What did Benedict eat? - Lidia Bastianich reveals the menu

Chef Lidia Bastianich reveals what was on the menu for Pope Benedict to food blog Serious Eats:

Forty years ago, when Lidia was 12 and living in a refugee camp in Trieste, Italy, with her parents and brother, a Catholic relief organization provided them with safe passage and the proper visas to emigrate to America. But Lidia and her parents had to go to the Vatican to get the blessing of the pope at the time, Pope Paul VI.

So one can only imagine how thrilled she was to cook not one, not two, but three meals for the current pope during his visit to New York City. And Pope Benedict XVI turned out to be a serious eater, which is not surprising, given the fact that his mom was a hotel chef. [...]

Here's a mouth-watering sampling -- from Saturday's Lunch for the Holy Father and his Cardinals in New York:

• String bean salad with sheep's milk ricotta and pickled shallots and toasted almonds
• Ravioli with fresh pecorino and pears
• Risotto with nettles, fava beans, and ramps
• Whole roasted striped bass with boiled fingerling potatoes and a frisée salad
• Apple strudel with honey vanilla ice cream (with honeycomb intact)

Lidia sums up her experience:

"It was celestial. It meant my life had come full circle. I came to America because a Catholic relief organization provided safe passage, and here I am cooking for, feeding, and nourishing the pope. It doesn't get any better than that, does it?"

(Via Domenico Bettinelli).

* * *

On a related note, the New York Times reveals that Pope Benedict's diet "reflected the digestive needs of a man who had just turned 81 and was at the end of an intense road trip" (A Recipe With an Imprimatur, by Kim Severson. April 23, 2008):

He wanted food that was light and seasonal. And the two formal dinners he ate in the wood-lined dining room at the five-story town house of the papal nuncio to the United Nations on East 72nd Street were to last only 80 minutes.

Besides security checks as each dish was prepared, the most important edict was this: The pope couldn’t handle spices.

Adjustments were made. The pepe was withheld from his ravioli cacio pepe e pere, the classic dish of pasta and pecorino accented with pears and pepper. Strudel, a nod to his German roots, was made without cinnamon. ...

One dish the pope ate in New York stands out as a particularly nice way to mark both spring and the papal visit. This creamy risotto is warm enough to take the chill off a New York spring evening but tastes so green that it satisfies the pent-up desire to eat early spring vegetables as soon as possible.

Related

• Lidia Bastianich chosen to be "The Papal Chef" in New York Benedict in America March 23, 2008.

Catholic News Service: "Mum's the word" about Pope's Birthday Lunch

"Mum's the word about menu for pope's 81st birthday celebration", say Angelo Stagnaro of the Catholic News Service (April 16, 2008):

The tightest of security surrounded the meals being prepared for Pope Benedict XVI during his April 15-20 U.S. visit. Even the menus were being kept secret.

"We were told by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, nuncio to the United States, to not reveal the menus, the budgets or even the ingredients of dishes we're preparing," said Franco Nuschese, the owner of Cafe Milano, an Italian restaurant in the Georgetown section of Washington.

Nuschese, executive chef Fabio Salvatore and 23 other professionals were responsible for Pope Benedict's 81st birthday lunch April 16 at the Vatican Embassy, or nunciature, in Washington.

"When Franco first told me, I thought he was joking. But then I quickly realized he was being serious," said Salvatore, a graduate of the Istituto Professionale Albergiero in Pescara, one of Italy's finest culinary institutes.

We do get a few vague details, however -- about the chosen cuisine and the settings for the table:

"I can say, however, the menu has a strong Emilia-Romagna influence," said Salvatore, referring to a region in northern Italy.

"We will be preparing a special pasta dish," said Nuschese. "It's based on an old family recipe created by my grandmother.

"The dish is not easy to make," he added. "It requires fresh vegetables which are currently in season. The dish would have been otherwise impossible to create had His Holiness come at any other time of the year."

He said 90 percent of the ingredients for the meal, "other than fresh vegetables, meats and fish," had been imported from Italy.

Papal Eats . . .

Last month we blogged on Lidia Bastianich, the Italian chef who will have the honor of cooking for the Pope during his stay in New York.

This week, NBC4 News introduces us to the Cafe Milano -- the restaurant chosen to cater the Pope's birthday party at the Vatican embassy:

It doesn't happen every single day for a pope, and that day should be perfect," said executive chef Fabio Salvatore.

Salvatore is the only person who knows what's on the menu, which he said will include four courses. He also is using one of his family's pasta recipes. ...

The Pope will also be dining on more Southwestern fare as well -- according to the El Paso Times, the owners of Carlos and Mickey's restaurants in El Paso, TX are preparing a platter of maize products to be eaten on April 19th:

When El Pasoan Rosa A. Saenz was asked whether she and her family could prepare some of the food that will be served to Pope Benedict XVI when he visits the United States next week, she wept.

"I cried cause it is an honor that we would be chosen to do this," said Saenz, the owner of Los Bandidos de Carlos & Mickey's restaurant. "Who are we?" ...

"This is so important, delivering food for the pope, that we cannot ship it," said Carolina Arrambide, the family matriarch, who will travel to New York next week. "We have to go not only to represent the restaurant, but to represent the city of El Paso."

Following a tradition in of greeting guests with various foods indigenous to an area, the organizers of the papal youth rally will be presenting five platters representing dark bread, light bread, unleavened bread, rice and maize. The maize platter will have tamales, tortillas, gorditas, tostadas and sopaipillas made at Carlos & Mickey's.

Lidia Bastianich chosen to be "The Papal Chef" in New York

Frank Bruni interviews Lidia Bastianich, who will have the honor of cooking for the Pope during his stay in New York (New York Times Diner's Journal, March 21, 2008):

“I’m so elated,” she said of the honor she’s been given. “I mean — yeah, yeah — it’s just tremendous.”

Ms. Bastianich, 62, an owner of the restaurants Felidia and Del Posto, said she considers herself a devout Catholic, and she’s interacted with Vatican officials based in New York. She’s been active as well in the local Italian community. These associations, she said, seemed to be among the reasons organizers of the Pope’s visit chose her.

She said that she would write the menu and help prepare the food for a dinner for 52 on April 18 and a dinner for 24 on April 19. Both will be private. Neither will be in a restaurant. [...]

Ms. Bastianich said she’d been asked not to talk much about the menus she’s putting together yet, and that her instructions from the Pope’s representatives haven’t been too detailed.

“We discussed some of the things, what he likes and dislikes, what he can and cannot eat,” she said. “What was stressed really was simplicity, seasonality, a light, balanced meal.”

Bruni mentions that:

While in New York, he is expected to address the United Nations, visit Ground Zero, celebrate Mass in Yankee Stadium and eat a Shake Shack burger.

That last part is mere speculation.

Speculate away, but if the Pope decides to forego one of New York City's best hamburgers, it's his loss. ;-)

Related

• Lidia's Italy - The Chef's own website.