Page 82 - Exploring Taste Magazine N.2

EXPLORING TASTE—SANTA MARGHERITA GRUPPO VINICOLO

The diners would soon make a request, “We want fuel!” Yes, because to accompany all
this quirkiness, they drunk nothing other than the oh-so simple Lambrusco
– contained, however, in petrol cans.

The second mouth says: to Marinetti, Futurist cuisine had to be “new, cheerful, optimistic and
cheap food that stimulated genius”, “human” cuisine that clashed
I desire dense, corpulent, with the old and traditional “museum cuisine” of the past.
chewy, nourishing and full wine. The controversy against pasta, guilty of causing weight gain and en-
A wine that is an open book. couraging lassitude, was linked with the previously mentioned au-
Nothing sweet, solid, mature or virile. tarchy. In its place, the Futurists were proposing patriotic rice, which
Solid of body, with an almost menacing frown would have liberated Italy from importing foreign wheat. Typical
and a deep gaze. recipes on the Futurist menu included All Rice (rice f avored with
When it writes on the tablecloth wine and warm beer, starch, egg yolk and Parmesan) and the Gulf
it must be black and strongly af rmative. of Trieste (shelled clams cooked in an onion and garlic sauce, with
Its spilled stain, well outlined without the slow addition of rice, all accompanied by vanilla cream). Main
watery smudges, and it must go down the throat courses included Plastic Meat, a cylindrical meatball made from
like food, like a piece of liquid meat. roasted veal, f lled with 11 types of cooked vegetables with a ring of
Its aroma should be brief, sausage at the base, which rested on three golden spheres of chicken:
not very ef usive, yet saturated and intense: a genuine food sculpture. For dessert, there was Italian Breasts in the
southern wine with a sun-kissed face, solar grip, Sunshine. Invented by the painter Marisa Mori, it consisted of two
guaranteed superior punch and a passionate voice. half-moons f lled with candied almond paste with fresh strawberries
in the center, lashings of zabaglione and whipped cream, a sprin-
Speaking of words: in December 1930, a voice on the radio was kling of strong pepper and red chili peppers to season.
able to capture the attention of Italians everywhere, pronouncing a Aereofood was inspired by the Futurists’ preferred mode of trans-
sentence, which was – to say the least – rather shocking for the na- port, a symbol of high technology, speed and competition, which
tion. “Put down the pasta!” The voice belonged to Filippo Tommaso inspired the famous aereobanquets as well. Created by Fillia, it was
Marinetti, the leader and founder of the Futurist movement. He is the tactile food: the right hand was used to eat fruit and vegetables,
man who wrote the famous Manifesto of Futurist Cooking of 1931, to while the left was used to caress the table, which could be covered in
which the poet Fillia also put his name. It is a collection of thoughts, sandpaper, velvet or silk. As the name suggests, aereobanquets were
convictions and intentions about cooking, the idea for which actually inspired by aeronautics. Tablecloths were replaced by aluminum
came about at the end of a dinner, in a Milanese restaurant, Pen- sheets and metal plates, on a plane-shaped table (two extensions in
na d’oca. In addition to doing away with pasta, the Manifesto also the center for the wings and a motorcycle for the engine). After the
preached about abolishing knives and forks, hoping for the introduc- Spicy Airport dish (Olivier salad), the Rising Thunder was served
tion of “simultaneous and changing mouthfuls”, inviting chemists to (orange risotto). The diners would soon make a request, “We want
invent new f avors and encouraging the use of synaesthesia at table, fuel!” Yes, because to accompany all this quirkiness, they drunk
i.e. accompanying dishes with music, poetry and scents. According nothing other than the oh-so simple Lambrusco – contained, how-

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