While I look at my copies of Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book, Anna del Conte’s Amaretto, Apple Cake and Artichokes, and Francis Bissell’s The Scented Kitchen at home, they seem different from when they are pulled from the shelves in my parent’s kitchen in Dorset. Also, on the first morning of any stay, looking at these three with a cup of tea before anyone else is up has become a habit that may be superstitious.
On the second day, I made a recipe from the inimitable Anna, who also lives in Dorset and is now 100. For her recipe of chicken breasts in a 17th-century sweet and sour sauce, Anna was inspired by Bartolomeo Stefani, chef to Prince Ottavio Gonzaga (one of the numerous members of The House of Gonzaga who ruled Mantua from 1328 to 1708) and author of the 1662 manual, L’arte di Ben Cucinare (The Art of Fine Cooking). Anna notes that Stefani was a chef of great inventiveness, and one of the first to move away from the heavily spiced recipes of the Middle Ages towards a style of cooking with a lighter touch, flavoured with herbs, citrus and flowers. And this recipe is a good example of his approach to ingredients: poached chicken (originally capon) served in thick slices with a sweet-and-sour sauce of wine, sugar, vinegar, olive oil and lemon. Once assembled, the dish is left to sit in order for the chicken slices to soak up the sauce’s flavours, and then served at room temperature. It is a lovely dish for a hot day (or evening).
