"Gallant cooks and recipes alla Maria Luigia"

As has already been noted with the Farnese and Bourbon dynasties, the gallantry of Parma's chefs often led them to name their superlative dishes after their royal masters.

By far the greatest number of delicacies dedicated to or inspired by a Parma sovereign bear the name of Maria Luigia, daughter of Francis I of Hapsburg, wife of Napoleon and later Neipperg. For instance: Consumato alla Maria Luigia, consommé with little chicken dumplings and good parmesan cheese; Minestra alla Maria Luigia: soup of cream of wheat and little chicken dumplings; Gnocchi alla Maria Luigia: dumplings made of flour, milk and parmesan cheese filled with game purée, then breaded and fried; Bigné alla Maria Luigia: butter fritters filled with almond cream and served with cooked fruit sauce; Bomba alla Maria Luigia: dome filled with strawberry cream and covered with maraschino-flavored vanilla cream, garnished with meringue pastry and currant jelly; Dolce alla Maria Luigia: dessert of toasted hazelnuts and almonds with vanilla sugar. Many other dishes dedicated to Duchess Maria Luigia have been lost or are preserved only among the papers of the still-unexplored archives of noble families.

From G. Gonizzi, Le memorie del Ciambellano. Storie di cucina nel Ducato. II, in Parma Capitale Alimentare, 44, 2000, pp 21-45.

RETURN TO INDEX