Books about Italy

Travel in Italy

Too Much Tuscan Sun: Confessions of a Chianti Tour Guide, by Dario Castagno

Over the past several years, "the American in Tuscany" has become a literary subgenre. Launched by the phenomenal success of Frances Mayes's "Under the Tuscan Sun", bookstores now burgeon with nimble, witty accounts of this clash in cultures-Americans trying to do American things in Italy and bumping against a brick wall of tradition. Before this subgenre exhausts itself, it's only fair that we hear the other side of the story-that of a native Tuscan and of dozens of Americans who have stormed through his life and homeland, determined to find in it whatever they are looking for, whether quaintness or wisdom, submission or direction. There is no one better to provide this view than Dario Castagno. A Tuscan guide whose client base is predominantly American, Dario has spent more than a decade taking individuals and small groups on customized tours through the Chianti region of Tuscany. Reared in Britain through early childhood, he speaks English fluently and is therefore capable of fully engaging his American clients and getting to know them. Too Much Tuscan Sun is Dario's account of some of his more remarkable customers, from the obsessive and the oblivious to the downright lunatic. It is also a primer on Tuscany--its charms and its culture. Structured around a typical Tuscan year, Dario takes us through the sights, smells, and sounds of Chianti during each of the twelve months, including the festivities and pageantry that accord with the season, most notable the Palio-the bareback horse race that consumes the social energies of the people of Siena for all of July and August. Dario also intersperses an account of his own life and times-that of a transplanted British "little lord" who learns to love the wilds of Chianti; of his discovery and adoption of abandoned peasant farmhouses; of his apprenticeship in the wine industry; and of his arduous transformation from bohemian layabout to thriving Tuscan guide. But the bulk of the book is devoted, with humor and affection, to the Americans he has met-the vain, the silly, the ignorant, the ambitious, the horny, the condescending, the charming, and the outright pathological. Some of them have made his life hell and live in his nightmares; others have become lifelong friends.

$10.17

Italian Journey, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This was the first big Italian travel book, containing the letters and diaries that Goethe wrote during his journey to Italy at age thirty-seven, from 1786 to 1788. "Italian Journey" reveals his tremendous range of interests, covering literature, art history and his own struggle to be a painter, various sciences and political events, personal encounters, and the Italian landscape. "In Rome," Goethe wrote, "I first found myself, for the first time I achieved inner harmony...." For Goethe the writer, this temporal and spiritual journey was at the root of his development from Sturm und Drang to classicism, a decisive point in his life and the history of German literature.

Used & new from $14.95

Umbria: Italy's Timeless Heart, by Paul Hoffman

Paul Hoffman, whose most recent travel guide, “The Seasons of Rome”, knows Umbria intimately. After four decades of visits and sojurns, he has produced this volume, rich with personal and historical anecdotes, profiling its cities and towns, villages and natural sights. Though the farthest reaches of Umbria are only three hours from Rome by train or car, many of its hidden spots are unfamiliar even to Italians in neighboring provinces. Hoffmann’s affection for the region in infectious, and his insights into the culture, food, wines and back roads make this book a must-read.

Used & new from $4.68

The Stones of Florence, by Mary McCarthy

It is obvious from the first page of “The Stones of Florence” that Mary McCarthy loves her subject. In this witty tribute to Florence, Mary McCarthy explores the city's past and present, in the process offering up a tour that covers everything from a description of oil painting to the remarkable history behind Florence's many towers. “The Stones of Florence” is ideal for reading on the plane ride to Italy, but it's also perfect for armchair travelers, art lovers, and students of the Renaissance. This is a unique tribute to Florence, combining history, artistic description, and social observation, and figures such as Dante, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Machiavelli. Mary McCarthy (1912-1989) was a short-story writer, bestselling novelist, essayist, and a social and art critic. A member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, she was the author of Memories of a Catholic Girlhood, Venice Observed, and Birds of America, among other books.

