suficiente para que o siri absorva o sabor. Utilize uma panela wok, untada com leo de coco, e cozinhe o siri e os condimentos (exceto a gua da marinada) por 10 a 20 minutos em fogo baixo, Transfira para uma panela de ferro, com 1/3 de xcara de dend ou menos e, enquanto o siri cozinha, adicione os seguintes ingredientes cortados em rodelas: pimento, tomates e 1 cebola. Coloque, por fim, o leite de coco e tempere com sal e pimenta (a gosto). Deixe em fogo baixo por 30 minutos a 1 hora, Dez minutos antes de retirar do fogo, salpique com salsa e cebolinha. Sirva com arroz.

Hoje em dia mais fcil encontrar moqueca de peixe e de camares feitas de maneiras diferentes, dpendendo da regiao do pas e das tradies culturais do Chef. Como enfatizamos no blog, desde o descobrimento das Amricas at o Sculo XVIII, sob os auspcos da Igreja Catlica Apostlica Romana, para que seus fiis mudassem seus hbitos alimentares. Por outro lado, mudanas polticas decorrentes do Iluminismo na Europa provocaram a Revoluo Francesa e os acontecimentos subsequentes at a conquista napolenica. Eu gostaria de lembrar que no h julgamentos de valor nesse blog, h apenas a utilizao de um mtodo de pesquisa histrica utilizado na Frana a partir dos anos 30, que se utilizava da "durao" ("La dure") como meio de compreender um certo objeto de estudo. Em termos de Artes Culinrias e alimentao, havi uma novidade no Sculo XIX - para sobreviver durante a viagem, os escravos trouxeram da frica o coco da rvore do "dend"( ou castanha, que tambm semente) o que fez com que brotassem as plantas do den em latim "Elaeis guineensis". Isso permitiu a manuteno de alguns hbitos culinrios que os escravos tinham no seu continente de origem; inclusive os religiosos e a permanncia da conecco cultural, denominada de Kimia em outras partes do blog. Depois da liberta dos escravos e da transferncia da Famlia Real para o exlio com a proclamao da Repblica, o Sculo XX e a modernidad batia porta de cada pas do mundo conhecido. H alguns registros histricos que atestam que a planta do "dend" foi transferida para uma colnia britnica na sia, onde comeou a ser utilizada como um substituto da manteiga de leite utilizada no "ghee" indiano.

Com a quebra da Bolsa de Nova York de 1929 e os acontecimentos que levaram II Guerra Mundial, a utilizao da "margarina vegetal" feita do "dend" foi uma medida extrema e parte do esforo de guerra. Paralelamente, e por diferentes razes, os EUA procuraram uma aproximao com a Amrica Latina, num gesto que pode ser ilustrado, entre outras coisas, at pelos desenhos animados do Walt Disney "Voc j foi Bahia?" e "Ol amigos!" Pode ser estranho, mas, de acordo com alguns dos livros que esto sendo utilizados para a parte de cozinha brasileira, a "moqueca" prato de nossos indgenas que, posteriormente foi aprimorado pelo "dend" dos escravos africanos. H, no entanto, muito mais o que saborear na culinria brasileira alm da "moqueca". Espero que os leitores ousem conhecer a "Torre de Babel" da culinria brasileira no futuro.

Final words
This is the end of our culinary tour on literature and motion pictures. I hope that, for writers, screenwriters and motion pictures directors, it may be a new beginning and to the readers a new frontier. I hope that it may be perceived also as an invitation to find one or more than one restaurant especialized in "movie menus" for those who love eating good food, that is gourmets and foodlovers. I confess that, during my few travels abroad, US, Europe and Latin America, I did not find a restaurnt of this kind...and yet, I have been to L. A., D.C., N. York. Boston, Paris, Miami, Rome, London and its surroundings, among other known places. If you ever find a restaurant with this characteristics, please do write to me and I will gladly advertize it in my blog - after thoroughly reviewing its menu in person. I hoped, this book is a revised and updated version of my blog ( http://www,donafrorcravoecanela.blogspot.com ) with some "bonus features" on this forgotten art, as it is nowadays done in DVD's and Blu-ray discs. In the next pages you will find the promised bonus features.

Bonus Features
It is known to be an European custom, among household cooks, to avoid wasting any kind of food (vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy and seeds) products and letting it rot without any purpose. Planning meals and managing household assets has always been a womans duty, historically speaking. Nevertheless, tradition tells us that men has prevail when the issue was fame and fortune: therefore the majority of important and historically famous cooks were men. Women recipe books had tips on how to avoid waste, by improving leftovers or using the remainder ingredients of one dish into another recipe. Nowadays in Brazil, some books on traditional families history include some of those treasured recipes, kept secret within family circle from generation to generation.

Some of my recipes date from the XIX Century, when in Brazil the Portuguese Royal family started to invite scientific missions with researchers of different origins to travel and study the country. Henceforth, from 1808 onwards, books on Brazil were published, which included books on cooking the most famous one being The Imperial Cook.( later on, in the XX Century, adapted to a new version The National Cook). Family recipes that were kept secret for centuries remained within the silent walls of our

oldest lineages. Some of them are being published in some books only very recentlyMost of these books were mentioned here. The Lavoisier Principle can be summed up into a simple idea: you can transform one recipe into other. I will present you tips on how to try to coordinate dishes and avoid wasting food. I know that for several women this is not new, but it is worth refreshing your view on this idea, especially when the destiny of your household waste and recycling are one of our worries. A last remark to those who really love sophisticated traditional Culinary Art is more than an apology: I seldom use wine in my recipes for several reasons, but I think that if you read Mapie Comtesse Guy de Toulouse-Lauttrec s book (Good French Cooking , Orion Press, New York, 1966), to begin with. This book is a good reference guide for those who would like a fresh start towards this path. Part of the books I used to write this small introduction can be found in the Bibliography section. Cooking is a lifelong work, from childhood when you start tasting different foods to maturity tastes and choices depend on several things, including your life history, circumstances and reading habits. I hope you can get the clue to this meal planning method, so that you can start on your own with any kind of recipe book.

Good Luck!

