The cardinals gathering for the conclave hope to pick the very best among them to be the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Their culinary expectations are not so high.
“Food you could eat at a train station” was how Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, a conclave veteran from the Italian city of Genoa, famous for its pesto, described the fare at the Casa Santa Marta, a guesthouse in the Vatican where the cardinals will be staying during the conclave. By train station food, he said he meant pastas with “watery sauce,” simple cutlets and salads: “Not exciting.”
The ambience at Santa Marta isn’t much of a draw, either. Its cafeteria has pale green columns, utilitarian furniture and fan art in the hallway depicting Francis as a Jedi knight in “Star Wars.” But priests would angle for a reservation there because Santa Marta was the home of Pope Francis. Until he began ailing and taking his meals in his room, the pope often ate in the cafeteria at a table between the window and the refrigerator.
Among the residents of the guesthouse, Francis, with his emphasis on simple living and humility, bore some blame for the decline in the food. Some lamented bland vegetables, less-than-rich pastas and leftovers from gifts to the pope — a box of dates from the Middle East, for example.
Across the ideological spectrum, a consensus emerged.
“You don’t eat very well,” said Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi of Italy, a supporter of Pope Francis.
“It’s not so good,” said Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller of Germany, who was fired by Francis.
The food at the conclave isn’t supposed to be good.