$11.20

A Traveller in Rome, by H.V. Morton

"Could this be my balcony? Was this the place I had been dreaming about for weeks? I could see nothing but the building opposite, which had been carelessly splashed with brown limewash many years ago. From its windows faces looked at me with the hostile curiosity of those who observe a new boy. Men wearing odd little sculptors' caps were repairing the roof. I could see shops, restaurants, a barber's shop, and a quick lunch bar where food simmered in pans in the window, together with plates of peaches and jars of olives and artichokes. At the entrance to a subterranean vault a cobbler sat gnomelike, with his mouth full of nails, which he swiftly transferred to the sole of a shoe he was repairing." H. V. Morton's evocative account of his days in 1950's Rome--the fabled era of La Dolce Vita--remains an indispensable guide to what makes the Eternal City eternal. In his characteristic anecdotal style, Morton leads the reader on a well-informed and delightful journey around the city, from the Fontana di Trevi and the Colosseum to the Vatican Gardens loud with exquisite birdsong. He also takes time to consider such eternal topics as the idiosyncrasies of Italian drivers as well as the ominous possibilities behind an unusual absence of pigeons in the Piazza di San Pietro. As TourismWorld.com commented recently: "H. V. Morton...wrote of Rome with style, involvement, and passion. His book In Search of Rome is perhaps the definitive guide book on the Eternal City."

$15.30

A Thousand Bells at Noon: A Roman's Guide to the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City, by G. Franco Romagnoli

Franco Romagnoli left Rome in his late twenties to pursue a career as a documentary filmmaker in America. Today he is a well-known cookbook author, television personality, and restaurateur. The love of his native city repeatedly brought him home over the years. Recently he returned to live in Roma centro for six months to see what remained of the city of his childhood, and he discovered that Rome was still Rome, and maybe even more so. The ancient city of Rome is overlaid with a lively modern city of markets, shops, and restaurants. It is a city of parks, cafés, and secret gardens, with grand public spaces, small apartments with terraces, crowded streets and hidden fountains. People go about their lives in a kind of secret urban paradise. This is the Rome where, as a child, Romagnoli learned to swim in the Tiber river, where he was introduced to the manly vigor to be found in the “ovetto fresco di giornata”, the day-fresh egg, and where strangers exchange recipes on the bus. Told with the knowledge and nostalgia of a native son, the inquisitiveness of a seasoned journalist, the passion of an Italian, and the charm of an Old World gentleman, this is travel writing at its best.

Used and new from $6.07

Living in Italy

A Thousand Days in Venice, by Marlena de Blasi

He saw her across the Piazza San Marco and fell in love from afar. When he sees her again in a Venice café a year later, he knows it is fate. He knows little English; and she, a divorced American chef, speaks only food-based Italian. Marlena thinks she is incapable of intimacy, that her heart has lost its capacity for romantic love. But within months of their first meeting, she has packed up her house in St. Louis to marry Fernando—“the stranger,” as she calls him—and live in that achingly lovely city in which they met.Vaguely terrified by her bold move, Marlena is overwhelmed by the sheer foreignness of her new home, its rituals and customs. But there are delicious moments when Venice opens up its arms to her. She cooks an American feast of Mississippi caviar, cornbread, and fried onions for the locals . . . and takes the tango she learned in the Poughkeepsie middle school gym to a candlelit trattoría near the Rialto Bridge. All the while, she and Fernando, two disparate souls, build an extraordinary life of passion and possibility. Featuring Marlena’s own incredible recipes, A Thousand Days in Venice is the enchanting true story of a woman who opens her heart—and falls in love with both a man and a city.

