Pasta, called with many names, was one of the most popular dishes in medieval and Renaissance Italy. It was prepared in many ways: simple, like the one we are presenting today, or stuffed, sweet or savory. We made in the past green ravioli and lasagna. Pasta, however, existed already in ancient times, in Greece as well as Rome.
Today we prepare tria di vermicelli, a recipe from a 14th-century manuscript, conventionally called Anonimo Fiorentino. Tria is a term that appears in ancient Greek sources, spelled itria, and is used still today for a traditional dish in Salento, called tria e ciceri (chickpeas), quite similar to Horace’s lagana and chickpeas we prepared a few months ago.According to Galen, lagana (from which comes lasagna) are a kind of tria. Hesychius, in his Lexicon, associates tria with kapyrode, considered by Athenaeus the Greek word for tracta. Recently, we made an ancient Roman recipe with pasta (tracta) and meatballs.
The translation of tria di vermicelli sounds like “pasta of vermicelli”. The vermicelli recipe is absent from this cookbook: the author probably bought it already prepared and did not feel the necessity to write the method. We find it described thoroughly, instead, in Maestro Martino’s cookbook, written in the 15th century. The variant described by Anonimo Fiorentino is sweet, but Maestro Martino suggests also a fat-day recipe with broth instead of almond milk, grated cheese, spices, and saffron.
Below, you will find the original texts with our translation, notes about the methods and ingredients, and the video of the recipe with captions in English and Italian. Enjoy!
If you want to know more about historical pasta, read our book Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies, where you will find historical information about cereals and their preparations from the Antiquity to the end of the Renaissance, with 114 recipes for pasta, bread, pizza, pies, and more, newly translated and explained.
If you are interested in late-medieval cuisine, we recommend Libro de la Cocina. Medieval Tuscan Recipes and Registrum Coquine. A medieval cookbook. To learn about the transition between ancient and medieval cooking, check out De Observatione Ciborum, written by the physician Anthimus to the king of the Franks Theuderic. If you are interested in recipes for vegetables from the Antiquity to the beginning of the Modern Era in Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers available in English and Italian.
For information about ancient cuisine, read Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources. Moreover, full translations of historical sources and articles on ancient and medieval cooking are available on Patreon.
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VERMICELLI
Ingredients
300 grams durum wheat flour
1 egg
water
salt
Method
Knead the flour with a pinch of salt, one egg white, and a bit of water until the dough becomes very hard and reaches a smooth consistency. Take little pieces of dough and shape thin threads with your hands, similar to little worms. For the exact process, we suggest watching the video.
Note about the method
Maestro Martino’s recipe is for dry vermicelli, the same kind probably used by Anonimo Fiorentino. We made them fresh, but if you want, dry them. With fresh vermicelli, we reduced the cooking time to about 20 minutes, but they could be cooked even more or less, depending on how hard the dough is. The cooking time suggested by the author, one hour, may seem strange, but it is probably due to the hardness of the dough, the use of egg white, and the fact that vermicelli are dried. Maestro Martino assures that this pasta keeps itself well for a very long time.
The author suggests many ways to cook vermicelli and other kinds of pasta, included lasagna, one of which is similar to the one followed by Anonimo Fiorentino more than a century before. This variant is for the lean days, as suggested by the presence of almond milk, but vermicelli can be cooked also in broth.
Vermicelli original text (Maestro Martino)
Distempera la pasta como è ditto di sopra [piglia de la farina bellissima, et inpastala con biancho d’ovo et con acqua rosa, overo con acqua communa. Et volendone fare doi piattelli non gli porre più che uno o doi bianchi d’ova, et fa’ questa pasta ben dura; dapoi fanne pastoncelli longhi un palmo et sottili quanto una pagliuca], et filala sottile rompendola a pezoli peccini con le dita a modo di vermicelli, et poneli a secchare al sole, et durarando doi o tre anni. Et quando li vorrai cocere falli cocere in brodo di carne, o di bon pollo grosso, per spatio d’una hora. Et poi fa’ le menestre et mittivi caso grattugiato et spetie. Se non fusse tempo di carne cocigli con latte de amandole con zuccharo, overo in lacte de capra. Et perché questo lacte non vole bollire quanto che richiedono li vermicelli, falli bollire prima con un pocha d’acqua como si fa il riso. Et simelemente se deveno cocere le lasagne, le tritte overo fermentine. Et tutte queste vivande di pasta deveno essere gialle di zafrano, excepto quando se coceno in lacte.
