Catherine de’ Medici

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Lady&Mister Chef

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Catherine de’ Medici

The Queen who brough Italian cooking abroad If recipes like Witch’s Broth and Frogs with Satan’s Grass, Sea Bat in a Sulphurous Cauldron with Satan’s Shrimp, or Witch’s Snake Burnt at the Stake don’t scare you out of the kitchen, you might try some of the dishes that Catherine de’ Medici - ever conscious of her less than spotless reputation - offered her guests at the Tuileries Palace, her royal residence.

Despite their disguise as diabolic victuals, these recipes are perfectly harmless: her “Sea Bat” was nothing more than skate with fresh herbs (vervain, marjoram, basil), red pepper, and garlic; her “Witch’s Snake Burnt at the Stake” turned out to be eel, and her

“Satan’s Shrimp” were actually harmless fresh water crustaceans.

Her sense of humor aside, there is little doubt that this great granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who became Queen of France in 1547 (when her husband Henry, Duke of Orléans, inherit ed the crown), is single- handedly respon sible for changing the course of gastro nomic history in France and determining the development of what we now call Grande Cuisine.

The instigation to move away from the earthy flavours of peasant cuisine and create an harmonious display of subtle textures in which both taste and sight played essential roles sums up the legacy Catherine

bequeathed to the gastronomic culture of her adopted country. It proved to be a true inspiration for François de la Varenne, whose Le Cuisinier François, published in 1652, came into being at court during the reign of Catherine’s cousin, Marie de’ Medici.

In 1533, when she first arrived in France, Catherine was fourteen and her dowry included an assortment of beans and vegetables recently arrived from the New World and still unknown in Paris. The situation she found at court was not the most encouraging for a young bride. Two years earlier, Henry had fallen in love with Diane de Poitiers, a sophisticated and astonishingly beautiful lady twenty years his senior: in all but name, it was Diane who held court as Queen of France, while Catherine was forced to lead a quiet and relatively obscure life.

In spite of King Henry’s passionate affair, Catherine’s marriage was not unsuccessful: ten children were born to the royal couple in as many years, among them Margaret - usually referred to as Queen Margot - whose licentiousness made her one of the most talked about ladies in Europe.

Taken from: Good Food

Catherine de’ Medici, the woman single-handedly responsible for changing the course of gastronomic history in France.