$10.36

A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure, by Marlena de Blasi

They had met and married on perilously short acquaintance, she an American chef and food writer, he a Venetian banker. Now they were taking another audacious leap, unstitching their ties with exquisite Venice to live in a roughly renovated stable in Tuscany. Once again, it was love at first sight. Love for the timeless countryside and the ancient village of San Casciano dei Bagni, for the local vintage and the magnificent cooking, for the Tuscan sky and the friendly church bells. Love especially for old Barlozzo, the village mago, who escorts the newcomers to Tuscany’s seasonal festivals; gives them roasted country bread drizzled with just-pressed olive oil; invites them to gather chestnuts, harvest grapes, hunt truffles; and teaches them to caress the simple pleasures of each precious day. It’s Barlozzo who guides them across the minefields of village history and into the warm and fiercely beating heart of love itself. A Thousand Days in Tuscany is set in one of the most beautiful places on earth–and tucked into its fragrant corners are luscious recipes (including one for the only true bruschetta) directly from the author’s private collection.

$10.17

As the Romans Do: An American Family's Italian Odyssey, by Alan Epstein

Long in love with the Eternal City, Alan Epstein has been reveling in life as a resident since 1995. He reveals the city and its people in all their facets and contradictions: their gregarious caffé culture, inborn artistic flair, passionate appreciation of good food, instinctive mistrust of technology, showy sex appeal, ingrained charm, and much more. He unveils a place alive with pleasure and paradox, both pagan and Christian, Western and Middle Eastern. Rome is where one can relax, reflect, revel and rebel--all between the morning cappucino and the evening grappa.

$11.05

Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month Is Enchanted, by Annie Hawes

In 1983, a pale Annie Hawes and her equally pale sister leave England for the sun-drenched olive groves of a small Italian town in Liguria. With fantasies of handsome, tanned men and swimming in the sea urging them on, they are hired to work for ten weeks to graft roses -- of which they have little knowledge -- along the Italian Riviera, board and lodging included. But none of the men seem to be under forty, and Ligurians have particular ideas about life, including swimming ("To go swimming in seawater outside the month of July or August is even worse for your health than drinking cappuccino after twelve noon!"). But Annie and her sister are captivated by San Pietro's quirkiness and beauty, and suddenly their brief stay stretches into years, as they are bemused, charmed, and ultimately accepted by the eccentric inhabitants of their adopted home. Filled with many hilarious vignettes and observations; a real delight.

$11.16

Notes from a Roman Terrace, by Joan Marble

A delightful memoir of contemporary life in Rome, by the author of the well-loved "Notes from an Italian Garden." Joan Marble has lived in a sixteenth-century Roman palazzo apartment with husband Robert, a sculptor, for over forty years. A lifetime of mingling with the citizens of Rome and pottering about on her beloved terrace above the city rooftops has resulted in this warm and witty book. Highly personal and brimming with anecdote, history and insight, Joan's experience of Rome and Romans is infected by her contagious fascination for plants, a hobby she shares every week with the Women?s Gardening Club of Rome. She includes an insider's view of Italian fellow gardening-obsessives, and an authoritative view of famous Italian Gardens. Woven into her gardening tales are her informed views on everyday life in the city; of partying, politics and popes; of bicycle thieves and cat-catchers, and how to deal with those friends-of-friends who arrive so regularly in Rome with nowhere to stay. Her observations of the workings (or lack thereof!) of the goverment office building across the street are priceless. We especially enjoyed the stories of their "tuttofare", the lady they employ to take care of the everyday tasks of navigating the byzantine world of Roman officialdom and service providers.

$16.32

The Hills of Tuscany, by Ferenc Máté

As seductive as A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun, but with the wit and charm of a 1930s romantic comedy, the true-life adventure of a couple who chucked New York for a new life in Tuscany. The Mátés arrived in Tuscany in the late 1980s knowing no Italian, and with only four weeks to search for the country house of their dreams. On their last night there, after having been chased by wild boars and befriended by a country realtor who also sells pigs and coffins, they finally concluded the deal on the hood of a rusting tractor with the lawyer speaking Italian and them responding in French, English, and Hungarian, in a Tower of Babel version of "Who's on First?" So begins Ferenc Máté's endearing, in-love-with-life memoir of their first five years in Tuscany, by turns buoyant, reflective, and laugh-out-loud hilarious. His engaging, often poetic prose describes the way of life they were looking for and found-where neighbors, community, home, and, most of all, children, form the focal point of daily life. They live in a small thirteenth-century monastery, surrounded by their vineyards and olive groves, in the spectacular hills near Siena, a few miles from where The English Patient was filmed.

