Italian Greens from Italian Queens: Difference between revisions
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[[File:{{#setmainimage:Bona.jpg}}|thumb|Queen Bona and her ladies-in-waiting with some Medi veggies<br>{{small|By Maja Berezowska (1970)}}]] | [[File:{{#setmainimage:Bona.jpg}}|thumb|Queen Bona and her ladies-in-waiting with some Medi veggies<br>{{small|By Maja Berezowska (1970)}}]] | ||
Polish people are a nation of devoted soup lovers. The main meal of the day traditionally consists of two courses: the soup and “the other dish”. The soup is typically based on stock made by boiling meat together with some bay leaves, allspice grains and a bunch of vegetables: carrots, parsley roots, celeriac and leek. Every grocery in Poland sells ready-made bundles of these soup greens, which are collectively known as ''“włoszczyzna”'',{{czyt|włoszczyzna}} or literally, “Italian stuff”. The origin of this name, as every Polish school kid will tell you, is that it was an Italian princess, Bona Sforza, who in 1518 married King Sigismund the Old of Poland and brought previously | Polish people are a nation of devoted soup lovers. The main meal of the day traditionally consists of two courses: the soup and “the other dish”. The soup is typically based on stock made by boiling meat together with some bay leaves, allspice grains and a bunch of vegetables: carrots, parsley roots, celeriac and leek. Every grocery in Poland sells ready-made bundles of these soup greens, which are collectively known as ''“włoszczyzna”'',{{czyt|włoszczyzna}} or literally, “Italian stuff”. The origin of this name, as every Polish school kid will tell you, is that it was an Italian princess, Bona Sforza, who in 1518 married King Sigismund the Old of Poland and brought previously unfamiliar vegetables from her native peninsula to her new homeland. Did she bring just a single bundle or several cartloads? That we don’t know. What matters is that she forever revolutionized the local foodways in a country where, prior to her arrival, vegetables must have been completely unknown. | ||
Is it true, though – or rather one of Poland’s most enduring culinary-historical myths? | Is it true, though – or rather one of Poland’s most enduring culinary-historical myths? | ||
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== Catherine of Florence == | == Catherine of Florence == | ||
[[File:Katarzyna Medycejska.jpg|thumb|upright|Caterina de’ Medici (1519–1589), Queen of France<br>{{small|By Germain Le Mannier.}}]] | [[File:Katarzyna Medycejska.jpg|thumb|upright|Caterina de’ Medici (1519–1589), Queen of France<br>{{small|By Germain Le Mannier.}}]] | ||
So Bona was a girl from a prominent Italian family who was married off to the king of a powerful state north of the Alps, where she is remembered, on one hand, as a ruthless, power-hungry woman, and on the other, as someone who enriched the cuisine of her adopted homeland with Italian flair. If all of this sounds familiar, but you can’t put your finger on it, then let me help: you’re probably thinking of Catherine de’ Medici.{{czyt|de’ Medici}} | So Bona was a girl from a prominent Italian family who was married off to the king of a powerful state north of the Alps, where she is remembered, on the one hand, as a ruthless, power-hungry woman, and on the other, as someone who enriched the cuisine of her adopted homeland with Italian flair. If all of this sounds familiar, but you can’t put your finger on it, then let me help: you’re probably thinking of Catherine de’ Medici.{{czyt|de’ Medici}} | ||
Catherine (Caterina de’ Medici) was born in Florence one year after Bona had become Queen of Poland. Just as the Sforzas ruled Milan, so the Medici – originally a family of modest merchants – had already held sway over Florence for more than three hundred years. She was barely a month old when she was orphaned, so her upbringing fell to her uncles. First, she came under the protective wing of Giovanni de’ Medici, better known as Pope Leo X. Following his death, custody of Catherine passed to Giulio de’ Medici, or Pope Clement VII. | Catherine (Caterina de’ Medici) was born in Florence one year after Bona had become Queen of Poland. Just as the Sforzas ruled Milan, so the Medici – originally a family of modest merchants – had already held sway over Florence for more than three hundred years. She was barely a month old when she was orphaned, so her upbringing fell to her uncles. First, she came under the protective wing of Giovanni de’ Medici, better known as Pope Leo X. Following his death, custody of Catherine passed to Giulio de’ Medici, or Pope Clement VII. | ||
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<nomobile>[[File:Cibrèo.jpg|thumb|''Cibrèo'', a Florentine dish of rooster combs and testicles, [https://www.emikodavies.com/cibreo-a-forgotten-florentine-dish/ as recreated by Ms. Emiko Davies in 2021] (left: chief ingredients; right: complete dish)]]</nomobile> | <nomobile>[[File:Cibrèo.jpg|thumb|''Cibrèo'', a Florentine dish of rooster combs and testicles, [https://www.emikodavies.com/cibreo-a-forgotten-florentine-dish/ as recreated by Ms. Emiko Davies in 2021] (left: chief ingredients; right: complete dish)]]</nomobile> | ||
There is one reference historians have managed to uncover | There is one reference historians have managed to uncover which supports the claims of the queen’s supposed gluttony: | ||
{{Cytat | {{Cytat | ||
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When exactly this swap took place isn’t entirely clear. It was certainly a gradual process and not all of the new vegetables appeared in Poland at the same time. One way to search for some clues could be to take a look at linguistic data: when did Italian-derived names for individual vegetables first show up in Polish-language written sources? | When exactly this swap took place isn’t entirely clear. It was certainly a gradual process and not all of the new vegetables appeared in Poland at the same time. One way to search for some clues could be to take a look at linguistic data: when did Italian-derived names for individual vegetables first show up in Polish-language written sources? | ||
