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Evo kako je dalmatinski kuhinjski ambijent (i to u vrijeme karnevala) lijepo i razumljivo opisao još Marko Marulić (1450-1524), pobožni splitski masterchef, poznat i kao otac hrvatske književnosti:
Ležahu masuri, rastarkom i sture
kopanje, taljuri, kotli ter parsure,
ražnji ter varjače, komoštre, gradele,
popešci, stargače i glavnje debele;
jošće i gostare kimi napijahu;
i one bokare u kihno trubljahu.
Horuge i ubrusi, razdarte napoli,
sir, meso i krusi, trispide i stoli.
Ovdje samo možemo dodati pokoje u prozi sklepano objašnjenje za riječ-dvije čije značenje možda niste uhvatili. Da vidimo… Masur, plitka limena posuda s ručkama; stura, slamnata prostirka za sušenje voća; parsura – tava; varjača, to je bar lako – kuhača; glavnja – cjepanica; stargača – ribežu, kućo stara! Vidimo, raznog se posuđa i kuhinjskih pomagala moglo naći u bogatom gradskom kućanstvu kasnosrednjovjekovne Dalmacije. Ono, doduše, još uvijek nije keramičko, a kamoli porculansko, nego ponajprije metalno ili drveno. Takvo je očito i Marulovo, jer kako bi inače moglo biti rastarko – razbacano! S druge strane, taljuri-tanjuri iskazani u množini (!) te staklenke (gostare) za “napijanje”, dakle čaše u današnjem smislu, neki su od znakova kuhinje više klase. Tanjuri se do 16. stoljeća ne koriste previše (pogotovo ne na selu), već se hrana češće odlaže na kruh. Čaše su pak u pravilu zemljane ili drvene. Iz keramičkih ili staklenih piju samo bogati i oni u trendu (s tim u vezi, Dalmaciji bliska Venecija do 17. je stoljeća staklarski centar Europe). Veseljaci pak nazdravljaju iz domaće bukare (bokare). U to im je vrijeme svima vjerojatno još dosta strana čudna navika konzumiranja pića iz vlastite, umjesto iz zajedničke čaše. Ista se Europom počinje širiti od 16. stoljeća, s tim da do mnogih hrvatskih i južnoslavenskih krajeva ne dopire do druge polovine 20. stoljeća. Bauštelci, ti vjerni čuvari starih običaja, uspješno joj odolijevaju i danas.
Pribor za jelo je tijekom 15. i 16. stoljeća još uvijek prilično “krezub”. Ustaljena je samo od pamtivijeka nezaobilazna (drvena) žlica. Tijekom srednjeg i ranog novog vijeka njeno je značenje veliko, budući da se kuhinja tog doba zasniva na kašama, juhama i palenti. Noževi se koriste prvenstveno u procesu pripreme namirnica (za tranširanje mesa, rezanje kruha i sl.), tako da ni u bogatijim kućanstvima nisu osobito brojni. Ako ih se koristi kao pribor za jelo, u funkciji su prinošenja hrane ustima. Drugim riječima, glume vilicu koja je dugo vremena figurirala kao prava prokletinja. Koristili su je Rimljani, a u srednjem vijeku se zadržala na području preživjelog Istočnog Rimskog Carstva (Bizanta), Italije te, kao što ćemo vidjeti, priobalne Dalmacije. Budući da je asocirala na Istok, nakon Crkvenog raskola 1054. proglašena je demonskim simbolom koji je grijeh upotrebljavati. “’Bi li nam Bog dao prste, da je želio da se služimo tim sredstvom?’”, umovali su crkveni mislioci. Tek se od 16. stoljeća počinje pozicionirati u blagovaonicama najprofinjenijih europskih velikaša, međutim dosta sporo. Još sredinom 17. stoljeća na bečkom su dvoru prste uranjali u zdjele s mesom te ga na taj način prinosili preda se. Za razliku od “bečke škole”, inventari zadarskih i šibenskih patricija vilice, i to srebrne, bilježe već u 15. stoljeću.
Čime i kako se jelo, to smo otprilike naznačili. No recimo još koju o meniju mediteranske Hrvatske prije vremena pizza cuta. U njegovoj su osnovi, kao uostalom i drugdje, žitarice. Pritom se puk u pravilu zadovoljava različitim varijantama crnog kruha: od prosa, ječma, sirka, zobi (istu tu zob, primjerice, porečka komuna izvozi kao hranu za konje u Veneciji). U vrijeme nerodice, preživljava se od improviziranog kruha, često spravljanog od mekinja, pa čak i grožđanog koma. Važnu dopunu žitaricama čine mahunarke (leća, bob, grah). S druge strane, dobrostojeći građani uživaju u čistom (bijelom) kruhu. Godine 1385. u kuhinji bogatog zadarskog suknara Mihovila Petrovog, uz ostali pekarski pribor, popisano je “čak jedanaest sita za žitarice i brašno“ (Z. Janeković Römer). Gotovo 600 godina kasnije, tijekom svojih istraživačkih lutanja Dalmacijom, supostojanje dva posve oprečna gastronomska iskustva ove regije, na stranicama monumentalne zbirke narodnog blaga Dalmacije Anima Delmatica, bilježi i Ljubo Stipišić Delmata (1938-2011). Između mnoštva drugih, zapisuje i ove stihove, nastale u vremenu kad je osnovu dalmatinske pučke kuhinje preuzeo iz Amerike pridošli kukuruz, tj. palenta (pura):
O, polenta vrsna, ‘rano mrsna,
na piru si siromahu turta,
bogatašu jilo za prid pasa.