The soup

The soup for late XIXth Century French was a very important, exquisite and delicate issue. Considered by Auguste Escoffier a prelude to a good meal the soup is the first impression that leaves you longing forever and ever for that famous night when you dinned with Mr and Ms . Or at that famous restaurant located at. It is an European tradition born from the need to avoid turning good food into waste, letting it rot when it is not your recipe requirement such an important statement in a formal dinner, the soup was the wisest solution for a continent that had survived from several wars, food shortages, plagues A Key to the Lavoisier principle. It must be served almost boiling, not lukewarm, but hot, except during summer when you can serve them cold. This dish should be preferably hot because it helps you enjoy the dinnerthe vapor and moist from the dish should awaken your senses in the same way as sparkling water and the sherbet do when served between dinner services. Summing up, it is the harmonious note in a symphony

I made a family tree for the French soups which I am certain you will not understand, as I myself do not sometimes, because they have such strange subtleties I guess I am not able to grasp it entirely. Anyway, there are those who tried to classify soups into categories as Escoffier himself. You can check the chart below. Pot-au-feu = This is the symbol of home cooking or, in French, cuisine familiale, for it is part of the household management to avoid wasting food: it has pieces of meat you dont usually serve in a dinner or lunch dish, along with very small pieces of meat you usually have, (attention:this pieces of meat are not leftovers). It includes also chopped bones, kidneys, feet, ears and vegetables, including cabbages. Bay leaf is unavoidable when seasoning. It is cooked for over four (4) hours with plenty of water. After cooking during 4 hours, you take all meat you used, and sieve the vegetables with a cloth, which

is pressed with the hands to avoid that the juice be wasted, then you put the meat (not the bones) back inside the soup to serve it with breadcrumbs. Petite marmite = This is the same as pot of feu, the only difference is that you add chicken (sometimes game such as quails or partridges) for making the broth. (when you use pieces of meat, if the recipe requires, it is in very small pieces as if it were seasoning parts, lean meat and bacon, for instance). It must be clear and blanched, and served with small pieces of vegetables in it, with grated parmesan cheese, and the beef(or meat) and cabbage are served as well in a separate plate at the same time as the soup. Consomm = This soup is a broth (bouillon) which has to be clarified, therefore cabbage must be omitted. You have to take from the soup all the fat, which means as much as possible with the tools at hand. Its contents too, must be sieved and pressed ( seasonings and vegetables as well) depending of course on the recipe you are using. Consomm may include also: eau de riz, eau dorge, bouillon dherbes, eau de reglisse, and Italian pasta ( such as rizoni, for instance). Royales = This is a soup that includes 1 whole egg and 3 egg yolks , in its recipes. Velouts = This is a soup that requires thickening through the use of eggs and butter. You can also use milk or crme frache. These ingredients are added to the broth to make your dish gain an aspect of a thick homogeneous and smooth liquid. There are also velouts made without the broth used in a consomm. Cream = This soup requires one of these: ground rice, flour, cornstarch, barley and oatmeal along with milk or crme frache. Foreign soups include minestrone, Brittish turtle soup, brittish false turtle soup, Russian soup etc Every old cookbook include soup for the sick, especially the XIXth Century ones. Fish soup and Bisqu were not included, here. I can recall clearly that, when I was almost ten years old and first read Charles Dickens, one of my many questions was about the taste of porridgeCould you imagine the mind of a child wondering about places and food she didnt know? Porridge is one of the meals mentioned in Stephen Frears Mary Reilly , along with consomm, or as Julia Roberts character puts it brotha soup that could be served either for the sick or for the healthy. Then we must stress Escoffiers statement again: In Haute Cuisine the soup is the first impression that helps you enhance your hability to pleasurably enjoy your meal. In terms of household cooking it is a method of avoiding to create excessive waste, as in

the, although realistic, ironic remark made in another Frears picture (Dangerous Liasons): soup for he poor. The way the pot of feu is made, which includes chopped bones, animal fat, pieces of meat you wouldnt use in your everyday meal and veg etables, helps ensure that no parts of the cattle you slaughtered will be lost in your garbage bin: it can be recycled into a good healthy meal, even it is for charity purposes to be given to the poor.

Recipe for consomm (inspired on Auguste Escoffier) (serves two to four persons) 3 small pieces of a chicken leg or a wing and bones (previously roasted or not roasted) cabbage chopped 1 pinch dried oregano 1 clove roasted garlic grinded 2 onions chopped 1 bell pepper chopped 1 bay leaf 5 carrots chopped 5 baby carrots cut in inch slices( should not be pureed, used later to garnish) Chives 1 tsp butter (optional: you can use also pieces of pork or beef fat; you can add too canned or packet chicken broth to add more flavor) Boil the vegetables in a pan or casserole with an insert stainless steel basket inside of it for at least 2 hours adding water every 15 minutes until a broth is formed ( you can add a little bit of canned chicken broth or packet broth) After the allotted time, take the basket from the casserole and pour its contents (except for the bone) in a food processor to pure with less the cup of the broth. In a smaller pan, melt the butter in a little bit of water. Sieve the pure over it and mix, let it boil. Pour it over an individual soup terrine and garnish with baby carrots and 3 small chives stalks.

When I read young adults literature, not only the central plot attracted me, I was also curious about food and placescould you imagine watching at the cinema theatre things you couldnt understand completely when reading a booksuch as how to cook an eel, or those crazy rich witches eating frogs legs, snails and snakes . The books on the XIXth century life used to show how bourgeoisie began to want to become as noble as the Aristocratic witches they envieda behavior that was born from relationships such as that of Mary Reilly and Dr Jekill: the eel looks disgustingly ugly when being cooked; the consomm is, for Julia Roberts character, in truth a Broth. There is an exotic annedote on a Brazilian historical character Lampio, who lived in the beginning of the XXth Century. Historians tell us that , affraid of being poisoned by his enemies, Lampio heard that a Languire was a man that worked in the French courts, whose duty was to taste the kings meal before it was served to prevent the possibility of poisoning the Monarch. Lampio understood that the key to the languire ability was the small spoon made of silver or vermeil. Until nowadays any tourist can buy a tea spoon with a precious stone such as amethyst, beryl or topaz, that represent Lampios fear of being betrayed and poisoned. It was not only in Brazil that the rising and envious bourgeoisie or wage-workers class tried to mimic Aristocracy through the imprecise words and explanations they have heard about. The British Empire under Queen Victoria, known to be Englands strictest, fierceness moralist, had a way of spreading among each social class the new rules of behavior: they manage to put on writing several of their customary unspoken social practices the same way Napoleon did with the civil code in France. The rising bourgeoisie would replace the aristocrats and wage-workers from factories would replace medieval servants. The end of slavery worldwide would help Industrial Revolution to take its route into modern times and the acceptance of the new world of the machinery and automatism: wage was the new social currency and there would take place in the world a new social relationship among social classes. Among literature in English we find authors such CHARLES Dickens, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Walter Scott, Louis Robert Stevenson, H. G. Wells and among Americans such as Edith Wharton, Fran Burnett, Louise May Alcott that made a strange caricature of the modern times transitional phase. In The Strange Case of Dr jeckill and Mr Hyde as well as in Shelleys Frankenstein the mains issue was the scientific discoveries on biology, chemistry and medicine, that were made as a somber inhuman instead of the amazingly marvelous breakthrough to humankind they were meant to be. A new frontier was being surpassed: electricity, telephone, mechanical machines of all kinds (cars and trains, washing machines and home appliances) all of these were celebrated in World Fairs such as the one in Paris - from which the city inherited the Tour Eiffel and the one in San Francisco, California as well. It was a new

