RIVOLTI OR CRESPELLE DELLE CRETE SENESI
THESE ARE THE ANCESTORS OF FRENCH CREPES AND ARE AMONG THE OLDEST AND MOST VERSATILE POOR RECIPES FROM SOUTHERN TUSCANY
By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, winedestination, Fattoria del Colle, Casato Prime Donne
When I was young, the gastronome of Sienese cuisine was Giovanni Righi Parenti (1923-2006). Pharmacist, poet, painter and historian of local gastronomy. He was an example of that interdisciplinary and nonconformist culture that flourished by taking root in its territory. A pleasant conversationalist, an open and creative mind, a generous soul … Giovanni Righi Parenti was for decades a point of reference for cuisine enthusiasts, placing himself in the ranks of those pioneers who combined cultivation with culture: Soldati, Veronelli, Buonassisi ..
We owe him the rediscovery of a very poor dish from Southern Tuscany, the rivolti. According to him, they originated from the Crete Senesi and from there they emigrated to Florence where they began to fill them richly. They arrived in France with the chefs of Caterina de Medici when she married King Henry II in 1547. In Paris they took the name by which we know them today: crepes.