Ep24 - Fiori di Zucca with Orso Tosco

Smy Goodness Podcast : Food History & Food Art

Orso Tosco, author of Aspettando i Naufraghi

This episode it's the zucchini aka the courgette and their stunningly beautiful flowers. As my guest was Orso Tosco, the Italian author who has just published his novel, Aspettando I Naufraghi. For his topic Orso chose fiori di zucca or courgette/zucchini flowers as they feature in his novel and are one of his favourite dishes. As we will see there is a strong link between Italy and courgette flowers which will play out in our chat, the artwork covered in this episode and their interesting history. So listen above to find out about Orso's book, his process, food thoughts and memories; their earned reputation as symbols of the sensual and erotic, artwork from Arcimboldo, Giovanni de Udine, Georgia O'Keeffe and find out where courgette/zucchini come from, their travels around the world, how we get their beautiful flowers, and the myriad of ways that we can use them.

Auntie Chrissie's courgette and flower

Mercury, Giovanni da Udine from the Villa Farnesina, 1517.

Mercury (detail), Giovanni da Udine from the Villa Farnesina, 1517.

Estate, Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1573.

Vertumnus, Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1590-1591

Squash Blossoms I, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1925

Squash Blossoms II, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1925

Squash Blossoms III, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1925

Fiori di zucca di ripieni made by Cristina Busnelli if Sanremo

A few years back I decided to bundle all my interests together and rebrand from Smy Chutney to Smy Goodness so that all my preserves, crafts, products and workshops could live together in one place. My own podcast seemed a suitable place to uncover, understand and enjoy things related to food, art, history and design. Please do share your stories, knowledge, questions and suggestions. In the Smy Goodness.com podcast section you will find the podcasts and all the items that we are discussing and will have ongoing discussions about each week.

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Thank you for listening.