Torta Bianca – White Tart (Maestro Martino → Redon, 1998)
“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese — banquet context for Renaissance tortes.
Torta bianca (“white tart”) was a dish of status and symbolism. Appearing in Maestro Martino’s Libro de arte coquinaria (c. 1465), it used fresh white cheese, egg whites, sugar, butter, and milk — baked gently, then perfumed with rosewater and sprinkled with sugar. In Renaissance Italy, white foods carried associations of purity, refinement, and health. By Scappi’s time (1570), torte bianche included versions with provatura (fresh stretched-curd cheese) or ricotta blended with Parmigiano.
How this post is structured
Below: (a) Martino’s original Italian text, (b) a literal English translation, (c) Redon’s modern adaptation summary, then a modern tested recipe. Afterward you’ll find 🥕 dietary notes, 📖 menu placement, substitutions, historical notes, cross-links, sources, labels, schema, and ⚖ humoral theory.
Original & Translated Recipes
Maestro Martino (c. 1465) — Italian
Per fare torta biancha. Togli del bono cascio frescho, et biancho, et pistalo molto bene nel mortaro, et metigli del zuccaro, et qualche quarta parte di butiro; et se vi mettessi un poco di lardo tanto meglio serà; poi mettivi alquanti chiari d’ova, et un poco di latte; et mettile sopra lo fuoco piano, et mescola spesso col cocchiaro. Et quando sarà ben mescolato, impastalo con fior di farina, et fa’ la torta cum lo crusto di sopra et di sotto. Et ponila a cocere in lo testo, o al forno, cum fuoco lento di sopra et di sotto; et quando serà cotta, gettagli di sopra un poco di zuccaro et acqua rosata; et serà bona.
Modern English (literal)
To make a white tart. Take good fresh white cheese and pound it very well in a mortar; add sugar and about a quarter part of butter (a little lard is even better); then some egg whites and a little milk. Set it over a gentle fire, stirring often. When well mixed, work it with fine flour, and make the tart with a crust above and below. Bake with gentle heat above and below; when cooked, sprinkle with sugar and rosewater, and it will be good.
Modern Adaptation (Redon)
A baked pie shell filled with a mixture of cream cheese, egg whites, sugar, butter, and milk. Baked until pale, finished with sugar, rosewater, and candied cherries.
Diriola – Maestro Martino’s Custard Tart (Libro de arte Coquinaria)
“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese. Used here as period context for Renaissance custard tarts like Martino’s diriola.
Maestro Martino da Como (c. 1465) was one of the most influential cooks of the Renaissance. His Libro de arte Coquinaria includes Diriola, a delicate custard tart scented with cinnamon and rosewater. The dish straddles the line between medieval spiced creams and the refined Renaissance custards we’d recognize today. Redon, Sabban, and Serventi’s The Medieval Kitchen (1998) provides a modern adaptation faithful to Martino’s cues.
Original Recipe (Martino, c.1465)
Italian (15th c.)
“…un poca d’acqua rosata, et volta bene collo cocchiaro. Et quando sarà fornita di prendere, sera cotta. Et nota che non vole cocere troppo et vole tremare como una ionchata.
Per la Quadragesima: Habbi del lacte de le amandole con del zuccharo, et dell’acqua rosata, et de la canella. Et per fare che si prenda gli mettirai un pocha di farina d’amitto, observando in le altre cose l’ordine del capitolo sopra ditto.”
Translation
“…add a little rosewater and stir it well with a spoon. When it begins to set, it is cooked. Note that it should not be over-baked; it should quiver like a junket.
For Lent: take almond milk with sugar, rosewater, and cinnamon. To make it set, add a little starch flour, following the same method as above.”
De la insaleggiata di cipolle – Renaissance Onion Salad (Redon, 1998)
“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese. Used here as period context for Renaissance spiced vegetable dishes such as onion salad.
Context:De la insaleggiata di cipolle is a medieval-to-Renaissance Italian onion “salad.” Onions are roasted in embers or a hot oven until sweet and soft, then sliced and dressed with wine vinegar, oil, and spezie forti (strong spices). These sharp, spiced starters were common on Italian banquet tables as appetite-whetting openers or vegetable accompaniments in the early courses.
Original Recipe (Libro della cucina, 14th c.)
Italian (Zambrini ed., 1863):
“Togli cipolle; cuocile sotto la bragia, e poi le monda, e tagliale per traverso longhette e sottili: mettili alquanto d’aceto, sale, oglio e spezie, e dà a mangiare.”
English (faithful translation):
“Take onions; cook them under the embers; then peel them, and cut them across into long, thin slices; put on a little vinegar, salt, oil, and spices, and serve.”
Redon paraphrase (1998)
“Roast onions in the fire until blackened. Peel, slice finely, and season with salt, vinegar, oil, and spices.”
This dish reaches us in three layers: the terse 14th-century text, Redon’s Renaissance-informed paraphrase, and the modern tested adaptation below.
Comparison: Medieval → Redon → Modern
Source
Text / Notes
Libro della cucina (14th c.)
“Cook under embers; peel; slice long and thin; dress with a little vinegar, salt, oil, and spices; serve.”
Redon (1998)
“Roast in the fire until blackened; peel; slice finely; season with salt, vinegar, oil, and spices.”
Fava fresche con brodo di carne – Fresh Fava Beans with Meat Broth (Redon, 1998)
“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese — used here as period context for a Renaissance table.