$10.20

Italian Neighbors: Or, A Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona, by Tim Parks

Tim Parks and his wife, Rita, came to their flat on the aging, eccentric Via Colombare in Montecchio twelve years ago for a short stay. There was trouble from the moment they moved in--under cover of night--and it has gone delightfully up-and-down-hill ever since. In this amusing and loving tribute to the glorious country he has embraced, British novelist Tim Parks shares his secrets of survival, tales of the unexpected, and treasured friendships with new-found friends and Italian neighbors.

Used and new from $1.98

An Italian Education: The Further Adventures of an Expatriate in Verona, by Tim Parks

Tim Parks’s best seller, "Italian Neighbors", offered a sparkling, witty, and acutely observed account of an expatriate’s life in a small village outside of Verona. Now, Parks continues his chronicle of adapting to Italian society and culture while raising his Italian-born children. With the exquisite eye for detail, character, and intrigue that has brought him acclaim as a novelist, Parks creates an enchanting portrait of Italian parenthood and family life at home, in the classroom, and at church. In a particularly hilarious episode, his child is offered an aptly-named "bomba" (a heavy doughnut or other type of fried dough), much to Parks' consternation and dismay. Shifting from hilarity to despair in the time it takes to sing a lullaby, Parks learns that to be a true Italian, one must live by the motto “All days are one.”

$11.90

A Valley in Italy, by Lisa St. Aubin de Terán

Of all the romantic obsessions in novelist Lisa St Aubin de Terán's life, the search for a castle occupied her the longest--until she saw the magnificent Villa Orsola deep in the Umbrian hills. Only after eagerly signing the ownership papers did she and her husband, painter Robbie Duff-Scott, discover they were the owners of a vast ruin lacking windowpanes, parts of the roof, and other essentials. A Valley in Italy recounts its restoration in the grand style of an impossible house and the charms of bohemian family life. It also offers a rare portrait of the life of a. Italian village, where "all things are made to be as enjoyable as possible." Lisa St Aubin de Terán's intuitive sense of place, her affection for the people around her, and her appreciation for native Italian grace make this a memorable book that can stand beside the best accounts of Italian life.

$11.05

Seasons in Basilicata: A Year in a Southern Italian Hill Village, by David Yeadon

I read this book in preparation for a recent visit to Basilicata, which the inhabitants call "Lucania", the ancient name of the region. Award-winning travel writer and illustrator David Yeadon embarks with his wife, Anne, on an exploration of the wild, mountainous "lost world" of Basilicata, in the arch of Italy's boot. The Yeadons make a home in the ancient village of Aliano, where Carlo Levi, author of the menoir, "Christ Stopped at Eboli" (Christo si è fermato a Eboli), was sent in internal exile by Mussolini during World War II for anti-Fascist activities. The Yeadons become immersed in Aliano's fascinating people, traditions and festivals, experiencing the rituals and rhythms of the grape and olive harvests, the unique culinary traditions of the region, and other enticing peculiarities. They discover that much of the pagan strangeness that Carlo Levi and others described still lurks just beneath the surface of Basilicata. Charmingly illustrated by the author.

