Time to Sign up for the Premio Marietta 2011
Staff Writer -- Published - March 23, 2011
On the occasion of the 15th annual Festa Artusiana, from June 18 to 26, 2011, the administration of Forlimpopoli launches the national competition among amateur chefs, dedicated to the faithful housekeeper of Pellegrino Artusi.
On the occasion of the one hundreth anniversary of the death of Pellegrino Artusi, the celebrated gastronomist who unified Italy at the dining table, the municipality of Forlimpopoli, hometown of Artusi, is promoting a new edition of the Premio Marietta (Marietta Award.) This is a national competition among amateur chefs dedicated to the faithful housekeeper of Pellegrino Artusi, Marietta Sabatini.
The competition is aimed at men and women who, for passion, apply skillfully and with love 'La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene', or 'Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well', to quote the title of the famous Artusi cookbook.
Hopeful contestants must send one or two recipes which contain references to the Artusi cookbook in the preparation, by Monday, June 6, 2011. A jury of experts will select the finalists who will be invited to cook their entree during the 15th Festa Artusiana (Artusi Festival), the gastronomic event scheduled from June 18 to 26, 2011 in Forlimpopoli. The winner will receive an €1,000 prize.
Photograph of a previous Festa Artisiana
Marietta Sabatini: A life at the court of 'King' Artusi
Waiter and cook –She's the author of the Panettone Marietta 604 included in the cookbook, which Artusi refused to substitute with the better known Milanese recipe– Marietta Sabatini was born in 1860 at Massa e Cozzile, a small village in the province of Pistoia. She was hired by Artusi around 1887/1888, and remained close to him, discreet, efficient, and faithful until the end.
Not only housekeeper, but also escort during the summer excursions on the Apennines around Pistoia, at Bagni di Montecatini or Viareggio, she is the one who let us in the daily habits of her revered boss, his thinking, his passions and, in particular, his love for books.
Photograph of a previous Festa Artisiana
"His only fun was writing. He started the book almost as a joke, but when he saw that it was coming out well, brought his passion to it," said Marietta about Artusi in a 1932 interview published by the magazine Cucina Italiana (Italian Cuisine.) "Little by little he started a correspondence with people from every social status from all over Italy. He always wrote. He would get up at 8am and sat at his writing table until lunch time, and wrote o few more hours afterwards. He alternated continuously between his writing and the kitchen, the pen and the pans. We tried the recipes, all of them, one at a time."
 Bust of Pellegrino Artusi
"Beside him, tireless, there was always his chef, who loved him very much. I was never far either. Other faithful companions were his two cats, to which he dedicated the first edition of his book. […] The kitchen was a field of action for him, a place to study and learn. I still have, and keep as if they were jewels, his scales, his tools, all the objects that he needed and always used."
She added that "He was an unforgiving judge of recipes, just by tasting them he could name the ingredients and found any possible defect instantly. Apart from cooking, he loved to read […]. He was a very learned man, and loved to educate me too, and I was very grateful for that."
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