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Nya, this was the last illustration I did for Da Vinci's 500th anniversary. We have seen their contributions to very varied fields and we have commented that there are more famous than others. One of his lesser-known interests, although it has recently begun to be vindicated, is Da Vinci as chef. Yes, strange as it may seem, Leonardo was passionate about cooking and had very ingenious ideas that nouvelle cuisine advocated, although at a time when delicate and experimental food was an alien concept and what really interested people was to fill the stomach without even paying attention to the flavors, the truth is that he wasnt very successful. On the other hand, some of his proposals would surely seem repulsive to us, although so many of the normal recipes of the time would be even more disgusting in our eyes.

There are many funny and interesting stories about the Da Vinci who got into the kitchen. Together with Boticcelli, he opened the first restaurant of high gastronomy, The three snails, where small portions prevailed and diners stayed at tables watching how they brought them polenta in the shape of a flower of liz with quail breasts, wondering where were the roast five kilo legs of lamb. Several of the waiters were poisoned under strange circumstances and all eyes fell on Leonardo and his strange combination of ingredients. Soon the restaurant burned to the ground, also in strange circumstances. However, as they were very stubborn, they rebuilt it renaming it as The Badge of the Three Frogs by Sandro and Leonardo. Again the success was conspicuous by its absence, but it is worth noting the invention of the napkin by Leonardo, whose intention was to prevent diners from demanding more rations than they had paid by hiding the food in their sleeves while cleaning their mouths, a widespread custom.

Later, he was hired by Ludovico Sforza as fortifications advisor and master of celebrations and banquets. When he commissioned her to prepare a menu for her niece's wedding, he was inspired by his previous adventures but, fearing that everyone would be angry to see the tasting menu, made up of things like anchovies coiled in cabbage sprouts, carrots carved with the Ludovico's face shape, artichoke hearts, sliced penillo on lettuce leaves, frog legs on a dandelion leaf and lamb testicles with cream, Ludovico forced Leonardo to cook dishes that he considered typical of barbarians and that were certainly less sophisticated, like 600 Bologna pork brains sausages (for every diner!? You're a little beast, Ludovico), stuffed pork feet, a whole veal for each guest, 300 sturgeons (seriously, I hope they take a tupperware). This shouldn't have suited Da Vinci very well, although it was not the only culinary activity he carried out for that celebration. He was also in charge of the modernization of the kitchens, building the first automated one in history, with a giant grinder the size of a cow, a fire fighting system, mechanical brushes that swept the floor... Even piped music, under the idea that everyone works faster in a pleasant environment. Unfortunately all the gadgets went crazy on the wedding day. The cooks tried to save themselves from the devilish machines to no avail. The kitchen caught fire, then it flooded, people were swept by the brushes, some ended up where the grinder... All this with deranged instruments as a soundtrack. The scene had to be dantesque. Among the guests was a very famous general, who upon hearing the noise was curious and wanted to go help. Years later, when someone asked him what the most gruesome battle he had participated in was, he rolled his eyes and whispered "Da Vinci's Kitchen".

Many of these devices ended up being used by the army as powerful weapons of mass destruction and it is somewhat funny that for a time the enemy was very afraid that they would use Leonardo's famous watercress cutter against them. However, this is not the only connection between cooking and war that this man experienced. When a war broke out with France, Ludovico sent him to take care of the fortresses in Milan and he could think of nothing else but to empty the ammunition warehouses and turn them into kitchens, so when the French arrived the most dangerous thing they found was a grater of cheese and drunken soldiers because of the wine that Da Vinci made for them. Yeah, thanks to Leonardo Milan lost the war XDDD

His wanderings while painting The Last Supper are hilarious too. Apparently he didn't get along well with the prior and he began to suspect something strange with so much insistence that they bring him and his assistants the most succulent dishes possible, of course to use them as a model because Christ couldn't appear eating anything. He seemed to be putting a lot of effort into the dishes and very little to Jesus and the apostles. The routine was always the same. They would spend hours changing the arrangement of the dishes, then he would make very vague sketches and tell his assistants to eat. The next day, start again. That's how they were for a year. Finally, after painting the table, the rest was painted in a matter of two weeks. Many believe that it was a revenge against the prior for being so snotty.

All of those stories are great in and of themselves but the mother of all stories is probably the one about the cake palace. Have you read "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"? Do you remember when they talk about building a chocolate palace? Well it seems evident that Roald Dahl was inspired by this. For the wedding between Ludovico and Beatrice Leonardo had a sensational idea with which he would amaze everyone. He was going to build a scale replica of the Sforza Palace that was edible. The guests would enter a building made of cake to eat cake. Ingenious right? XD Everything was going wonderfully, the works were finishing and the first guests arrived, who would stay there to attend lunch the next day, but we are talking about Da Vinci as a chef, so this cannot last long. The next morning everyone woke up buried in cake. The building fell apart among other things because it was too appetizing for vermin. Every rat, dog, insect, bird and even cats for several kilometers around pounced on him and although he tried to drive them away it was useless. In the end they were the only ones to feast.