The earliest to settle into the Polish language – and, one might suspect, onto Polish tables as well — was ''sałata'',{{czyt|sałata}} or lettuce. The word ''“sałata”'' comes from the Italian ''“insalata”'',{{czyt|insalata}} which literally means “salted”. That’s because Italians had long served this vegetable seasoned with salt, vinegar and olive oil. Just like its Italian counterpart, the Polish word initially referred to both lettuce as such and a salad made of this and other vegetables (modern Polish distinguishes the two by referring to a salad by the diminutive ''“sałatka”''{{czyt|sałatka}}). The oldest known Polish text in which ''“sałata”'' appears — and in both senses, no less – is a herbal by Stefan Falimirz{{czyt|Stefan Falimirz}} published in 1534 under the title | The earliest to settle into the Polish language – and, one might suspect, onto Polish tables as well — was ''sałata'',{{czyt|sałata}} or lettuce. The word ''“sałata”'' comes from the Italian ''“insalata”'',{{czyt|insalata}} which literally means “salted”. That’s because Italians had long served this vegetable seasoned with salt, vinegar and olive oil. Just like its Italian counterpart, the Polish word initially referred to both lettuce as such and a salad made of this and other vegetables (modern Polish distinguishes the two by referring to a salad by the diminutive ''“sałatka”''{{czyt|sałatka}}). The oldest known Polish text in which ''“sałata”'' appears — and in both senses, no less – is a herbal by Stefan Falimirz{{czyt|Stefan Falimirz}} published in 1534 under the title ''On Herbs and Their Potency'' (''O ziołach i mocy ich''). | ||
[[File:Sałata.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|Lettuce in an illustration from S. Falimirz’s herbal (1534)]] | [[File:Sałata.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|Lettuce in an illustration from S. Falimirz’s herbal (1534)]] | ||
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Where, then, does the legend of Queen Bona introducing Mediterranean vegetables to Poland come from? Most likely, it arose as a Polish counterpart to a similar French legend about Catherine de’ Medici. If the French believed that the culinary riches of Italy had been brought to their country by a Renaissance queen from the peninsula, it must have seemed logical that a similar role could be attributed to Bona Sforza in Poland. We now know that the French version of this legend emerged during the Enlightenment. The Polish version, then, may well have its roots in the same era. | Where, then, does the legend of Queen Bona introducing Mediterranean vegetables to Poland come from? Most likely, it arose as a Polish counterpart to a similar French legend about Catherine de’ Medici. If the French believed that the culinary riches of Italy had been brought to their country by a Renaissance queen from the peninsula, it must have seemed logical that a similar role could be attributed to Bona Sforza in Poland. We now know that the French version of this legend emerged during the Enlightenment. The Polish version, then, may well have its roots in the same era. | ||
The earliest suggestion I’ve found that it was Bona who brought the Mediterranean veggies to Poland comes from the novel ''John of Tenczyn'' (''Jan z Tęczyna'') by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz,{{czyt|Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz}} first published in 1824. Niemcewicz – a distinguished figure of the Polish Enlightenment, co-author of the nation’s first constitution, personal secretary to the Polish and American hero Tadeusz Kościuszko,{{czyt|Tadeusz Kościuszko}} and the first Pole to receive U.S. citizenship – was also the author of Poland’s first historical novel. It is a fictionalized account of the true story of Jan Baptysta Tęczyński,{{czyt|Jan Baptysta Tęczyński}} a promising young aristocrat who fell in love with the Swedish princess Cecilia Vasa (and she with him) but tragically died in Danish captivity in 1563, before he could marry her. And it’s in the opening chapter of this Walter-Scottian romantic tale that we find the following passage: | The earliest suggestion I’ve found that it was Bona who brought the Mediterranean veggies to Poland comes from the novel ''John of Tenczyn'' (''Jan z Tęczyna'') by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz,{{czyt|Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz}} first published in 1824. Niemcewicz – a distinguished figure of the Polish Enlightenment, co-author of the nation’s first constitution, personal secretary to the Polish and American hero Tadeusz Kościuszko,{{czyt|Tadeusz Kościuszko}} and the first Pole to receive U.S. citizenship – was also the author of Poland’s first historical novel. It is a fictionalized account of the true story of Jan Baptysta Tęczyński,{{czyt|Jan Baptysta Tęczyński}} a promising young aristocrat who fell in love with the Swedish princess Cecilia Vasa (and she with him) but tragically died in Danish captivity in 1563, before he could marry her. And it’s in the opening chapter of this Walter-Scottian romantic tale that we find the following passage: | ||
[[File:Ogrody wawelskie.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A kitchen garden from the time of Queen Bona, as reconstruncted on the Wawel Hill]] | [[File:Ogrody wawelskie.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A kitchen garden from the time of Queen Bona, as reconstruncted on the Wawel Hill]] | ||
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{{Nawigacja|poprz=The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane}} | {{Nawigacja|poprz=The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane|nast=Use the Forks, Henry}} | ||
[[Category: Bona Sforza]] | [[Category: Bona Sforza]] | ||