Društvene su se opreke očitovale kako na primjeru žitnih namirnica, tako i u pogledu “glavnog jela”. Osim crnih pogača i palente, Dalmaciju je othranila i riba. Morski svijet onodobnog Jadrana iznimno je bogat. Kako bilježi šibenski latinist Juraj Šižgorić (1455-1509), a prenosi gurmanski istraživač-praktičar našeg doba, Veljko Barbieri:
“’…tu se nađu tunji neobične veličine, tu se vide dupini u igri, a vrlo često se pokažu i tuljani [sredozemne medvjedice?]… Tu se love zubaci krunaši koji se ubrajaju u velike poslastice. Tu se vade i oštrige, ukusne zbog okusa dalmatinskog mora, nadalje cipli, salpe, škarpine, trilje, lubini, glamoči, komarče, pagri, lignje i skuše…’“
No riba je važnom sastavnicom dalmatinske kuhinje bila ne zbog svojeg prestiža, ne zbog zamamnih mirisa gregade, brudeta ili gradela (jela Hektorovićevih ribara), već zbog toga što se radilo o široko dostupnoj – sirotinjskoj hrani. Sve do 17. ili 18. stoljeća, vlastela i bogati građani, barem javno, nisu joj skloni. Sukladno općem srednjovjekovnom pravilu, njihova je osnovna namirnica, ali i prehrambeni statusni simbol – meso. Još početkom 19. stoljeća isusovački rektor F. M. Appendini o Dubrovčanima zapisuje da “’najviše vole kopune i pijevce’”, a da “’ribu rijetko jedu’”. Upravo radi uživanja u mesu, kuhinje bogatih Dalmatinaca 14., 15. i 16. stoljeća pune su tava za prženje i ražnjeva za pečenje mesa. Tek u kasnijem razdoblju, kao što nam pokazuje kuhinjska oprema trogirske obitelji Garanjin iz 18. stoljeća, poprimaju istančaniji gastronomski ugođaj: sada se u njima nalaze i mlinci za kavu, kalupi za puding, torte i rožade, kotačići za rezanje tijesta… Doduše, treba biti pošten pa reći da nekakav kotačić za tijesto mora da je poznavao i onaj zadarski javni bilježnik s kraja 14. stoljeća koji nam možda nije ostavio svoje ime, ali jest, na marginama nekog pravnog spisa, vjerojatno najstariji recept u povijesti hrvatske gastronomije: ‘”za domaću tjesteninu punjenu kupusom, služenu u umaku od mesa, crnog vina, luka i cimeta na masti’”[1]
[1] Prema V. Barbieriju
*
Here’s how Dalmatian kitchen ambiance had been described by Marko Marulić (1450-1524), a devoted masterchef from Split, also known as the father of Croatian literature:
Ležahu masuri, rastarkom i sture
kopanje, taljuri, kotli ter parsure,
ražnji ter varjače, komoštre, gradele,
popešci, stargače i glavnje debele;
jošće i gostare kimi napijahu;
i one bokare u kihno trubljahu.
Horuge i ubrusi, razdarte napoli,
sir, meso i krusi, trispide i stoli.
You wouldn’t understand this bit even if you were a native Croatian speaker (imagine if Shakespeare were to list kitchenware in the language of his grandmother). Therefore, here we will add prosaic explanations of the less familiar words (that is most of them :). Let’s see… Masur – shallow tin dish with handles; stura – straw mat on which fruit was dried; parsura – pan; varjača – wooden cooking spoon; glavnja – log; stargača – grater. As you can see, a rich town household in late medieval Dalmatia had quite a lot of different items of table- and kitchenware. None were, as yet, made of ceramics – least of all porcelain – but primarily metal and wood. Marul’s[2] were probably of the same quality, or they could not have been scattered about (rastarkom)! On the other hand, there are some references from which we know his kitchen belonged to the higher classes: It had plates (taljuri) mentioned in the plural (!), and glassware (gostare) for “getting a drink”, or glasses in the modern sense. Plates were rarely used before the 16th century, especially in the villages, and food was usually served on bread. Glasses were earthen or wooden. Only the rich and trendy drank from ceramic or glass cups. (FYI, Venice, in close proximity to Dalmatia, was the glass capital of Europe until the 17th century.) Party-goers toasted out of common wooden jugs (bokare). At the time, drinking from one’s own – instead of a common – container must have still been regarded as a peculiar foreign habit. It only began to spread in Europe during the 16th century, though many Croatian and South-Slavic regions did not adopt the practice until well into the 20th century. The only ones still successfully resisting are the faithful custodians of various traditions, the bauštelci (a popular name for construction workers).
