Fruit and Nuts - a brief history of figs, melons and pears; pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, pinenuts and walnuts

While some people might not think much of figs, or have ever eaten them in America beyond the occasional industrial fig cookie named after Newton, Massachusetts, figs have been a staple food for thousands of years. Fig cultivation in ancient Egypt pre-dates the Old Kingdom. Figs, apples and almonds are mentioned in Assyrian and Babylonion texts, as well as the Bible. Why fig leaves were chosen to cover Adam and Eve when they discovered nakedness is unknown, although the poem here might give some clues. The plant was certainly commonplace. Eventually, figs were eaten in every part of the Western world. Cheese, barley and figs were the principal foods of the Spartan diet in classical Greece. When available, figs, melons, pears, grapes, apples and almonds were eaten fresh or dried. Fruit ended the ancient Roman meal, often with dried figs, walnuts and grape preserves. In ancient Carthage, the descendents of the Phoenicians were known to eat pistachios, and from tomb excavations evidence of walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds have been found. All of these nuts plus pinenuts were used historically in Arab cooking, sometimes ground up as a binder in sauces and stews with meat and dried fruit. So why all this information on figs and nuts? Because they are still relevant today, especially at Gelatauro. While a glance at our flavors would indicate an American(my own) predeliction for ginger(gelato and biscotti di zenzero, or scones), apple pie(mela e cannella, baked apple and cinnamon gelato) and pumpkin pie(zucca e cannella or squash and cinnamon), there is a distinct Calabrian influence as well. Figs are still important in southern Italy, both fresh and dried. At Gelatauro you can now find freshly baked cookies with a filling of ground figs and almonds, and a hint of either coffee and cinnamon or of Calabrian bergamot orange. This is a treat I have been enjoying for years, home-baked in Calabria, where they are known as Sammartine. Could they be the original fig cookie? These treats are made with organic figs from the family orchard, as long as supplies last each winter. Almonds and pistachios from Bronte, in Sicily, are used in our u-shaped krumiri cookies, as well as in one of our most popular gelato flavors, Regno delle Due Sicilie(Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), invented by Cosimo.

It seems there was a lot of suspicion toward many foods in different periods of history, especially fruit, in early Arab cultures and European medieval ones through to recent centuries. But while many people were afraid to eat fruit except for figs and sweet grapes, which were dried and/or cooked before eating, there were always examples throughout various cultures of others, often the elite, who disregarded dieticians and doctors. Arab princes had fruit brought to Baghdad from distant places. Melons were packed in ice and shipped there in lead containers. Watermelons, which came from India, also came to be cultivated in the Middle East. Melons were singled out as particularly suspect. One Medieval dietician recommended that melon be followed by a mild cheese or small amount of salty meat. This might have led to the modern Italian delicacy of prosciutto with melon as an appetizer. Fresh figs are also eaten in the same way. At gelatauro Gianni and Cosimo blend fresh figs with jasmine native to Calabria to make a heavenly granita or slush when figs are in season. The same Medieval tract suggested that pears be cooked in cinnamon, cloves and red wine, and served with butter, soft cheese and sugar on top. Interesting to think this was considered more digestable than just eating a raw pear. There were even maxims, sometimes in rhyme, to help people deal with the dangers of pears: "Après la poire, prestre ou boire"(After the pear, drink wine or call for a priest to pray over you). But while I have found that people are still a bit suspicious of melons in Italy, supposedly hard to digest, particularly at night, though they eat them anyway, attitudes have changed about pears. When I went to Friuli in the Veneto with the cooking expert Julia Child, before Gelatauro was even a figment of the Figliomeni brothers imagination, I learned of the joy of pears and cheese: "Formaggio e pere, sempre piacere"(Cheese and pears together, always a pleasure). The pears are eaten raw, grated finely to form a fresh applesauce texture, and served on a plate next to cheese balls or gnocchi created from a blend of ricotta and taleggio. After my husband Gianni and his brother Cosimo opened the gelato shop, Gianni decided it would make a great ice- cream flavor. Many people would agree, as they savor the bits of taleggio melting on the tongue when the pear dissolves.

Il Gelatauro uses the finest hazelnuts from Le Langhe in Piedmont in their traditional nocciola gelato, as well as in the handmade chocolates. Pinenuts, both as a paste and whole, are combined with their custard-like cream flavor gelato, made with eggs, to make the new flavor which Cosimo christened "Aurora". Walnuts are added to Gelatauro's brownies, which Italians have recently discovered in the boxes with pre-prepared mixes. While ours use the finest cocoa products on the market, and organic cane sugar and butter, they took a turn for the better after Gianni and I tasted children's book author Ethel Pochocki's brownies in Brooks, Maine(USA).

Jasmine

Although Jasminum Sambac originated somewhere near Arabia, the first mention of it in history comes from 300 A.D. in China. It was important in China both as an aroma and a flavoring . The women of Southern China would string the flowers with colored silk for use as hair ornaments. In 17th century Europe, when perfumed gloves were very fashionable, Jasmine was used to scent them. But it was used as a flavoring, too.The recipe for Jasmine chocolate, a Tuscan specialty in the late 1600's, was carefully guarded by Francesco Redi, scientist and poet at the court of Cosimo III de' Medici. Il Gelatauro uses jasmine in the "Prince of Calabria" flavor, together with bergamot, which also grows in this region of Italy.

