The Contour of Luxury Spring/Summer 2020 Issue | Page 346

ITALIAN HISTORY
Caviar is, in common perception, an exclusive product of Russian or Iranian origin:
history, however, tells much more, because caviar is also an Italian story. “The eggs
extracted from the sturgeon which, seasoned, they call caviar” (Ova Stirionis Condi-
tum Quod Caviar Vocant): the phrase, dating back to 1471, is of the humanist Barto-
lomeo Sacchi called Platina.
One of the first examples of the use of
caviar as prestigious food dates back to
1456: it is a basic menu of caviar entirely
made in 1570 by Bartolomeo Scappi (pri-
vate chef to Pope Pius V). Other testimo-
nies of other great Italian masters of the
past, such as Cristoforo da Messisbugo
(1557) and Bartolomeo Stefani (1663),
contributed decisively in handing down
recipes, definitions, Italian crafts secrets
of caviar production and habits of its
consumption.