Bartolomeo Scappi, chef at the papal court of two popes, publishes L’Opera, a book of 1,022 recipes. It will go through countless editions until 1643, when the Middle Ages ended for European cuisine and the modern era began. He finds the time to write L’Opera because Pope Pius V (born Antonio Ghislieri) is a very different pope from previous ones (he will, in fact, become a saint): he abolishes parties and banquets, expels prostitutes, sleeps on a straw mattress, and, indeed, eats very little, almost always lean food, and often fasts.