Mint

Mint was used as a flavoring in cooking in ancient Greek, Roman and Middle Eastern Cultures. The Roman food writer Xenocrates proposed it in sauces for shellfish and oysters. It was also used on sliced cold meat, together with the ubiquitous fish sauce and vinegar, of course. In Ancient Greece barley flour and mint went into a drink known as cyceon. It was the sacred drink of Eleusis, but locals drunk it simply for refreshment. It is still popular on meat in many cultures, especially on lamb, fresh or as jelly. Gelatauro uses it in their mint and lemon "granita" or slush, as well as in popsicles of the same flavor.

Fennel

Fennel was listed as an aromatic on tablets from Myceneum palaces in Greece dating to 14th century B.C. It was used in Ancient Egypt as well. Roman food writer Apicius listed it as an ingredient in barley, chickpea and lentil soup. In the Byzantine Empire, diet and health calendars suggested people eat warm foods and fennel in May, and drink its juice to eliminate bile. In his book "Regimen Corpus", published in 1256, Aldobrandino of Siena classified fennel and mint in the "hot and dry" category of medicinal beliefs based on Ancient Greek philosophy. It was commonly gathered in meadows and woods in the feudal period of the late Middle Ages. The idea to use it to make gelato came from the traditional sweet given to mothers of newborns - fennel seeds in a white sugar coating.

Cloves

Cloves have been mentioned in Chinese, Indian and Roman sources from around the time of Christ. People kept them in their mouths as an early breath freshener. The cloves would have helped toothaches at the same time! All three cultures used them in medicines as well. Apicius doesn't include them in his recipes, but a little cookbook from the end of the Roman Empire says cloves must always be on hand in the kitchen. One Roman recipe calls for cloves and ginger with rabbit. Cloves were an important culinary spice in Medieval times, and recommended for medical purposes by Aldobrandino of Siena. In fact, every spice used in the Medieval kitchen was first imported as a medicine, and only later used as a seasoning. Even tea, coffee and sugar, considered a spice at the time, were all first promoted as medicines. Cloves were also used to spice mulled wines, along with cinnamon. In the Baroque period Messibugo used cloves, cinnamon and ginger in many recipes. They were all also popular in Arab cooking.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon reached the Mediterranean by the 7th century B.C. The most prized species of this plant come from Sri Lanka and Southern India, although other varieties grow in Southeast Asia and Southern China. Sappho and Ezekiel both mention cinnamon, which is referred to several times in the Bible. God tells Moses to take the choicest spices along with him, including cinnamon, but meant them to be used only in worship, not to perfume clothes. In Medieval cooking both cinnamon and ginger were key elements in the supposed health elixir called "Hippocras". To make a less costly version of the drink, lower-quality cinnamon known as cassia could be substituted, but ginger, even though it was costly, apparently couldn't be substituted. In Italy in Baroque times the cook Giovanni del Turco often employed cinnamon, which was invariably combined with pasta.

Chocolate

Italy was the second European nation in which chocolate became popular, following Spain. Colombus, on his fourth voyage in 1502, was the first European known to have encountered cacao beans, although he didn't know what they were, and referred to them as almonds. He discovered them by chance, when he overshot Jamaica by mistake and landed on the island Guanaja, off the Honduran coast. Colombus was surprised at how highly valued these "almonds" were by the Mayan villagers who possessed them, but he brought a few pods back to King Ferdinand. It took Europeans a long time to catch on to chocolate, which ancient American civilizations had been drinking for atleast a thousand years by that time. Apparently the Izapan culture of Olmec origins first planted cacao in Soconusco, in the Chiapas region, which was later to become a key city in the Aztec Empire. Cacao beans and chocolate were an important part of first Mayan, then Aztec cultures, especially for wealthy people, who used chocolate in betrothal and marriage ceremonies, and placed chocolate-making equipment in their tombs as early as 1,500 years ago. They combined bitter chocolate with hot pepper and other ingredients, but not sugar. Until Spaniards started adding cinnamon and sugar, Europeans were not interested in this beverage. But by 1662 it became so popular in Italy that chocolate consumption became a religious issue. Roman Cardinal Brancaccio was called on to decide whether it should be outlawed during Lent, since it was so nourishing and pleasing to the senses. The chocoholics won out - Brancaccio ruled in its favor, proclaiming, "Liquids don't break the fast." After this, chocolate began to be used in pasta, soups and with meat through the 18th century! While chocolate was all the rage in Europe, its only Asian success was in the Phillipines, conquered by the Spanish in 1543. The cacao planted there was the source of chocolate for Jesuit missionaries and Portugese businessmen in what is now Thailand. Hot chocolate is still a part of the traditional Christmas breakfast of Catholic Filipinos. Today Africa leads the world in cacao production, but some of the most famous chocolate comes from Hawaii and tropical regions of the Americas.

Coffee

Chocolate beat coffee and tea to Europe, but in Italy coffee reigns supreme. This shrub from the mountains of Ethiopia was originally mixed with butter and made into a paste which was eaten. Chocolate started as a liquid before it found favor in solid form, but coffee did the opposite, whenthe inhabitants of Southern Arabia transformed it into a beverage. The Muslim Sufi sect is commonly credited with popularizing coffee, which helped keep them awake during evening prayers. By the late 15th century there were coffeehouses in Mecca. Cairo followed suit, and Constantinople opened its first cafe in 1554. Before the 1600's, coffee was only known to the avante-garde, such as the students, faculty and visitors of the University of Padova. Coffee, as well as chocolate needed approval by the religious authorities. But after tasting it, Pope Clement VIII proclaimed coffee to be suitable for Christian use. While the first reliable date for a coffee establishment in Italy is 1683, in Venice, a man named Pasqua Rosée, described in a British source as an Italian from Ragusa, opened the first coffeehouse in London in 1652.