L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano 9 kling wind chimes from rooftop gardens. Here in Parione, pedes- trians read the menus of local restaurants with their nostrils. S a f f r o n p e r m e a t e s P i a z z a Pasquino. Francesco, the new chef at Cul de Sac, is Abruzzese. A g r a d u a t e o f t h e C u l i n a r y School of Villa Santa Maria in the Province of Chieti, he grew up on the Navelli Plain near L'Aquila, where the muddy soil is darker than chocolate. For millennia, this area has supplied Rome with the best saffron in Italy. Made from the dried stigmas o f t h e c r o c u s , s a f f r o n i s t h e world's most expensive spice. B e c a u s e i t s p r o d u c t i o n i s s o labor intensive, it is worth more t h a n i t s w e i g h t i n g o l d . N o machine can harvest those fiddly purple flowers. The work must be done by hand. The delicate red threads are separated from the petals, teased and plucked, and dried over a wood fire until they are steamy and sweet. January is my favorite month in Rome. Consecrated to the god of beginnings, it is the best time to recapture the magic those British lords on the Grand Tour m u s t h a v e f e l t , w h e n t h e y arrived from the grey north to this golden palimpsest of traver- t i n e a n d s n o w . W i n t e r i n London was never like this! Rome's January thaw, a sea- son unto itself, sharpens the city's dulled edges and revives its faded colors. The sky, a grey rag for six weeks, becomes a turquoise canopy of state. The sun, once veiled by the mists of N o v e m b e r a n d t h e f r o s t s o f December, now shines like a burnished armillary sphere in a Baroque library. The chill heightens the sens- es in Rome's historic center. In the Borgo district, spectators trace the patterns of streaming b r e a t h f r o m t h e i c e s k a t e r s below Castel Sant'Angelo. In the Prati, residents savor the tin- I t t a k e s 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 c r o c u s e s (and 500 hours of labor) to yield one kilo of saffron. Happily, saf- fron is potent. A little goes a l o n g w a y . A s i n g l e g r a m i s e n o u g h t o s p i c e a n d c o l o r twelve portions of golden risotto milanese. Francesco, however, prepares A b r u z z e s e d e l i c a c i e s : f r e s h ricotta with honey and saffron; braised fennel with figs and saf- fron; trofie with zucchini flow- e r s , p a n c e t t a , a n d s a f f r o n ; p r a w n s a n d s q u i d i n s a f f r o n sauce. The intoxicating smell revives imperial memories. Saffron was a status symbol in ancient Rome. Patricians and wealthy plebeians used it as per- fume and make-up. They glazed their wedding cakes with saf- fron. They dyed their robes in s a f f r o n . T h e y f l a v o r e d t h e i r drinks and scented their hair. They also stocked their medi- cine cabinets. Saffron rejuvenat- ed the skin, restored the liver, relieved coughs and hiccups, and refreshed bloodshot eyes. It cured hangovers but not, alas, megalomania. The Emperor Heliogabalus— to prove he was an incarnation of the Syrian sun god—bathed in saffron until his skin turned gold. This blasphemy doomed him to assassination, for saffron was sacred. During religious ceremonies, Romans burned it as an offering in braziers and censed their temple altars and statues with it. Saffron purified public halls, baths, and theaters and was spread along parade r o u t e s t o b l e s s g e n e r a l s a n d magistrates. It also inaugurated the New Year. January celebrated the elec- tion of Rome's consuls, its two chief magistrates, and honored the Capitol Lares and Penates, guardian spirits of the national hearth and pantry. Between the K a l e n d s a n d t h e I d e s o f t h e month, saffron spiced the air, enticing Janus, the two-headed janitor of the gods, to unlock the city's shining temples. Peace and goodwill ruled. Lawyers withdrew suits from the courts. Politicians refrained f r o m d i s p u t e s i n t h e F o r u m . Tradesmen stopped cursing on the Aventine. A golden, rosy glow suffused the Seven Hills and reconciled the bitterest ene- mies. The very air shined with scented flames as saffron crack- led on the public hearths. As the red firelight struck the gilded temples, the flickering radiance reflected over the rooftops. Clad in spotless white, a pro- cession ascends the Capitol's peak. Quaestors and aediles, praetors and censors observe the Rex Sacrorum, the High Priest of the Senate, perform the rites o f J a n u s . T h e c o n s u l s - e l e c t , dressed in saffron togas, sit on their chairs of office. Unbroken bulls offer their throats to be slit, bulls fattened on Falerian fields. Saffron incense rises to heav- en. From Olympus, Jupiter sur- v e y s t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n . Everything on this porcelain platter belongs to Rome, but its purpled glory will disappear like last spring's crocuses A t C u l d e S a c , w a i t e r s emerge from the kitchen with a steaming tureen and serve din- ers. What do Romans see when they stare into a bowl of lemon and saffron risotto? The lost g o l d o f e m p i r e , t h e s n a p p e d threads of fate. P a s q u i n o ' s s e c r e t a r y i s Anthony Di Renzo, associate professor of writing at Ithaca College. You may reach him at direnzo@ithaca.edu. Saffron was a status symbol in ancient Rome. Patricians and wealthy plebeians dyed their robes with saffron Made from the dried stigmas of the crocus, saffron is the world's most expensive spice ANTHONY DI RENZO Zafferano Pasquino inaugurates a new year

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