dawn into human life which brought to us a new concept of time: a fast-paced one, like a double-shift in a factory this was a theme for poetry. Going back to Mary Reilly, the motion picture version of Stevensons The Strange case of Dr Jeckill and Mr Hyde, there is another scene that catches the eye: the one when Edward Hyde states the most convenient location of the Hospital, near the slaughterhouse, where they can use the same gutter. If you think that XIX Century cities were planned with some rational logic or even doubt it; please take a minute and try to overlay in Google Earth the maps of modern London and the historical London of 1848. You will be able to locate streets made famous by Edgar Allan Poe such as Baker street or Morgue st, and the ones mentioned in Stevensons books or Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock series. During my early University years , I had the opportunity to study this theme related to the colonial cities un South America and other colonies. The difference among the topographic logic of the dominant power: Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, France and the British Empire. You will be able to find in your Google Earth historical map the environmental logic born from the location of Salmon Lane and the Docks or Brewery stand sometimes it is funny even for young adults to check out this map. It is worth even to ask yourself if there was any sense in this planning to avoid excessive damage and to avoid waste. You can even reach the conclusion that the fastpaced growth of the modern times Industrial Revolution, as Stevensons book metaphorically describes, was too much violent and Lavoisier could not cope with it especially in the colonial cities. You can find below two recipes for velout,both of them inspired on Escoffiers book. Tomato Velout ( inspired on Escoffiers Consomm Carmen) 10 cherry tomatoes 1 or 2 pieces of chicken leg with the bone (roasted) 1 tsp marjoram salted butter (or more according to your taste) 1 onion sliced green bell-pepper chopped 1 or 2 slices of dehydrated garlic 1/3 cup 0nion water

 onion slices browned packed dehydrated chicken broth or stock optional or canned broth 1 tsp sugar for browning 2 tbsp crme frache 1 tsp oregano 1 pinch of sumac (sumak in latim Rhus coriaria) or red saffron 4 chives stalks for garnish. Make the broth in a casserole with water the chicken, some onion water, garlic and the bell pepper. Cook for one hour then add a little bit of organo and the stock if you prefer to enhance the taste. While the broth is being made for one more hour in a saucepan bring to a boil the tomatoes in a little bit of water and melted butter, season with sumac, marjoram and bell pepper, cook .for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes are tender and ready to be pureed in a food processor. In another pan brown the onion slices in water, a very thin slice of butter and sugar. Pour in the food processor: the tomatoes, the chicken flesh ( just a piece for taste), and the browned onions, add to it a little bit of the broth liquid and the remainder from the browning pan. In the same saucepan where you cooked the tomatoes, sieve the contents of the puree and add the two tablespoons of crme frache, bring to a boil. Serve hot. Chicken velout (inspired in Escoffier)

The sauces

When addressing sauces, what better subject to talk about than a life of a writer? The writer, of course I am talking about the good ones, the ones that were capable of producing a breakthrough in literature, that are recognized by their undeniable quality work. This kind of writer is the person who is able to enhance the flavor of ordinary human life. He transforms into an unique narrative and plot the eyes of his reader, allowing him to grasp through his words the sensitivity towards the world that surrounds them.The writer teaches you to look through his or her eyes, with the aesthetic sense he or she possesses, the eyes that you have borrowed for a short period of time, while reading the story belonging to his or her fountain pen. Long with the book, you borrow from those who write the inherited and learned knowledge of the meaning of Art and beauty.Orus eyes, metaphorically speaking of course. Then the mysteries surrounding the aesthetic sense and the genesis of a creative work are the real issue for the reader. Easy enough to compare and re-interpret the Cordon bleu as well as the best Chefs statements on sauces: no aesthetic work is complete with this sense of the Artistic endeavor. The movie I chose is Finding Neverland, where you can find a sauce scene, James Barrie and his wife inviting the children for a formal dinner at their home. The main theme in that particular motion picture is the writer, his personal life and the way he deal with his creative work while living in societywhere you may find people who are not always prone to accept those who differ from the usual social rules. The mere fact of James Barrie s work being that of a writer is a cause for social suspicion and concern, Art was taken as a very strange thing, especially in the end of the XIXth century. The examples are numerous, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, D.H. Lawrence; George Sand. Henry Miller, they were all perceived as sorceress and warlocks, depressive persons prone to sadistic tortures and sorceries towards the others, to say the least. On the other hand, we can also witness during the movie picture the allusion to some of the best mythical stories in world literature: Bernard Shaws Pigmallion and the creative endeavor that turns itself into a damnation or cursethe damned sculptor that receives from the Greek Gods the blessing of an inhuman achievement of sculpting a person that seemed alive (his masterpiece) and that, nevertheless, cannot stand up and walk as a human being. This Greek myth led to the belief that suffering was a means to enhance human creativity and only actual suffering would broaden human sensitivity towards others, a rather controversial point of view and method on the genesis of a creative work.

