Bust on the grave of Pellegrino Artusi, by Italo Vagnetti
Porte Sante Cemetery
San Miniato al Monte, Florence
Porte Sante Cemetery
San Miniato al Monte, Florence
“Of particular interest is the story told by Artusi himself regarding a bad experience which occurred during the summer in Livorno in 1855, when Artusi came in contact with cholera, the infective disease that in that era took many lives in Italy. Once in Livorno, Artusi went to a restaurant to have dinner. After eating minestrone, he decided to rent a room in the building belonging to one Domenici. As Artusi would later recount, he spent the whole night suffering from horrible stomach pains, which he blamed on the minestrone he had eaten. The next day, returning to Florence, he got the news that Livorno had been hit by cholera and that Domenici had been a victim. It was only then that he realized what had happened: it had not been the minestrone that made him ill, but the early symptoms of the disease. The event inspired Artusi to write an excellent recipe for minestrone.”
(The case of minestrone and cholera, Wikipedia)
External links: Pellegrino Artusi (Wikipedia) - Artusi's Minestrone Recipe (About Food)
14 comments:
Thanks! Now minestrone and cholera will forever be paired in my mind. :-)
Quite a lot of history in his life!
A very handsome bust and a super interesting story! And best of all, I love minestrone soup!
A terrific bust, nicely photographed. And, it was educational to read about Mr. Artusi, who had such an important unifying role for a country in which food is so important.
Nice busts.
Well you know I'm going to think of this story when I next eat minestrone VP.. it is as favourite :)
A beautiful bust, VP !
I didn't know this, he surely made a great job.
What a great post VP. Maybe I will have some minestrone today.
Well I'm glad he lived to tell the story!
Wouldn't it be hard to eat with a moustache like that?
It is a beautiful bust. What an interesting history lesson!
He had BIG eyes?
I will also think of what happened in 1855 next time I have minestrone :)
Nice to hear the story behind some of these men (well they are mainly men) who we see statues of, so thanks for sharing this one:)
That's simply fascinating. I love this kind of (small) history.
I love Italian food. Nice moustache.
I'm glad he survived cholera and that he learned not to blame the minestrone.
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