Medieval Gnocchi – Nochi

Welcome to our kitchen. Today we prepare the medieval gnocchi, a recipe for gnocchi from the anonymous Ricettario Meridionale, written in the 14th century. We'll start with the ingredients, we'll serve flour, bread, parmigiano, and eggs. I'll serve you flour, bread without crust, an egg, two slices of pizza, and a little water. I'll serve you a morbid but non-sticky flour. The recipe does not give the proportion between the ingredients, as is often the case in medieval sources, But fortunately there are various other recipes known from medieval and Renaissance sources that help us understand how to prepare this dish. Bartolomeo Scappi, in his opera of the XVI century, provides a recipe almost identical, I recommend two books of flour, a pound of uncustomized bread, hot water or broth, and four eggs. A pound weighs about 330 grams. This source describes the proper methods for preparing gnocchio. One involves filling a piece of padello on the mouth of a grattaccio to make it concave. The other is the same method mentioned by Anonimo Meridionale, where we put a paddle filling on a plate and cut small pieces directly into boiling water. The difference is that, in the latter case, Scappi recommends using the minimum amount of flour necessary to obtain a non-sticky padello. Gnocchi simili appear not only in culinary sources, but also in literature, come nel bellissimo poema mockeroico Baldus, Written in the 16th century by Teofilo Fulengo, in which musicians prepare gnocchi and pour them over a mountain of cheese for the love of those below. These musicians are different from those of conventional epics. These are the musicians who inspired Fulengo in his poetic activities to make him eat maccheroni, to make him a portabello poet. Although in Italy today the verb gnocchi often refers to a preparation with potatoes, recipes similar to this are still prepared, Made with ingredients like semolina, flour and bread, sometimes mescling the padella with eggs and cheese, which is essential for seasoning gnocchi. While Anonimo Meridionale uses only cheese, following the tradition, Bartolomeo Scappi also uses sugar, cinnamon and donkey. We used a simple bread, made with flour, sour padella, salt and water. Videos of how to prepare medieval bread, such as the fava and farro bread or the mille bread, are in the description below. We fill the padella in two thick slices, place them on a cutting back and cut them into gnocchi, mixing them directly in salt water. The cooking time depends on how hard your gnocchi are. To learn more about pasta in the ancient cuisine, read our book, The Italian recipe of antiquity, A recipe from antiquity to the Renaissance and an introduction to all the historical uses of cereals, basic preparations and ingredients. This book is the second in the series Ricette dell'Italia dell'Antichità, the first devoted to vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers in the historical cuisine. For more information on the medieval cuisine, read the Observation Ciborum, the medieval recipe of antiquity, at the court of the Franks, The Registerum Coquine, a medieval recipe book, and Il Libro della Cocina, a Tuscan medieval recipe book, were also published. I link to the description below to purchase our books. In addition, you can find translations of historical sources on our Patreon page, along with various articles on ancient and medieval food. The translation of a short recettario in the form of a poem by Teofilo Fulengo will arrive at the end of June. To support our work, you can also buy Zabir and buy our merchandise. We serve the hot gnocchi with many grattugiati cheese. These gnocchi were very simple and delicious, very easy to prepare, with much flavor and spiciness given by parmigiano, Perfect to be tasted with a meat dish, like pork or wood stew, or with chicken soup, for a delicious medieval dish. Find the link to the video in the description below. Other possible variations are the seasonal nature of the ingredients recommended by Scappi, Using pecorino instead of parmigiano or adding a little pepper to the cheese. If you're interested in antique foods and flavors, subscribe to our channel and consider supporting us on Patreon.