Ep24 - Fiori di Zucca with Orso Tosco, author of Aspettando I Naufraghi

Orso Tosco, author of Aspettando i Naufraghi (Waiting for the Castaways/Shipwrecked) published by Minimum Fax. Twitter @orsotosco, Instagram @orso.tosco

Orso Tosco, author of Aspettando i Naufraghi (Waiting for the Castaways/Shipwrecked) published by Minimum Fax. Twitter @orsotosco, Instagram @orso.tosco

This episode it's the zucchini aka the courgette and their stunningly beautiful flowers. As my guest was Orso Tosco, the Italian author who has just published his novel, Aspettando I Naufraghi. For his topic Orso chose fiori di zucca or courgette/zucchini flowers as they feature in his novel and are one of his favourite dishes. As we will see there is a strong link between Italy and courgette flowers which will play out in our chat, the artwork covered in this episode and their interesting history. So listen above to find out about Orso's book, his process, food thoughts and memories; their earned reputation as symbols of the sensual and erotic, artwork from Arcimboldo, Giovanni de Udine, Georgia O'Keeffe and find out where courgette/zucchini come from, their travels around the world, how we get their beautiful flowers, and the myriad of ways that we can use them.

 

Auntie Chrissie's courgette and courgette flower - ain't it a beaut!

Auntie Chrissie's courgette and courgette flower - ain't it a beaut!

Mercury, Giovanni da Udine from the Villa Farnesina, 1517.

Mercury, Giovanni da Udine from the Villa Farnesina, 1517.

Mercury (detail), Giovanni da Udine from the Villa Farnesina, 1517.

Mercury (detail), Giovanni da Udine from the Villa Farnesina, 1517.

Estate, Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1573.

Estate, Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1573.

Vertumnus, Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1590–1591

Vertumnus, Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1590–1591

Squash Blossoms I, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1925.

Squash Blossoms I, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1925.

Squash Blossoms II, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1925

Squash Blossoms II, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1925

Squash Blossoms III, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1925.

Squash Blossoms III, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1925.

Above is a video recipe for fiori di zucca alla ligure from Sale & Pepe, a brilliant monthly magazine. If you expand the video it has all the ingredients which can easily be popped into Google Translate and the video is so easy to follow even! For more details on the preparation of the recipe, find the text and photos of the various steps on: http://www.salepepe.it/salepepe-tv/pr... Follow SALE&PEPE from: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saleepepemag... Twitter: https://twitter.com/salepepe_it Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salepepe_it/

Above is a charming video set to music of the beautiful drawings of Libereso Guglielmi, the Calvino gardener Orso mentions in his interview. Guglielmi passed away in September of 2016 at 91 years old.

Fiori di Zucca de Ripieni made by Cristina Busnelli of Sanremo

Fiori di Zucca de Ripieni made by Cristina Busnelli of Sanremo

Auntie Chrissie's courgette flowers

Auntie Chrissie's courgette flowers

Auntie Chrissie's courgette flowers

Auntie Chrissie's courgette flowers

A few years back I decided to bundle all my interests together and rebrand from Smy Chutney to Smy Goodness so that all my preserves, crafts, products and workshops could live together in one place. My own podcast seemed a suitable place to uncover, understand and enjoy things related to food, art, history and design. Please do share your stories, knowledge, questions and suggestions. In the Smy Goodness.com podcast section you will find the podcasts and all the items that we are discussing and will have ongoing discussions about each week.

You can also follow Smy Goodness on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. I'd like to thank Ashley Palmer for use of his Roland R-09 and Matteo Borea for creating the music. Thank you for listening.