1
One of Ugo Foscolo’s most famous poems is entitled “Dei Sepolcri” (“On Sepulchers”). Many illustrious Italian artists and men of letters are either buried or honored by a monument in the church of Santa Croce in Florence (unless otherwise specified the notes to the text are the editors’).

2
Owner of a famous restaurant in Florence at the time.

3
The paragraphs that follow were added by the author under this heading in the second edition of the work.

4
This was the name of Artus’s cat.

5
Later editions of Artusi’s book included, in a kind of appendix to the introductory chapters, the following letters from enthusiastic readers and the stories associated with them.

6
Giovanni Vialardi, head chef of Charles Albert and Victor Emmanuel II (House of Savoy, royal family of Italy from 1861-1946), wrote a
Treatise on Cuisine
, published in 1854. Like the imaginary quote that follows, it was full of Gallicisms typical of the Piedmontese dialect.

7
This is a lie (Artusi’s note).

8
The “meat sauce” described here is not what we have come to understand by that name, i.e., the “ragú” or “bolognese” sauce often served with pasta. It is, in fact, more like a “dark broth,” and is used as a base or flavoring for many other dishes. Artusi makes frequent mention of it in the recipes that follow,

9
As Artusi points out, there is an important difference between “sugo di pomodoro” (which is described here) and “salsa di pomodoro” (which will be described in recipe 125). Unfortunately, English does not allow for this distinction and both dishes are therefore called tomato sauce. To avoid confusion, whenever the “sugo” (rather than the “salsa”) appears in a recipe the text will include a parenthetical reference to this recipe.

10
“Pastina” simply means “small pasta,” such as is often used in soups; “malfattini” are a kind of irregularly shaped pasta, also small and used in soups.

11
A knife with a curved, crescent-like blade and handles at both ends, used for chopping; also called “lunetta.”

12
Artusi mentions that these can also be called “agnellotti.” Today a more common variation is “agnolotti.”

13
. Lorenzo Stecchetti,
La tavola e la cucina nei secoli
XV and XVI, Florence, Barbera, p. 4.

14
. Cooking in “bain-marie” is often translated as cooking in a double boiler. However, this is not what Artusi means. Rather, the process he is describing involves the following: you pour the mixture that needs to be cooked into a pan or mold, then you put this pan or mold into a much larger pan in which you have poured enough water to surround and come about 3/4 of the way up the sides (on the outside) of the smaller pan. The water in the larger pan should be hot but never boil. This type of cooking is usually done in the oven.

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