Pope's pantry a hymn to glories of grease

Italians impressed by Pope Benedict's good health and quick mind at the age of 83 have been shocked to learn that the German Pontiff's favourite recipes are a suicidal mix of fried, buttery and carnivorous pleasures.

The glimpse of Joseph Ratzinger's culinary wish list is granted by a new book, Eat Like a Pope, which details, in all their greasy glory, the top dishes served in the Ratzinger household in Bavaria by his mother before the war.

A cholesterol roller-coaster, the recipes range from stuffed pigeon with butter, cream and sherry, to soup with liver and onion dumplings, to the "exquisite butter and jam biscuits" that young Joseph loved.

Publisher De Agostini says the book is already into its second edition since publication last month, despite coinciding with the child abuse scandal swirling around the Vatican.

But Italian weekly L'Espresso warned children against attempting to follow the Ratzinger diet if they wanted to grow up to be Pope themselves.

"With these dishes, there is the risk of not reaching adulthood at all," the magazine stated. "This is a triumph of animal fats, sugar and cholesterol."

The collection was put together with the help of a woman who lived next door to the Ratzingers and regularly swapped recipes with Maria, Ratzinger's mother, a baker's daughter who met the future Pope's father after he put out a small advertisement seeking a bride in 1920.

Joseph Ratzinger snr, a policeman, wrote in the ad that only "expert cooks" should apply, preferably including a photograph with their response.

Selecting Maria from the two replies he received, Ratzinger ensured himself and his family a constant diet of goulash, hare cooked in lard and red wine, roast veal kidneys, veal cutlet dished up in herbal butter and, when Maria Ratzinger was not cooking, buttery biscuits made at Christmas for the family by local Franciscan nuns.

Snacks in the Ratzinger house, according to the book, were likely to be hunks of bread with brie rolled in chopped onion and mixed with beer.

"Would it not be the case that the longevity and lucidity of Joseph Ratzinger should instead be attributed to his conversion to the Mediterranean diet, which occurred when he arrived in Rome?" asked L'Espresso.

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