Yes, the white smoke hath risen! And with that, the Roman Catholic Church has a new leader. That’s all well and good, but the burning question remains: what will he eat?! To help fancy a guess, let’s look back at a few of the previous popes and their preferred papal snacks. Because the pontiff can’t subsist on communion wafers and wine alone.
UPDATE: The new Pope is Cardinal Bergoglio from Buenos Aires, Argentina. We bet empanadas are on his short list!
Pope Pius XII
Home Country: Italy
Papal Reign: 1939-1958
Favored Foods: For breakfast he would have a simple meal of coffee, milk, and toast (with no butter). For lunch Pius XII ate spaghetti, white meat, or rice soup and vegetables, and a glass of red or white wine. Dinner consisted usually of something lighter than lunch. [TIME]
Pope Paul VI
Home Country: Italy
Papal Reign: 1963-1978
Favored Foods: For breakfast, Pope Paul VI would have coffee, a roll and fruit. For lunch, pasta and meat and a glass of wine and mineral water. For the evening? A scotch and soda. [Bon Appetit]
Pope John Paul II
Home Country: Poland
Papal Reign: 1978-2005
Favored Foods: Pope John Paul II was known to have a serious appreciation for the Polish dessert kremowka – custard and whipped cream layered between puff pastry, topped with powdered sugar – so much the dessert is now known as kremowka papieska in Poland, translating to “Papal cream cake.” [Bon Appetit]
Pope Benedict XVI
Home Country: Germany
Papal Reign: 2005-2013
Favored Foods: One of the German-born pope’s favorite dishes was Bavarian potato ravioli with pancake strips. Pope Benedict VXI is also a buffalo mozzarella enthusiast, so much so that bishops from the Campania region of Italy send gifts of Buffalo mozzarella that is produced in Campania, to him. [Catholic News Agency & Italian Newspaper II Messaggero)
