In my article “Rome’s Newest Museum, History Seen Through Kitchenware and Cookbooks”, published here in May 31, I mentioned that one of the Museum founder Rossano Boscolo’s most prized possessions, on display there, is Bartolomeo Scappi’s Opera dell’arte del cucinare, the first illustrated (32 engravings) printed cookbook, dating to 1570.

It was published in Rome in six volumes and contains over 1,000 recipes. Several of these include then recently discovered foodstuffs from the New World brought to Europe by the early Spanish explorers.