Valvasor e la buona tavola: passeggiata tra sapori, usanze e curiosità nella Carniola del Seicento

Abstract

In his monumental work Die Ehre Deß Hertzogthums Crain (The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola), 1689, an essential point of reference for Slovenian culture, Johann Weichard Valvasor (1641-1693) provides, among other things, a lot of information on the typical products of that area which today roughly corresponds to central and western Slovenia, and on the nutrition of its inhabitants. If some notes on the culinary uses of the Carniolans, contained in the 3,532 pages of these weighty tomes, are well known and frequently cited by popular sources, especially in relation to the tourism market and current gastronomy, even today there is still no global presentation of the dietary traditions from the area through the eyes of the 17th century author. This essay, while not purporting to provide a definitive analysis of a vast and rather complex subject, intends to offer an overall illustration of this less studied aspect of the famous "ante litteram encyclopedia" of Carniola, touching on some matters intimately connected with food, from the definition of identity to social stratification, from economic implications to complex questions of the links with with religious rituals and symbolism.