Everyday Italian: More on that buckwheat nonsense

 

Or: why it's important to check modern translations

First off, hello! It's been AGES! Since I last posted, I've been to some events, made some new friends, done some stuff, and not done a whole lot of other stuff - I even rode in cars with Swedes. But always in the back of my mind has been buckwheat.

Cut to Christmas, when I got a few useful books as gifts.

Useful!

It happens that Historical Italian Cooking's 'Cereals, Bread, Pasta, and Pies' not only mentions (and cross-references period source materials for) buckwheat, it has recipes. Seems that before buckwheat was grana saraceno it was called formentone or frumentone. Learned a thing!

The authors reference a few new-to-me guys (Costanzo Felici and Castore Durante, for starters, who I will be looking up), but also my good friend Bartolomeo Scappi's Opera so, naturally, I spent the better part of my Boxing Day morning revisiting Scappi (since I didn't think he'd mentioned it at all), which led to immediately questioning the translation I had (again) so checking its index and source list, then going back to the original Italian, and determining that the translation I have is - in my opinion - wrong. Formentone had been translated to 'einkorn' (a very specific type of ancient wheat), when it should have been connected with grana saraceno, and translated as buckwheat. (One of the references for the translation I have is literally a book on the etymology of Italian that lists formentone as buckwheat, but ::shrug:: Choices were made.)

ANYWAY...this new book (and it's citations) also supports my assumption that buckwheat was used for polenta in the Northern regions, and mentions a few other things (dumplings called fiadoni, for example, recipes for which are also included in this book and will require extensive R&D).

Buckwheat polenta

Polenta is, for the uninitiated, what I call a "goopy substrate." It is, at its most basic, ground grain or flour cooked in liquid (typically water or milk) to make a thick goop. This is often thick enough to be sliced (and served hot with butter and/or cheese) all on its own, but it's also a pretty good vehicle for other things like meat cooked in a sauce.

"We find a recipe for buckwheat polenta in Pietro Andrea Mattioli's book. The Renaissance physician considers this dish a pleasant food, not as heavy on the stomach as millet polenta. This recipe is prepared by the peasants who live between Italy and Germany: the cook the buckwheat, cut it with a string, and eat it greedily, dressed with butter and cheese." (de Rubeis, p.49)

You can find modern recipes for buckwheat polenta that are essentially unchanged from their renaissance counterpart. It's basically "add buckwheat groats or flour to boiling water, stir until it's thick, then serve," with some variations on that theme.

Minestra di formentone (de Reubis, p.158)

Scappi II.185
To prepare a thick soup of buckwheat or hulled barley

Mettasi a cuocere con brodo grasso freddo di carne in un vaso di rame stagnato, o di terra, giunganovisi cervellate gialle, o salcizza, overo un pezzo di medolla di porco salata per dargli il sapore, et dapoi giungavisi cannella, et zafferano, et facciasi cuocere su le bragie lontano dalla fiamma con vaso turato, et non si faccia bollir men di due hore, et meza, et servasi con cascio, et cannela sopra. Tal minestra ha da esser sodetta.

Cook [buckwheat[ with cold, fat meat broth in a vessel made of tinned copper or clay, adding yellow cervellate, sausages, or a piece of salted pork marrow to give it flavour. Then, add cinnamon and saffron and cook it on the embers, keeping the covered vessel way from the fire. Boil it for at least two and a half hours. Serve with cheese and cinnamon on top. The soup must be thick.

Ingredients

350g buckwheat

2 sausages

Parmigiano

Spices (saffron, cinnamon)

2.5l beef broth

salt

Method

Soak the saffron in warm water. Grate the cheese and grind the cinnamon. Simmer the buckwheat in broth with two sausages over low heat, adding salt, a pinch of cinnamon, and the saffron. Cook for at least two hours. 

When the buckwheat is completely dissolved, plate it, sprinkling with grated Parmigiano and a pinch of cinnamon.

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de Rubeis, Marco Gavio. Historic Italian Cooking, Early Italian Recipes: Cereals, bread, pasta and pies. 2023.