In honor of Spaghetti Day: A special historical recipe!
The featured recipe is from the second edition of the cookbook Cucina Teorica-Pratica (1839), by duke Ippolito Cavalcanti. It is historically important, among other things, for being the first to record a recipe for durum wheat spaghetti (or ‘viermicielli’) dressed in a very simple tomato sauce. That one is in the ‘home cooking’ section, whereas the recipe below is in the main section dedicated to upscale folks, the Duke’s peeps.
Let’s get one serious question out of the way before moving on to the recipe:
What’s the difference between spaghetti and vermicelli? Technically, vermicelli are larger in diameter. Barilla defines the lineup thus:
No. 8 - vermicelli (small worms)
No. 7 - vermicellini (very small worms)/spaghettoni (big strings),
No. 5 - spaghetti (slim strings)
No. 3 - spaghettini (thin strings)
No. 1 - capellini (fine hairs - Angel hair pasta)
Now, as I look a bit deeper into the matter, I get Ronzoni, the best selling American brand. They give this titbit on the difference between vermicelli and spaghetti:
This Ronzoni ad says that vermicelli are thinner than spaghetti - die number 10?
Hmmm, interesting.
I’ve never met anyone in Italy with the surname Ronzoni, so I checked on it. Unlike the popular Australian/UK brand Dolmio, the name Ronzoni actually exists.
The distribution of families with the surname Ronzoni in Italy
Most of the Ronzoni families hail from Lombardy, none from Campania. Jussayin’.
The full name of our recipe is Timpano di vermicielli di magro senza pasta, that is: crustless vermicelli torte for lean/fast days. Until the 20th century, Italian cookbooks made a point of delineating which recipes could be eaten on the numerous ‘meatless’ days of the Christian calendar. There was a wee oversight in this recipe in that it includes lard. Easily switched out for butter by the observant.
Just a note on the word timpano: it corresponds to the word timpani, which would be the plural of timpano. These savory pies were more commonly referred to as timballo, which also proffered the idea of a drum.
Spaghetti timpano with cod (see also video below)
Ingredients:
10g lard
50g bread crumbs
3 tbsp olive oil
10 anchovies (or more)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
500g spaghetti
40g capers
100g salt cured black olives, chopped
270g fresh cod cut into strips
Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 200°c
Bring a pot of water to the boil for spaghetti. Cook the pasta until just before al dente.
Meanwhile:
Grease an 8 inch high rimmed cake pan with lard. Shake breadcrumbs inside to coat. Keep extra breadcrumbs aside.
Heat olive oil in a broad, rounded skillet. Add 4+ anchovies and cook until disintegrated. Off heat add parsley.
Construct:
When the pasta is ready, drain and toss in the anchovy oil on a medium flame.
Put half of the pasta in the prepared dish. Then make a layer of capers, olives, chopped anchovies and the fish.
Top with a layer of pasta and press the ingredients down.
Brush the remainder of the melted lard over the top and cover with the rest of the bread crumbs.
Bake for 1/2 hour. Tent after 10 minutes.
Turn the pasta out onto a platter and serve.
Cross-section view
Uncut version
This video will take you through the recipe step by step.