Context & Notes
Fava fresche con brodo di carne is a rustic Renaissance preparation: fresh spring fava beans briefly simmered in meat broth, enriched with a little cured pork, and finished with parsley and mint. The technique keeps the beans tender while letting a few split to lightly thicken the broth.
Seasonality & status: Fava beans were among the first fresh foods after Lent and signaled the turn from winter storage fare to spring produce. Courtly kitchens “elevated” this staple through refined broth, measured cooking, and aromatic herbs—much as spices elevate simple noodles in De lasanis.
Broth choice: Chicken broth reads lighter and more restorative for warmer weather; beef broth is heartier and “strengthening.” Either appears in period practice depending on the season and desired effect.
Humoral Notes (with pork nuance)
Fava beans: generally cold & moist. Pork:fresh pork was classed as cold & moist and heavy; salted/cured pork (pancetta, salt belly) was thought to gain warming/drying qualities from salt and smoke—still rich, but more balancing when used sparingly. Herbs: parsley and mint are warming/aromatic correctives. Broth: chicken leans lighter; beef leans more warming/fortifying.
Thus this dish pairs a cold/moist base (beans) with modest warming elements (cured pork, hot broth, herbs) to arrive at a comfortable middle course—similar to how spices balanced the cheese-and-pasta profile in De lasanis.
Side-by-Side: Original (Redon, 1998) & Modern Notes
Original (Redon, 1998)
Ingredients: 2 cups beef or chicken broth (or mix), 4½ lb fresh fava beans, 4 oz salt pork belly or pancetta, 1 Tbsp chopped parsley & mint; salt.
Method: Shell beans; blanch briefly (5 seconds), refresh, peel. Dice pork. Simmer broth, beans, and pork ~10 minutes until beans begin to break. Add herbs; return to a brief boil. Salt to taste and serve.
Texture cue: “Begin to break” = lightly thickened broth, not mashed.
Herb timing: Herbs added at the end to keep flavors vivid.
Pork form matters: Pancetta/salt pork (cured) used in small amount for savor and humoral balance.
Broth intent: Chicken for lighter tables; beef for heartier service.
Scappi’s Minestra di Piselli & Fave fresche (1570, Libro III, #249)
Per far minestra di Piselli & Fave fresche:
Piglinosi i piselli o baccelli, sgraninosi, & ponganosi in un uaso con oglio d’oliue, sale, & pepe, & faccianosi soffriggere pian piano, aggiungendovi tanta acqua tinta di zafferano, che stiano coperti di due dita, & come saranno poco men che cotti, pestisene una parte nel mortaro, e stemperisi con il medesimo brodo, & mettasi nel uaso con una branchata d’herbuccie battute, e faccianosi levare il bollo, e servanosi caldi.
Translation (modern English):
“Take peas or broad beans, shell them, and put them in a pot with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Let them sauté gently, adding in enough water, colored with saffron, to cover them by about two fingers. When they are a little less than cooked, pound part of them in a mortar and dilute that with the same broth; return it to the pot with a handful of chopped herbs, bring it all to a boil, and serve it hot.”
4½ lb (about 2 kg) fresh fava beans in pod (≈ 1 lb / 450 g shelled)
4 oz (115 g) salt pork belly or pancetta, finely diced
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped
Kosher salt, to taste
Method
Prep beans: Shell. Blanch 5 seconds in boiling water, refresh in cold water, slip off the outer skins.
Simmer: In a saucepan, combine broth, diced pork, and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce to a lively simmer, and cook about 10 minutes, until beans just begin to soften and a few split to lightly thicken the broth.
Finish: Stir in parsley and mint; return to a brief boil (30–60 seconds). Season with salt and serve hot.
🍽 Menu Placement (Feast Planning)
Dish Type: Pottage (a “wet” course served in or with broth)
Course: Second course (Pottage course). Because beans digest heavy in some frameworks, serve moderate portions or as a remove between roasts.
Service tips: Offer trenchers or bread to soak up the savory broth.
🥕 Dietary Suggestions
Gluten-free.
Pork-free: Swap in smoked turkey or omit meat and add 1–2 Tbsp olive oil for body.
Vegetarian: Use vegetable broth; finish with a knob of butter or extra-virgin olive oil.
📚 Sources
Redon, 1998 (adaptation as provided).
Period dietetic summaries consulted for general fresh vs. cured meat distinctions and bean qualities.
🏷 Labels
Browse by Dish Type: Pottage
Browse by Ingredient: Legumes, Pork, Herbs
Browse by Use: Feast Planning, Period Techniques, Humoral Theory
“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese. Used here as period context for spice-laden pork roasts such as cormarye.
Source:The Forme of Cury, c. 1390 (ed. Hieatt & Butler). Adapted in Redon et al., The Medieval Kitchen (1998).
Original Recipe
Take Colyaundre, Caraway, garlec ygrounde, powdour fort, and salt, medle all this togyder and lay it on a fylett of pork al holes, and lay it to roste; when it is rosted enough, take vinegre and wyne and the juyce of the pork, medle hem togyder, and serve forth.
Translation
Take coriander, caraway, ground garlic, strong spice powder, and salt. Mix all this together and spread it over a fillet of pork, pricking it well. Roast it. When it is cooked enough, take vinegar, wine, and the juices of the pork, mix them together, and serve it forth.
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