Translation
Prepare the dough as written above [take beautiful flour and knead it with egg white and water rose or common water. If you want to make two dishes, do not use more than one or two egg whites, and make a very hard dough. Shape then little pieces long as a palm and thin as a straw] and make thin threads breaking little pieces with your fingers, similar to little worms. Then, dry them in the sun. They keep themselves for two or three years. When you want to cook them, make them boil in good broth made with meat or good, fat chicken for an hour. Plate them with grated cheese and spices. In the lean days, cook them with almond milk or goat milk. Since this milk does not boil as much as vermicelli need, boil them before in a bit of water as we do with rice. In the same way, cook lasagne, tritte or fermentine [other two kinds of pasta]. And all these pasta dishes have to be colored with saffron, except when they are cooked with [goat] milk.
TRIA DI VERMICELLI
Ingredients
150 grams vermicelli
300 grams peeled almonds
80 grams white cane sugar
spices (saffron, cloves, cinnamon)
salt
Method
To prepare almond milk, grind in the mortar the almonds and dilute with a bit of water, then sift the liquid.
Steep the saffron in warm water and grind the spices. Boil a little water and add the vermicelli. After about ten minutes, add the almond milk and sugar. When the vermicelli are almost cooked, about ten minutes later, add the saffron. Plate them and dust with spices. Serve this dish warm or cool.
Note about the method and ingredients
We changed the ratio suggested by the recipe, following our taste as medieval cooks write continuously in their texts. The original ratio is one part of vermicelli, one of sugar, and two of almonds.
The only spice recommended by the author is saffron, the others are not mentioned. We suggest choosing among cloves, cinnamon, ginger, grains of paradise, or black pepper.
Tria di vermicelli original text (Anonimo Fiorentino)
Se vuoli fare tria di vermicelli per XII persone, togli due libre di mandorle e una di vermicelli e una libra di çucchero. E togli le mandorle ben monde e ben macinate e bene colate, e togli i vermicelli ben netti, e mettili a bollire in acqua poca. E quand’anno levato il bollore, mettivi quantità di latte di mandorle e fallo cuocere con esso, e mettivi quantità di çucchero; e quando è cotto, mettivi çafferano stemperato. Questa vivanda vuol esere gialla e spessa; e poni spezie sopra scodella. Se vuoli fare per più o per meno persone, togli le cose a questa ragione medesima.
Translation
If you want to make tria di vermicelli for 12 people, take two pounds of almonds, one of vermicelli, and one of sugar. Take almonds well peeled, well ground, and well sifted [the author is referring to the process of making almond milk, mentioned below in the text]. Take the vermicelli and boil them in a little water. Once they have boiled, add the almond milk and sugar. When it is cooked, add diluted saffron. This dish has to be yellow and thick. Sprinkle spices on the plate. If you want to make more or less tria di vermicelli, keep the same ratio.
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Books
Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies
Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano. Medieval Tuscan Recipes
Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks.