During the 15th and 16th centuries, cutlery was still somewhat deficient. The only consistently used piece was the (wooden) spoon, a must since time immemorial. It was irreplaceable during the middle and early Modern Ages, since the cuisine of the time was based on porridge, soups and polenta. Knives were used primarily during cooking (to cut meat, bread, and similar), and were rare even in rich households. If they appeared as cutlery, then they were used to bring food to the mouth. In other words, they pretended to be forks, which were considered instruments of the devil for a long time. The fork had been used by the Romans, and during the Middle Ages it was more common in the surviving Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), Italy, and, as we are about to see, on the Dalmatian coast. After the Great Schism od 1054, however, it was pronounced a symbol of the devil because of its associations with the East, and its use was considered sinful. “Would God have given us fingers if He had wanted us to use that instrument?” asked the Church thinkers. The fork found its way into the dining halls of the most distinguished European aristocracy only in the 16th century, and even then, slowly. At the Viennese court, as late as mid-7th century, fingers were dipped into meat bowls to transfer food to the plates. Unlike the “Viennese school”, patricians in Zadar and Šibenik listed forks in their inventories – and silver ones at that – already in 15th century.
So far, we have discussed how food was eaten. Let us now turn our attention to the menus of Mediterranean Croatia before the times of pizza cuts. Similar to other regions, grains were at its base. Commoners usually had to make do with different types of whole-grain bread, made of millet, barley, sorghum, and oat flours. (To illustrate the quality, the same oats were exported by the Poreč commune as fodder for Venetian horses.) At times of failed crops, people survived on improvised bread, made with bran and even grape pomace. An important addition to grains were pulses (lentils, broad beans, and regular beans). On the other hand, well-off citizens enjoyed pure (white) bread. In 1385, the kitchen of Mihovil Petrov, a rich draper from Zadar, among other bakery utensils also had “eleven sieves for grains and flour” (Z. Janeković Römer). Almost 600 years later, Ljubo Stipišić Delmata (1938-2011), a composer and ethno-musicologist, will take his exploratory meanderings through Dalmatia. In his monumental collection of folk treasures, Anima Delmatica, he will mention the co-existence of two opposite gastronomical experiences of the region. Along with many others, he wrote the following lines, from the time when the basis of Dalmatian folk cuisine was corn, or polenta (pura), arrived from America:
O, polenta vrsna, ‘rano mrsna,
na piru si siromahu turta,
bogatašu jilo za prid pasa[3]
Contrasting social status reflects not only in grains used, but also the main dish. Along with whole-wheat loaves and polenta, Dalmatians were brought up on fish. The aquatic life in the Adriatic was of an exceptional richness at the time. Juraj Šižgorić (1455-1509), a Latinist from Šibenik, wrote, and the modern-day explorer and cooking expert Veljko Barbieri reminded us,
“… here incredibly large tuna fish can be found, here dolphins play, and every once in a while, seals appear as well [A/N: perhaps Mediterranean monk seal] … Here pink dentex fish are caught, which are considered a delicacy. Here oysters are harvested, succulent with the taste of the Dalmatian sea, as well as mullets, dreamfish, groupers, red mullets, bass fish, gobies, gilt-head breams, red porgies, squids and mackerels…”
Fish was such an important part of Dalmatian cuisine not due to prestige, or the mouth-watering scents of gregada and brudet (types of fish stew), or gradele (grilled fish), but because this food was widely available. It was poor man’s sustenance. On the other hand, before the 17th or 18th century, it was frowned upon by the gentry and the rich bourgeois, at least in public. According to the medieval code, their main ingredient of choice, but also a dietary status symbol, was meat. Even in early 19th century, the Jesuit Chancellor F. M. Appendini wrote that the people of Dubrovnik “preferred capons and cockerels”, while they “rarely partook of fish”. It is due to their meat proclivities that the kitchen of rich Dalmatians of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries were full of frying pans and grilling spits. As the kitchenware of the Garagnin family from the 18th century Trogir shows, a subtler gastronomy developed later. Now there were also coffee grinders, dough cutters, moulds for puddings, cakes and flans, and other kitchen tools. Although, to be honest, we should mention a 14th-century public notary from Zadar, who must have had some knowledge of dough cutters. He did not leave us his name, but wrote down, on the margins of a legal document, what is probably the oldest recipe in the history of Croatian gastronomy. It details the making of “home-made noodles stuffed with cabbage, served in lard-based meat sauce with red wine, onions, and cinnamon”.[4]
[2] Marulić’s nickname.
[3] Something to the effect of: O, wonderful polenta, you rib-gripping food, the poor man makes you his wedding cake, and the rich man a morsel to nibble on.
[4] V: Barbieri.
Illustration by: Sanja Kolenko