There are still other ways of perceiving how creativity develops into Art and leads to a masterpiece. The creative work demands much more discipline and practice than the mere common notion of pain and suffering as a common illiterate would perceive those two concepts. In the specific case of a writer, as in Finding Neverland, we can witness James Barrie writing a Journal , supposedly every day, and reading a Newspaper as wellan allusion to the never ending work for those who write as a profession: constant practice of writing demands reading other writers too. This kind of literary usage, that is, the allusion to myth, archetypes and other symbols in motion pictures is called by French intellectuals le mot retrouv, whereas Umberto Eco addresses it as two different concepts: inter-textual dialogue and inter-textual irony that is to retrieve from former books myths and ideas and re-interpret it ,like an argument or dialogue between writers both dead and alive through their books; such as described in Jonathan Swifts work An account of a battle between the ancient and modern books ( my version from a N York edition dated 1857). The fact is that e a breakthrough or a masterpiece in literature is a result from a dialogue with previous ideas as well as a new view, a new interpretation or a new way to address a mythical story, an archetypal message, an old principle, a known symbol. It is difficult to achieve a primitive or a pure aesthetic sense that could lead to a brand new form of Art. There are those who believed that children were human being that were free from old and decadent concepts and rules on aesthetic sense and therefore able to feel, judge and create from a different perspectiveThis idea was could be an analogy to jean Jacques Rousseau bon sauvage concept. The character James Barrie, in Finding Neverland, is using both resources, his previous readings and knowledge, as well as the help of the four little boys that, in a two way road, did cooperate with the writer to achieve his masterpiece. Thus, it is easy to reach the conclusion that we are free to interpret this language up to a certain point. For instance, there is a scene where the audience learns about the rumors on Barries relationship with the Davies family and the camera moves to a Lady with her madeleine, putting the cake inside her beverage (tea and milk). This is an already classic allusion to Marcel Prousts famous passage, that was considered a literary breakthrough at the time. It was clear that in his work the madeleine and tea triggered the main character long lost memories: sounds, smells and tastes. The allusion had the sole purpose to reinforce a message about the biographical data on another writer. Therefore, my boundaries lie within the knowledge of an allusion widely known and studied. Even this form of expression, that deals with images and sounds, is limited to symbolism and allusions that have similar rules, if not the same, to those in written literature. In a rough analogy to the issue of symbols, allusions and inter-textual dialogue, when addressing culinary art, the sauce should be this delicate, subtle allusion to the common symbolism that interconnects every nation on earth. Once a symbol of France and French cooking, their ability to grasp the source on how to improve taste made sauce widespread

all over the world. First of all, sauce is not gravy. So you should not serve your meat, game or poultry with its gravy unless your recipe absolutely demands it. Secondly, it is based on stock or broth, as the soup we talked about in the last chapter. The broth or stock are the root to a whole meal; with entre, first course, second course etc : harmony is your main concern. The stock, for sauces, is used to prepare the roux or fonds, that was translated into English in Escoffiers book (Le Guide Culinaire, Wiley and Sons, N Jersey 2011) as basic preparations for sauces de base. When making roux you apply thickening agents to your broth or stock as well as specific seasonings and essences. There are three kinds of Roux: Brown roux (or fonds brun) made with brown stock, clarified butter and a little bit of sifted flour) From the brown roux are made sauces such as sauce espagnole. The blond roux (fonds blond), which is a lighter version of the previous roux, with the same ingredients and cooked very slowly to make its color clearer, it is the basis for bchamel sauce. The white roux (fonds blanc) which is cooked in a few minutes, enough to eliminate the rawness of the flour, sauces that bear the name velout in it are made from fonds blanc, as well as sauce barnaise, Hollandaise, among others. The tomato sauce is a different chapter, that the French inherited from the Italians and their Queens Marie and Catherine de Medicis. Mayonnaise and sauces made out of it, such as tartar sauce, remoulade, aioli, andalouse, are cold sauces. Dressings or vinaigrette for salads are made from oil and vinegar. There are also sweet sauces that carry the French name coulis, which designated any sauce during the Middle Ages, originated from the French words couler and coulerthat are rooted in the latin word collum. The word coulis replaced by the word sauce and nowadays you can still find the name coulis designating sweet sauces for desserts. You can find a chart with the correspondance between type of sauce and type of meat, game poultry or fish at the latest edition of the Larousse Gastronomique (dated 2009) which is a good way to avoid the huge mistake of breaking the harmony in a meal, especially for beginners. The cordon bleu techniques series is a nice help for step-by-step photos, as how-to-do guide and good tips. I will not mention dips and sauces from Asia and the Middle Eastern tradition, which should be theme for another chapter. Lets begin with the simplest tomato sauce, which is the sauce for pasta, hot dogs, Lasagna, gnocci etc.. You can, if you like, avoid using broth or stock for this sauce, but if you want to be at the safe side use vegetables or chicken broth. The sauce, of course, is a variation of the tomato velout from the soup chapter...some tips are worth mentioning before the recipe ingredients :

A real tomato sauce requires water and butternever make tomato sauce using olive oil or any other kind for the chemical reaction of the tomato with oil makes its taste a little rash for most of human beings; You should always try to use herbs and spices, but caution is highly recommended; you should try to stick to the simplest bouquet garni when using pepper, for hot sauces, avoid overusealthough peppers are still called the Grains of Paradise, their main purpose was to help prevent poisoning and aiding people to, through sweating, relieve their bodies while releasing unwanted toxins. Always try to add, as garnish, coriander leaves, parsley and chivesthey are always refreshing. Mushrooms and truffles are part of what is called the essence, that has the purpose to add flavorthe dehydrated type should be your best choice, in spite of the mushroom type (funghi porcini; funghi shitake; ceps, chaperelle etc).

Tomato sauce 10 cherry tomatoes Water 1 tblsp, Butter( to be melted slowly in the saucepan with water and dehydrated garlic slices) 1 bell pepper cut in julienne 1 onion sliced 1 pinch of either sumac or red saffron (this tip was inherited from Arabs and Italians) 1 tblsp semolina flour (as a thickening agent optional) Parsley and chives for garnish Olive oil should be used on the sauce only to enhance the aroma, after the tomato sauce is thoroughly cooked and ready to serve. In a saucepan (saucire in French) pour the water and the butter, heat to allow the butter to melt slowly while you add the three or four dehydrated garlic slices. Put the tomatoes 10 t0 20 cut in pieces or slices with the skin and seeds. Add the bell pepper, onion, and sumac and let it cook slowly until a paste is formed. Depending on the dish you chose to accompany your sauce you can pure it on a food processor and sieve it and then add the