Registrum Coquine by Johannes Bockenheim. A medieval cookbook
Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Sources, Recipes
Translations of Historical Sources
De Agri Cultura by Cato – first part (2nd century BCE)
De Re Coquinaria by Apicius (Ancient Rome)
Apicii Excerpta by Vinidarius (5th or 6th century)
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus (6th century)
Appendicula de Condituris Variis by Johannes Damascenus (8th or 9th century)
De Flore Dietarum (11th century)
Tractatus de Modo Preparandi et Condiendi Omnia Cibaria (13th or 14th century)
Liber de Coquina – first part (14th century)
Enseignemenz (14th century)
Opusculum de Saporibus by Mainus de Maineris (14th century)
Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano (14th century)
Anonimo Veneziano (14th century)
Registrum Coquine by Johannes von Bockenheim (15th century)
Libro de Arte Coquinaria by Maestro Martino – parts 1-4 (15th century)
Recipes
Tuscan Chicken Soup with Unripe Grapes
Early-medieval Kohlrabi Stew
Tuscan Fried Leek Rings
Pork Ribs
Tuscan Pancakes with Wild Flowers
Hop Shoots
Shrimp – Savore de Gambari
Orange Frittata – Fritata de Pomerantiis
Tuscan Soup with Hen and Florence Fennel
The diet of the Franks – Celery Root and Beef Stew
Tuscan Fish Cakes – Salciccie di Pescio
Tuscan Stew with Pork Belly and Rutabaga
Pork and Onion Soup
Tuscan Radish Soup
The Diet of the Franks – Endive and Pork Jowl
Tuscan Fried Meatballs
The Diet of the Franks – Chicken Stew
Castagnazzi
Renaissance Stuffed Cucumbers
Pork Roast with Cherry Sauce
Renaissance Fried Tomatoes
Herbolata
The Diet of the Franks – Beef Stew
Fried Chicken Soup
Beef Roast with Garlic Sauce
Bread Soup
Salted Meat and Peas
Baghdadi Rice Cream
Chicken with White-Pepper Sauce – Piperatum Album
Indian Chickpeas and Meat
The Diet of the Franks – Pork Stew
Chestnut and Mushrooms
Lentils with Oregano and Watermint
Egyptian Bread with Pistachios and Almonds
Veal with Fennel-Flower Sauce
Pork Roast with Green Sauce
Eggs Poached in Wine
Brodium Theutonicum
Crispellae – Pancakes with Saffron and Honey
Brodium Sarracenium – Chicken Stew
Fava Beans and Pork
Erbe Minute – Meatballs with Herbs
Lettuce and Pork Soup
Zanzarelli – Egg and Cheese Soup
Turnip and Beef Soup for Servants
Cheese Pasta – Vivanda Bona
Gratonata – Chicken Stew
Chickpea Soup with Poached Eggs
Apple Fritters
Hippocras and Claretum – Mulled Wine
Pastero – Pork Pie
10th-century Goat Roast – A Langobard at the Court of the Byzantine Emperor
Romania – A Recipe Between Arabic and Italian Tradition – Medieval Chicken with Pomegranates
Emperor’s Fritters
Medieval Pizza – The Origin of Pizza
Roast Chicken with Salsa Camellina
Sweet Rice
Afrutum or Spumeum – 6th-century Byzantine recipe
A Medieval Breakfast – Wine, Carbonata, and Millet Bread
Salviata – Eggs and Sage
Tria di Vermicelli
Cabbage Soup
Frittelle Ubaldine – Pancakes with Flowers and Herbs
Saffron Cheesecake
Drunken Pork – Early Medieval Pork Stew
Medieval Monk’s Stuffed-Egg Soup
Apple Pie
Onion Soup
Gnocchi
Lentils and Mustard Greens
Chicken soup – Brodo Granato
Turnip Soup
Beans and Bacon – Black-Eyed Peas
Prawn Pie – Pastello de Gambari
Foxtail Millet Polenta and Spit-Roasted Goose
Beef Stew
Blancmange
Leek Soup
Quail Stew with Coconut
Chicken Pie
Ravioli
Almond Cream
Red Mullet Soup
Spit Roast Beef with Arugula Seeds
Walnut Bread
Lasagna
Tripe
Fried Fish
Roast Lamb with Green Sauce
Clams
Sweet and Sour Sardines
Trouts with Green Sauce
Lamb Stew
Quails with Sumac
Chicken with Fennel Flowers
Sea Bream
Historical Italian Cooking 