The only one left to participate in the tribute was my mother and as you can see when I asked her about it, her answer was clear and forceful XD

And I end up leaving this, perfect as a soundtrack for the gastronomic adventures of this Renaissance Gordon Ramsey: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVeC9h…

Description
Nya, this was the last illustration I did for Da Vinci's 500th anniversary. We have seen their contributions to very varied fields and we have commented that there are more famous than others. One of his lesser-known interests, although it has recently begun to be vindicated, is Da Vinci as chef. Yes, strange as it may seem, Leonardo was passionate about cooking and had very ingenious ideas that nouvelle cuisine advocated, although at a time when delicate and experimental food was an alien concept and what really interested people was to fill the stomach without even paying attention to the flavors, the truth is that he wasnt very successful. On the other hand, some of his proposals would surely seem repulsive to us, although so many of the normal recipes of the time would be even more disgusting in our eyes.

There are many funny and interesting stories about the Da Vinci who got into the kitchen. Together with Boticcelli, he opened the first restaurant of high gastronomy, The three snails, where small portions prevailed and diners stayed at tables watching how they brought them polenta in the shape of a flower of liz with quail breasts, wondering where were the roast five kilo legs of lamb. Several of the waiters were poisoned under strange circumstances and all eyes fell on Leonardo and his strange combination of ingredients. Soon the restaurant burned to the ground, also in strange circumstances. However, as they were very stubborn, they rebuilt it renaming it as The Badge of the Three Frogs by Sandro and Leonardo. Again the success was conspicuous by its absence, but it is worth noting the invention of the napkin by Leonardo, whose intention was to prevent diners from demanding more rations than they had paid by hiding the food in their sleeves while cleaning their mouths, a widespread custom.

Later, he was hired by Ludovico Sforza as fortifications advisor and master of celebrations and banquets. When he commissioned her to prepare a menu for her niece's wedding, he was inspired by his previous adventures but, fearing that everyone would be angry to see the tasting menu, made up of things like anchovies coiled in cabbage sprouts, carrots carved with the Ludovico's face shape, artichoke hearts, sliced penillo on lettuce leaves, frog legs on a dandelion leaf and lamb testicles with cream, Ludovico forced Leonardo to cook dishes that he considered typical of barbarians and that were certainly less sophisticated, like 600 Bologna pork brains sausages (for every diner!? You're a little beast, Ludovico), stuffed pork feet, a whole veal for each guest, 300 sturgeons (seriously, I hope they take a tupperware). This shouldn't have suited Da Vinci very well, although it was not the only culinary activity he carried out for that celebration. He was also in charge of the modernization of the kitchens, building the first automated one in history, with a giant grinder the size of a cow, a fire fighting system, mechanical brushes that swept the floor... Even piped music, under the idea that everyone works faster in a pleasant environment. Unfortunately all the gadgets went crazy on the wedding day. The cooks tried to save themselves from the devilish machines to no avail. The kitchen caught fire, then it flooded, people were swept by the brushes, some ended up where the grinder... All this with deranged instruments as a soundtrack. The scene had to be dantesque. Among the guests was a very famous general, who upon hearing the noise was curious and wanted to go help. Years later, when someone asked him what the most gruesome battle he had participated in was, he rolled his eyes and whispered "Da Vinci's Kitchen".

Many of these devices ended up being used by the army as powerful weapons of mass destruction and it is somewhat funny that for a time the enemy was very afraid that they would use Leonardo's famous watercress cutter against them. However, this is not the only connection between cooking and war that this man experienced. When a war broke out with France, Ludovico sent him to take care of the fortresses in Milan and he could think of nothing else but to empty the ammunition warehouses and turn them into kitchens, so when the French arrived the most dangerous thing they found was a grater of cheese and drunken soldiers because of the wine that Da Vinci made for them. Yeah, thanks to Leonardo Milan lost the war XDDD

His wanderings while painting The Last Supper are hilarious too. Apparently he didn't get along well with the prior and he began to suspect something strange with so much insistence that they bring him and his assistants the most succulent dishes possible, of course to use them as a model because Christ couldn't appear eating anything. He seemed to be putting a lot of effort into the dishes and very little to Jesus and the apostles. The routine was always the same. They would spend hours changing the arrangement of the dishes, then he would make very vague sketches and tell his assistants to eat. The next day, start again. That's how they were for a year. Finally, after painting the table, the rest was painted in a matter of two weeks. Many believe that it was a revenge against the prior for being so snotty.

All of those stories are great in and of themselves but the mother of all stories is probably the one about the cake palace. Have you read "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"? Do you remember when they talk about building a chocolate palace? Well it seems evident that Roald Dahl was inspired by this. For the wedding between Ludovico and Beatrice Leonardo had a sensational idea with which he would amaze everyone. He was going to build a scale replica of the Sforza Palace that was edible. The guests would enter a building made of cake to eat cake. Ingenious right? XD Everything was going wonderfully, the works were finishing and the first guests arrived, who would stay there to attend lunch the next day, but we are talking about Da Vinci as a chef, so this cannot last long. The next morning everyone woke up buried in cake. The building fell apart among other things because it was too appetizing for vermin. Every rat, dog, insect, bird and even cats for several kilometers around pounced on him and although he tried to drive them away it was useless. In the end they were the only ones to feast.

The only one left to participate in the tribute was my mother and as you can see when I asked her about it, her answer was clear and forceful XD

And I end up leaving this, perfect as a soundtrack for the gastronomic adventures of this Renaissance Gordon Ramsey: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVeC9h…