semolina flour for thickening purposes. For hot dogs, you may try not to sieve it, and take the seeds from the tomatoes before cooking. (carrots and cabbages may be added to this recipe as well as bay leaves or marjoram, but you will have to choose, according to the dish it is made for). The sauce recipe above was used in the gnocci recipe given last April (check the blog http://www.donafrorcravoecanela.blogspot,com ). One of the best things I have made was a recipe inspired on the recipes given by Comtesse Toulouse-Lautrecs On French Cooking and used for Noisettes DAgneau it is a kind of sauce dAnanas whose thickening agents are almond milk, semolina flour and a banana that in Brazil is called gold ( a very special kind because of its sweetness; in Portuguese Banana Ouro) as shown in the pictures below: Recipe for Ananas sauce (pineapple sauce) inspired in Mme Guy de Toulouse-Lautrec 2 or 3 Gold bananas cut in slices 2 or 3 Pineapple slices 1/ cup of sliced almonds tbsp. semolina flour Up to 3 tbsp butter (melted) Water Dehydrated or canned chicken broth In a small saucepan heat water, a tsp of butter and the cup of sliced almonds (about 15 minutes). Take it and pure it in a food processor. Sieve it and set aside the milk. In another saucepan heat in water and butter the bananas and the pineapple with the almond puree (up to 15 minutes) . Pour it in a food processor and sieve it, adding the liquid to the milk. Heat the chicken broth in water and tsp butter, then add the almond milk, ananas and bananas liquid mixture . If you need a thicker sauce, add the semolina flour little by little. Serve in a dish garnished with nuts, chives and pineapples, along with the lamb medallions. The true medallions (noisettes in French), according to the cordon bleu book series, where made out of lamb, either the loins or the ribs. Techniques on Medallions for lamb can be found in the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home. As for the lamb Medallions, I would rather recommend to marinate them for at least two hours, brushed with olive oil, sea salt, bayleaf powder, onions. Cook them in a pan with water butter and dehydrated onions until golden brown. Take them from the gravy

and serve. Lamb is ready when a little bit rosy inside. There are several other ways to make lamb medallions and the cordon bleu recipe you can use as reference is noisettes dagneau la crme dal. It is obvious that the sauce is a subtle matter. Mr Jean Mauduit, in his book Maxims Sixty years of History and entertaining (I have the Monaco edition in French Maxims Soixante ans de plaisir et dhistoire) tells the reader how the working day at Maxims began; the cooks and chefs arriving early in the morning and starting always with broth, and sauces. The restaurants initial procedures was a guarantee of fresh, carefully chosen, reliable food a glimpse in good management to entertain Kings and Queens of Europe. After 1907, it is said , the restaurant was partially sponsored by the British Royal family, which means that all Noble Houses met there with many goals, apart from dinning very well. After World War II, with the aircraft industry having to gear towards civilian purposes, there has been a catering agreement between Maxims and a north-american commercial airflight companyThe new style of travelling abroad with a touch of europes royalty would certainly help to enhance the use of aircraft for long journeys and lower its costs in the long range. The irony in all of this historical account is the paradoxical introduction of new types of food, such as margarine made out of palm oil, and old ways inherited from aristocracy. The same irony that can be devised in Cinema Paradiso. The world regained, as part of the plans for the reconstruction of Europe, born from the debris of the Ancient Era was an ironic analogy to the North-American reaction against Auguste Rodins masterpiece The Kiss: the new industry of the motion pictures brought about the entertainment to millions of citizens from different cultures with their endless tales of love and unfaded Kisses. Rodins interpretation of the Love between Francesca da Rimini and her lover in his sculpture was the reverse of the fairy tale contained in Finding Neverland, a reference of Alexandre Dumas Dames aux Camelias. This inter-textual dialogue or language has the same parallel in the Madeleines from one motion picture and the bread and butter in the Italian movie, in the sense that the memories belonging to each human being early years are those that should last, the ones that touches the heart and minds the most.

Some New Recipes

The New York Wedding Band

I have lived in San Francisco, California, for a brief period of timeWhen I wa s there, a shop around a corner near Union Square opened in 2002its name was The New York Bagel. It was the best bagel I have ever tasted in San Francisco! I used to go there, Sundays earliest hour, to buy a bagel and coffee, and then climb up to the second floor and eat among old New York photographs...I took my time, every Sunday morning I could, to feel the sweetest sourdough ever made...and then I went to a movie theatre to watch a new release at ten o'clock in the morning. These are some of the simple pleasures in life that are difficult to forgetan uncomplicated Sunday morning, breakfast in an awakening town, famous for being the place where the U.N. Charter was conceived and signed. Once, several nations dreamt altogether : a peaceful international harmonious world...there, in San Francisco. They had a dream...in San Francisco, the representatives of the free countries that signed the U.N. Charter had a dream...a better world order.

The New York bagel Sourdough 1 cup semolina flour/all-purpose flour mix 2 tsp yeast 1 tblsp butter (melted) 1 tsp coarse salt/ or kosher salt

1/2 cup semi-dehydrated plain yogurt (use a sieve or a cheese cloth to drain it) milk 1 egg cup olive oil In a bowl pour: the butter, 1 tsp olive oil, salt, yeast and mix with 1 tblsp flour mix (semolina and all purpose). Allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Add little by little the remaining flour while mixing. Use the olive oil to soften the dough, and the milk (if necessary). Add the whole egg at the end, use more flour only if necessary. Knead the dough thoroughly and reserve in covered casserole in a dark and dry place for at least four hours up to overnight. Before baking, knead the dough again, add any special seasoning such as onions, garlic, parmesan cheese etc. In a greased mold, give to it the form of a ring or a wedding band. Bake it in a pre-heated oven in medium to high temperature until golden. For plain bagels, sprinkle with salt

The Bread is widely known as a symbol of rebirth and hopeespecially in western cultures. It is also said that, in the same way Catholics and Jewish people divide the unleavened bread as part of their religious rituals, some Catholic Priests used to use bread as a means to know the path and the secrets the devil threaded in your life at the time of your deathThis old superstition turned out in an old popular sentence in Portuguese that can be translated as The bread the devil kneaded. It is in fact a creole translation both from the French and the English, made by both slaves and illiterate white people in Brazil that uses the French word amass (accumulate) and the English word thread (as path)Sometimes I think it is an inherited gossip whispered inside the kitchens of former land-owners in Brazil. My Grandmother used to tell me that she once thought Brazil was so rich that everything could grow in this land( It was a reference to the famous letter sent tothe King of Portugal by the Fleet under the comand of Pedro Alvarez Cabral, who discovered Brazil)it would be the lungs of the planet and, provided people could take a rational land management seriously, it could also be a barn, from where we could take milk and honey without spoiling the environment. I have learned from her the only notion I truly believed could be the right one: the Lavoisier principle of rational management that could lead to an upward

standard of human life. All the work once sponsored and carried out by both Jewish and catholic traders, as explained on the chapter about Italy, could turn into the best results for the globalized world. Once, my Grandmother dreamt... The motion picture No reservations is one among several others that shows how the XXI st century could have turned out to be a somewhat better place in some aspects: a globalized world where every commodity can travel along with the knowledge on how to use it wisely Once I had a dreamand I wanted to share it with you. Wouldnt it be beautiful? Wouldnt it be beautiful that the New order devised at Conferences held in places such as San Francisco, Yalta, Dubarton Oaks, Bretton Woods and Havana turned out so perfectly well that every meal at your table could represent a Nation, a folktale, a story, part of your own Historyand the measure of how much your ancestors caredas we could have cared now

Once I dreamt.

