Thank You Antonio Latini

Antonio Latini (1642 — 1692), a native of the tiny comune of Collamato in Le Marche,[1] was steward to Cardinal Antonio Barberini, cardinal-nephew of Pope Urban VIII in Rome and subsequently Don Stefano Carillo Salcedo, first minister to the Spanish viceroy of Naples. His cookbook, Lo scalco alla moderna (Naples, vol. I 1692, vol. II 1694),[2] contains in its first volume the (surprisingly late)[3] earliest surviving recipes for tomato sauce,[4] though he did not suggest serving it over pasta. One of his tomato recipes is for sauce alla spagnuola, "in the Spanish style". In his second volume Datini gives early recipes for sorbetti.[5]
Latini had gone to Rome at the age of sixteen, and worked his way up in the familia or household of Cardinal Barberini. By turns assistant cook, waiter and wardrobe attendant, he learned the theatrical carving skills expected of a maître d'hôtel and swordsmanship as well.[6] Mastering the arts of successively important stewardship positions, he was made a Roman conte, a "Knight of the Golden Spur" for his service. After working in Rome and at courts in Macerata, Mirandola and Faenza, Latini went to serve as scalco, or household steward, to Carillo Salcedo in 1682.
In Naples Latini cast his net widely for the best products of the Kingdom of Naples for Don Stefano's table. In Lo scalco moderna a brief description of the Regno listed fruits and local specialties in melons and game, oil and olives, vegetables and salads of "rare quality", drawn from Latini's professional experience from 25 locales, none of them as far afield as Sicily, in fact mostly within a days journey of Naples: Poggio Reale, Chiaja, colline di Posillipo, Pozzuoli, Procida, Ischia, Capri, Sorrento, Vico, Castell'a mare di Stabbia, Torre del Greco, Granatiello, Monte di Somma, Orta, Nola, Aversa, Cardito, Arienzo, Acerra, Giugliano, Capua, Gaeta, Venafro, Sora, Isola di Sora. [7]
Latini's manuscript autobiography, not included in Lo scalco moderna, brings his personal career to light by sharing details of a kitchen career that had hitherto been unheard-of when they were first described in print by the self-publicist Marie-Antoine Carême. A transcription that was made in 1690 was discovered in the city library of Fabriano and published by Furio Liccichenti.[8]