Diriola – Maestro Martino’s Renaissance Custard Tart with Rosewater & Cinnamon

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.”

Modern Recipe: Diriola (Redon, 1998)

Pastry

• 1¾ cups (220 g) flour (mix of white & wheat)
• 9 Tbsp (125 g) butter/lard, chilled
• Pinch salt
• Cold water, as needed

Custard Filling

• 3 cups (710 ml) milk (or almond milk, for Lenten version)
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/3–1/2 cup (65–100 g) sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• 2–3 Tbsp rosewater
• Candied orange peel, to garnish

Method

1. Make pastry. Rub fat into flour/salt, add water to bind. Chill 2 hrs. Roll out, line a 9″ tart pan, blind bake 15+5 min at 350°F (175°C).
2. Mix custard. Whisk yolks, sugar, cinnamon, salt; add milk gradually. Strain if desired.
3. Bake. Pour into shell. Bake ~55–65 min until just set with a slight quiver. Tent with foil if browning.
4. Finish. Sprinkle rosewater, cool, garnish with candied peel.

Techniques of Renaissance Custards

Beyond Martino’s simple directions, Renaissance cooks used several methods to refine custards:

• Water-bath baking (bain-marie): Dishes were set in hot water to prevent curdling and keep a silky texture. Scappi (1570) explicitly describes this method.
• Double-boiler thickening: Custards were stirred over gentle heat until they “coated the spoon,” then poured into pastry to finish.
• Starch additions: Wheat starch, rice flour, or arrowroot helped almond-milk custards set during fasts.
• Infused bases: Milk was simmered with cinnamon sticks, mace, or citrus peels before mixing with yolks.
• Distilled waters: Rosewater, orange blossom water, and herb distillates added perfume and were thought medicinal.
• Layered custards: Some versions included marrow, raisins, or dates, bridging sweet and savory traditions.

Regional Styles of Presentation

• Italy: Served as large tarts or small molded flans, often garnished with candied peel or sugar.
• France: By the 16th century, darioles referred to both the custard and the fluted mold. They were banquet showpieces, uniform and jewel-like.
• England: “Daryols” were baked in pastry coffins, sometimes enriched with marrow or dried fruit. Sweet–savory overlap was common.
• Spain: Related custards (natillas) were thickened on the stove and perfumed with cinnamon or citrus, often poured into shallow bowls.

Presentation ranged from rustic large tarts cut at table to refined individual molds, reflecting both local style and the wealth of the host.

Beliefs & Dining Practices

• Humoral digestion: Milk and eggs (cold & moist) were balanced by warming cinnamon and rosewater. Custards “closed the stomach” after heavy meats.
• The voider course: Sweet dishes, wafers, and spiced wine were served at the end of banquets to “void the table.” Diriola could appear here.
• Status symbol: Sugar was costly; serving perfumed custards signaled wealth and refinement.
• Religious calendars: Lenten versions with almond milk let cooks serve custards without breaking dietary rules.

Humoral Qualities

In Galenic medicine, milk and egg yolks were classified as cold & moist, considered nourishing but heavy on the stomach. Spices like cinnamon and aromatics like rosewater were warming & dry, believed to balance and lighten the custard. A gently trembling set, “like a junket,” was praised as easy to digest, making diriola an elegant closing dish for a feast.

Lenten Adaptation

Martino explicitly gives a Quadragesima (Lenten) version: the custard is prepared with almond milk, sugar, cinnamon, and rosewater, then thickened with a little starch to help it set. This adaptation reflects how Renaissance cooks navigated church dietary rules, offering diners a rich and perfumed treat even during periods of fasting.

Dietary Notes 🥕

• Contains: gluten, dairy, eggs.
• Dairy-free/Lenten: almond milk + 1 Tbsp cornstarch.
• Gluten-free: sturdy GF crust works well.

Why this course?

Served as a Confections/Dessert. Milk & eggs (cold & moist) were balanced by warming cinnamon and rosewater; placed after roasts to soothe the stomach.

Substitutions & Adjustments

• Rosewater → orange blossom water for variety.
• Mini tarts (2–3″) make excellent Medieval Finger Food.
• For more “period” flair: garnish with sugar & cinnamon, or candied herbs.

Historical & Culinary Notes

Martino’s Diriola shows the refinement of late-medieval custards: lightly spiced, perfumed with rosewater, meant to tremble delicately when served. The Lenten version with almond milk reflects church dietary rules. By the 16th century, “dariole” also named the fluted molds used in French pastry.

Sources

• Maestro Martino, Libro de arte Coquinaria, c.1465. Ed. Italophiles/Marburg transcription.
• Odile Redon, Françoise Sabban, Silvano Serventi. The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy. Chicago: 1998.

Labels: Confections and Dessert; Pastry; Dairy; Eggs; Spices (Cinnamon); Feast Planning; Period Techniques; Medieval; Renaissance; Medieval Finger Food

📖 This recipe is part of the Ceilidh 2001 – Fourteenth-Century Italian Feast .
Explore all dishes from this reconstructed 14th-century Italian banquet.