Angels Sweetness
One of the dishes that can also be accepted by the Jewish cuisine, provided you take the necessary adaptations, is called "Vacherins of the angel cake known as Italian merengue:

aux fraises", made with a version

Vacherins aux fraises

Angel food cake In a bowl over a bain-marie at the stove top, beat 4 egg whites with a tspoon of salt with a handmixer, until a meremgue is formed. Pour 8 grams of sugar and continue the beating. Pour the egg yolks (4) and continue beating with the Handmixer. Then add up to 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour and mix it well Pour the mixture over a butter greased baking pan and bake it in a medium to low heat oven until golden; The strawberry filling is made with whipped cream, strawberry homemade syrup and jelly and fresh strawberries Tou can also use the angel food cake layered with ice cream to build up an Ice Cream cake. When I read that the Jewish passover celebrations required that no yeast or levening products should be used, I thought this could be a beautiful exercise for non-Jewish matres-ptissier all around the world. Of course the diplomatic laws and customs regarding reciprocal response should apply. You can find similar recipes at the cordon bleu dessert techniques, along with this beautiful pancake-cake.

savory crpres-cake

Cordon Bleu's Ice cream cake

Arabian Nights Love spell

My Grandfather was one among nine children in his family, he was born at the beginning of the XXth Century. His brothers and sisters used to visit us a lot, when I was little. His youngest sister used to like telling old folktales she learned when she was herself a little girlI can still recall some of her stor ies, as well as the stories my Grandfather told me over and over. One of my most welcomed surprises happened the day I bought one volume of the Arabian

Nights in French just to find a tale that was not translated into Portuguese, about the Belle Heureuse " or "Le Beau Heureux, that can be translated to Happy Beauty or Happy Beau in English. Lately, I recalled one of my Grandfathers sister stories when I was looking up for a Falafel recipe when I read the Falafel recipe I realized that for a small girl to keep in her heart and to know by heart this recipe , the sole possibility would be through this kind of folktale. I guess it may seem weird for some to look up in a cookbook and, suddenly, a folktale comes to your mind right awayit is as if that particular folktale is the only key to solve the mystery to that puzzling question that unspoken secret about a dish. The recipe you are trying to understand has something that awakes in you the solution, that is not written anywhere It may be a gift for those who want to celebrate Valentines Day: an ageless story related to a dish.

The recipe in question is called Falafel. I have learned it is a Middle Eastern dish that belongs to an specific region: the border between Lebanon and Israel, where Catholics and Jewish people used to live at the beginning of the XXth Century, according to my Great-Aunt (Grandfathers sister)Until today I suspect this story belongs to the Arabian Nights, it may still be there within one of the fifteen volumes of that French translation. Falafelis a small, sometimes round in shape, cake-like or bun like nourishment. It has some variations, but its basic recipe uses bulgur as well as tahine (sesame paste), and olive oil.

It is said that every time there was conflict between the people on that specific border, both Catholics and Jewish people used to cook this Falafel buns, that could be made as sour or as sweet , according to the Cooks wishes. It was said to be a dish that could silence friends and foes...and calm down their spirit.

Once upon a time, there was a girl who thought it was wrong to cook a sour Falafel bun, when every girl in town knew it was possible to make it deliciously sweet as any dream could be. As a punishment she was forbidden to cook and was the center of jokes and the despise of the girls of her own family, who were allowed to cook and learn all the familys traditional ways. When she was left alone, a thing that was truly usual among her relatives, the girl insisted in learning things her own way, thinking that it was unwise to bring distaste to others.

The neighbors knew she was left alone cooking, but to a teen-ager and a young woman to be kept at home, at that time, was a sign of a good and respectful upbringing. One day, when she was cooking alone in her kitchen, a young man passed by and asked for some food, through the kitchen window. She gave him some falafel buns, the ones that she could cook as sweet as dreams that could come true. This enchanted Falafel made the young man come back for more, and they started to get acquainted with each other, in spite of her family

disapproval both of her cooking and his family roots. The young man, of course, was a national from the other side of the border It is from this point onwards that this Middle Eastern Romeo and Juliet kind of tale beginswhat kind of hindrances, love promises, fights the young couple relationship would foster And it all began because of a FALAFEL
You can find an alternate story on this dish, also called Ta'amia, on an Egyptian version of the recipe in Claudia Roden's book on Middle Eastern food.

The Lebanese version of the Falafel is different from the one in Ms. Rodens book. It can be either a vegetarian dish or you can add meat, preferably poultry or game. I will give you a basic recipe with chicken and yo can go from this starting point: Falafel / Taamia Recipe 3 chicken legs (optional) 2 or 3 large onions chopped bell-pepper (green, red or white) 2 tblsp green olives chopped (seedless) 1 tblsp black olives chopped (seedless) Up to 15 cherry tomatoes Dehydrated Garlic (chopped or grounded) 1 tsp 1 tsp Sea Salt or Kosher Salt 1 tblsp tahini paste (sesame paste) Up to 400 grms of bulgur Zaatar ( for seasoning) Sumac (for seasoning) 1 tsp butter (salted preferably) Water

On the eve of your dinner or lunch, place the bulgur in a bowl with water and let it rest overnight inside the Refrigerator. Change the water, the following day, or add some more water. Bulgur usually absorbs the water anddouble its size inside your bowl, so be

careful and leave space in your bowl for the bulgur to grow overnight. You have to change the water three times at least, to allow it to sweeten a little. In a mortar, place 1 tblsp of tahini paste, olive oil and dehydrated garlic. Mix its contents and let it rest to allow the tahini paste to absorb the garlic flavor and the olive oil. Cook the chicken legs in boiling water, with onions, bell peppers, some of the chopped cherry tomatoes, a pinch of sumac, a pinch of Zaatar. Let it boil until the water evaporates as in a stew. When the water is almost dried out you add the butter, the olives, the cherry tomatoes and mix all the ingredients a little. Chop it in a food processor until tender and with a grinded aspect. Let it cool down. Take the bulgur from its bowl. Drain the excess water using a sieve or your hands by pressing gently and transfer it to another bowl. Sprinkle olive oil over it and let it rest for at least 15 minutes. Start mixing the cooked chicken with the tahini paste that has been previously seasoned. Then transfer the chicken tahini to the bulgur bowl and mix very well until smooth and homogeneous. There are two possibilities, you can either try to make round cakes with the bulgur/chicken paste and fry it right away as Egyptians do, or grease a mold with olive oil place the paste in it, cut the shape of squares, sprinkle some more Zaatar and bake it for 20 minutes. Take each square and gently fry on olive oil. Serve it with hummus, pita bread, and a salad such as tabouleh or fatoush. Add a lemon to sprinkle over the buns as well as olive oil.

So dont waste your time, buy Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet play, read it through, or watch Zefirellis version and the new interpretation by Leonardo Di Caprio in the 1990's urban version of Romeo and Juliet and while you read and watch all of thisthink about the tale of the Falafel.

On love Witchcraft
There is an interesting view on culinary arts that had already been mentioned on this blog: when it is related to witchcraft. Although it is widely accepted nowadays that cooking is related to the chemistry of natural plants and foods -- a science officially born long after the middle ages it is somehow curious that you may still find a witchcraft character in some dishes. Of course I am talking about FDA approved ingredients, organic food like those sold at wholefoods supermarket with no addictives and greenpeace seallike people who care in US and Europe usually requests for their families and children. When talking about the now famous Haitian voo-doo witchcraft, that can scare everyone offsuch as the one described in the scene of the goat butchering by Mr Moysyou can ask yourself about the origins of this kind of religious belief, that is to say, the use of cloves in cookingat least in Portuguese and French, languages of latin root, cloves are in some way the symbolic designation of the crown used by Jesus Christ in his last sacrifice for humankindas is

passion fruit (fruit de la passion) The history of the names given to some agricultural produce is something not only to think of but also to research thoroughly Cloves in this specific case are intended to silence the gossip On a lighter, romantic tone, an engagement proposal dinner could appear to be either magic or witchcraft with this recipe below, adapted from the French Cordon Bleu recipe of Porc Flamande; Flemish Porc, that can be made with veal or lamb if you have food restrictions Porc (orVeal/lamb) Flamande (Flemish-style Porc) A whole piece of porc/veal/lamb (tenderloin preferably) Ten potatoes Butter to 1 tablet Salt (sea salt or kosher salt) 3 to 8 dates (preserved) 10 olives ( preserved in wine or wine vinegar) Cloves up to 20 Orange blossom water ( also called azahar that can be find in Middle Eastern food stores) You will need 1 tsp, so buy a small bottle 1 tsp sugar 3 tblsp maple syrup ( preferably 100% pure syrup) Marinate the meat in a mixture of water, salt and melted butter for at least one hour or 24 hours, maximum. Use a casserole that can be used both in the oven and the stovetop, put the porc, with two cloves inserted in the flesh of the meat (you will take it from the meat before serving) and the other outside with the water and butter mixture with the olives, along with the wine or wine vinegar. Bake for 40 minutes to one hour at low heat. The water mixture will prevent the meat from getting dry while the few seasoning products take hold over the meat.

In a frying pan, melt a little bit of the butter. Take the porc from the casserole, and fry it until goldenYou can cut it in slices, and fry gently until golden. About 10 minutes. Cut the potatoes that were previously boiled in water and arrange the slices at the bottom of the casserole. Make a layer of the porc chops, and if possible a layer with the potatoes again. Prepare a glazing sauce with water, butter, dates, orange blossom, maple and sugar. Pour a little over the newly arranged casserole and bake for 20 to 40 minutesadding a little bit of the glazing sauce to moisten the dish. Serve hot. (if you are cooking porc add a slice of lime or lemon to the dish)

In an analogy to the mentioned scene in the Devils Advocate, orange blossom means marriage, a message of hope for a blissful

engagement. Cloves meant to silence possible gossip. Olives may mean the uniqueness of the new couple to be preserved as well as the datesand so it goes Why don't you think about it for next valentine's day?...I mean, only if you plan to give her an engagement ring...because, you may feel the witchcraft beneath this dish

Leftovers and more

This recipe, apart from being fast and healthy, can be made in several ways. Some of your ingredients can be the leftover of yesterday salad. Add something, sprinkle other things and you will be happy. A note: I do not use mayonnaise very often, I think olive oil is healthier; tuna fish preserved in water is always a good choice; I serve always salad with the sauce on the side (I mean yesterday salad).Another hypothetical possibility: If you had some guests for drinks yesterday, look w hat you can do with some hors doeuvre you have served.

Mashed Potatoes with sweet peas

Boil the potatoes for one hour or more (small or medium potatoes) You can pure the potatoes using the fork only while adding slowly just a little bit of olive oil. Add the chopped parsley and chives. If you like onions, you can add some chopped raw onions, or some onions cooked in water to lighten the flavor. Garnish with sweet peas and tomatoes

You can make slight variations in this recipes by adding preserved tuna fish and black olives cut in slices or an apple or a pear with ham, or else parmesan cheese with baby carrots.

There is a very simple way to make an olive oil bread inspired on the Italian ciabatta bread by adding to it the mille feuille pastry French flavor . It is a deliciously tasty recipe, that can be used in a bruschetta or as a foccacia, eaten simply as is or fryed with olive oil in the morning breakfast with scrambled eggs and bacon. My recipe is a variation of the one that can be found in the book from the Love Food series Cooking School:Italian, Parragon Books ed, London U.K., 2009. In a nutshells, served as an entre, as a sidedish, for breakfast or else as a snack, this is my savoury First Best.

Olive Oil Bread with Olives

1 cup of whole purpose flour 1 cup of water 1/3 cup of olive oil Grated parmesan cheese (preferably) cup of slices seedless olives (preferably black)

Chopped parsley and chives ( or a pesto mixture of basil leaves, garlic and olive oil) 1 egg yolk 1 egg white 1 tsp of sugar 1 tsp of salt

Mix the ingredients in the following order: water (at room temperature), olive oil, salt, yeast,and flour. Knead the dough gently until it takes a bread consistency/texture. Add more flour if needed. Let it grow for half an hour in a cool place. Knead it again for while and let the dough rest for another half an hour. Before putting the dough into a mold, open it in a clean surface as if you were opening a French mille feuille pastry. Pour some olive oil over the opened dough and then sprinkle some olives. Draw a line with the pesto or parsley mixture and sprinkle grated parmesan cheese. Knead the dough again and open it following the same procedure: olive oil, pesto or parsley mixture and parmesan cheese. You can repeat the same procedure four, five six times if you like, provided that you are careful with the amount of ingredients you use to fill the bread pastry. Put the bread into a mould, previously greased with olive oil and sprinkled with flour. Brush over the bread an egg yolk mixed with sugar. Then brush over it an egg white beaten with a pinch of salt. Let it bake for 50 minutes in medium heat or until golden brown.

Recipes for eggs When I bake a bread, a calzone, a tart or a cakeanything that needs a final brushing with egg yolks and/or egg whites, there is always some that is left to spoil and to be thrown in the garbage can. The remainder of the egg yolk or egg white is never useless to me. Instead of throwing them into the garbage can, I use them in some XIXth Century coffee farmers recipes that I have adapted to my needs. Some of the XIXth Century recipes are mentioned in the books I have chosen to prepare this book; you can find also the ones corresponding to Brazilian Cuisine mentioned in the Chapter on Jorge Amados book. One thing that it is interesting to note is that, although some authors like to make a definite line between slaves cuisine and the landlords in the XIXth Century, this hypothesis is not entirely true. Household recipes of the XIXth Century usually carried out the same ingredients as those attributed to slaves and their religion. Anyway, this is an old story about the Brazilian Imperial regime that resulted in Brazils historical circumstances, and it is worth understanding that slavery and social and racial prejudices evolved differently from country to country in the XIXth Century onwards. Well you would ask, What our Little Ladys, our Brazilian version of Margareth Mitchells Missy would do? They used egg to make very tiny-winny sweets, candies and cookies, most of the time adding coconut milk, for the afternoon tea/snacks and/or dinner desserts. Coconut milk and flakes have an special effect when baked or cooked: they lighten up dishes made with flour, can be used in the place of water or milk and the time allotted for cooking/baking is cut by half. A suggestion: try coconut milk in your fish souffl, instead of milk or wateror add a little bit of it in your cheesecake, for instance I bet it is worth tasting it at least once in your lifetime.

Missys Tenderness (Meiguices de sinh) Use the beaten egg whites with a pinch of salt. Add them to the egg yolks that have been already mixed with coconut milk and a tsp of sugar and a little bit of melted butter. Pour the mixture in small moulds greased with butter. Bake it for 20 minutes until golden brown. (1 or 2 eggs are more than enough makes 8 tendernesses) Note: you can use almonds, cashew nuts or any other nut to improve/change taste)

Cheese sweets delights (queijadinha) Use the beaten egg whites with a pinch of salt with a mixture of wisked egg yolks, emmenthal cheese (or parmesan, or provolone for savory dishes; Philadelphia creamcheese for sweet dishes), milk, yogurt, or water(savory) or coconut milk (for sweet) and 1/3 cup of melted butter. For savory add cayenne pepper and/or bacon cubes Pour the mixture into small greased moulds and bake in medium oven until golden brown.

Coconut cake

3 whole eggs A pinch of salt 400 grms whole purpose flour 50 grms of salted butter (melted) 400 ml Coconut milk (coconut milk is already sweetened) 100 grms Coconut flakes Sugar to taste

Mapple syrup

Put into a pan the sifted flour mixed with baking powder and the salt ( sugar if necessary)Then, using the electric mixer,mix the eggs, the melted butter, the coconut milk and the coconut flakes. Put the mixture in a greased mould and bake in medium heat for 50 minutes until golden. Sprinkle coconut flakes over it and maple syrup.

Lamb or Veal with Fryed Turnips

Make the Lamb according with the recipe of Crown Roast on the Chapter on the French. Saute the potatoes with parsley and butter, after cooking them in water for 1 hour or more.As for the turnips, we do have a small recipe in verse, from my grandmother as people used to do in Europe since the Middle Ages.

Fryed Turnip (unofficial translation)

Fry the Turnip as do, of Minas Gerais, the Brazilians Steam it for 1 hour Dry it in the collander Pour the olive oil in a Frying pan

Fry itnever too cold, never too hot Little by Little As if you were tying a nod Dry it with a paper, inside a mold At the ovens gentle heat

Turnip is like our country history It is a gold without measure At our kitchen it is our treasure

Couve Frita Mineira ( by Maria da P. dos S. Jabor) Frita a couve Mineira Cozinha por 1 hora no vapor Passa na peneira Coloca azeite na frigideira, por favor Passa no azeite aos bocados Deixa secar no papel ao calor do forno

E no diga que no sabemos De nossa nao a histria Couve frita como o ouro Tambm na cozinha temos um tesouro

Bibliography

Abraho et alii (org)" Delcias das Sinhs - Historia e Receitas Culinrias da segunda metade doSeculo XIX e do incio do Sculo XX , Arte Escrita Editora, 2007(History of private family recipes from the Coffee Platantions Landlords);

Alex Atala e Carolina Chaves " Escoffianas brasileiras" Ed Larousse, 2008 (Brazilian Escoffier) Cascudo, Luis da Cmara; "Histria da Alimentao no Brasil", Editora Global, Sp. 2007 2 reimpresso (History of Nourishment in Brazil)

Cavalcanti, Pedro " A Ptria nas Panelas - Histria e receitas da cozinha brasileira , SENAC, SP, 2007.( The country in our pans - history of Brazilian Culinary Arts)

Guta, Chaves e Dolores Freixas, Larousse da Cozinha Brasileira, 2007 (Larousse of Brazilian Cuisine)

Eva Celada; Os Segredos da Cozinha do Vaticano (translated from the Spanish edition Los Secretos de La cocina del Vaticano - The Secrets of the Vatican Cuisine);

Lody (org) Dend - smbolo e sabor da Bahia, SENAC, SP, 2009 ( History of Palm Oil in Brazil)

Montanari & Capatti: Italian Cuisine - a cultural history; Montanari; Food is Culture; Tannahill; History of Food;

History of the University in Europe ( 3 volumes - it seems that there is an upcoming 4th volume).

Rugendas; "Viagem Pitoresca pelo Brasil ", Circulo do Livro Editore, sem data (Voyage to Brazil )

Unknown Author " O Cozinheiro Nacional", SENAC, SP, 2008 ( The National COOK)

Marcia Jabor Canizio was born in Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Her formal education includes Undergraduate Diploma in Diplomacy at the Brazilian Academy of Diplomacy, a Masters Degree in International Relations, Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro and a Masters Degree in Public Administration (MPA) at John F, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

She traveled through several countries of Europe, North and Latin America, while in her official capacity. Recently, articles released Fiction apart on in and from Brazilian Literature, her previous relations specialized both in

international

magazines, she published books on Portuguese and English,, and a Recipe Book whose main purpose was to approach the History of Food and Culinary Arts , departing from Universal Literature and motion pictures.