Used and new from $6.07

Italian Cooking and Cuisine

Treasures of the Italian Table, by Burton Anderson

"Treasures of the Italian Table" is devoted to the foods of Italy and the artisans who make them. Anderson profiles people who continue to follow traditional methods of raising and refining foods despite the regulations favoring mass production, which have lowered culinary standards in Europe. We follow the author from the foothills of the Alps to the far reaches of Sicily, tracking white truffles in Piemonte with a "trifolau" and his dogs, tasting true balsamic vinegar more esteemed than aged wine in Emilia Romagna, visiting a family pastaficio in an attempt to witness the ritual of pasta being shaped and cut, and cultivating olives on a Tuscan hillside for his own oil. Topics include such familiar foods as pizza napoletana, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and espresso, as well as the rare culatello, a pork specialty more prized than prosciutto. Suggestions for buying, storing, and serving the foods are provided, along with recommended restaurants and shops in Italy that offer them at their best.

Used and new from $4.87

Italian Regional Cooking, by Ada Boni

Ada Boni is one of the best known cooks in Italy. In this beautifully illustrated book she presents some of the most authentic, hard-to-find recipes ever collected. This is the real food of the Italian countryside and seacoast, of the cosmopolitan cities and centuries-old hill towns. The magnificent color photographs show the dishes in their local settings--vineyards and tiled roofs, fountains and Palladian palaces, rocky coasts and Renaissance churches--make this book an illustrated gastronomic tour of Italy. This collection of culinary treasures has been mined from each of the fourteen main regions of Italy, and many of the recipes are found in no other cookbook. In an introduction to each regional section, Ada Boni describes the countryside, its people, its cuisine, and its specialties, especially its cheeses and wines. The recipes cover appetizers and soups, pasta, main dishes (meat, fish, cheese, vegetables), and desserts.

Used and new from $8.98

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan

Perhaps more than any other person, Marcella Hazan is responsible for bringing Italian cuisine into the homes of American cooks. We're not just talking spaghetti and meatballs here--Hazan's cuisine consists of polenta, risotto, squid braised with tomatoes and white wine, sautéed swiss chard with olive oil and garlic.... Twenty years ago, when Hazan first exploded into the American consciousness with "The Classic Italian Cook Book" and "More Classic Italian Cooking", such recipes were revolutionary. With time, however, these classic dishes have become much-beloved family favorites. Now a new generation is ready to be introduced to Marcella Hazan's way with food, and in "Essentials of Italian Cooking" Hazan combines her two earlier works into one updated and expanded volume. In addition to the delicious collection of recipes, this book serves as a basic manual for cooks of every skill level. Recipes have been revised to reduce fat content, and a whole new chapter full of fundamental information about herbs, spices, and cheeses used in Italian kitchens--as well as details on how to select specific ingredients--has been added. New chapters, new recipes--who could ask for more than "Essentials of Italian Cooking"?

$19.80

Flavors of Puglia, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

"The cuisine of Puglia was shaped by the cuisine of poverty," Jenkins reports. But the region is unusual for the way the poor and the wealthy eat the same dishes, the same foods; "the rich simply eat more," as Jenkins says. So the point of the food is to take a few ingredients--never a lot of meat--and maximize the flavors. The results, both heavenly and healthy, turn the cook back to the origins of good food and diet. Jenkins's great trick is that she can make you smell the dish prepared on the page and even see the ocean change color as the sun fades and night embraces the land. Featuring more than 100 recipes, for every course from the antipasti to dessert, Flavors of Puglia introduces American home cooks to the aromas and flavors of the cuisine of Puglia. Taking a culinary tour of this remarkable region, Jenkins offers recipes for classic Pugliese dishes including tiedda, a casserole made with mussels, potatoes, tomatoes, and zucchini; and orecchiette, Puglia's famous ear-shaped pasta (orecchiette), tossed with pungent broccoli rabe and dressed with a sprightly mix of oil, garlic, and red pepper. Other recipes include panzerotti, deep-fried tarts filled with onion-olive stuffing or a spicy pork filling; stewed black olives served with chunks of country-style bread for sopping up herb-scented olive oil; calzone, a two-crusted pizza with olives, leeks, and a hint of anchovy; and fresh fish and shellfish served on their own, in casseroles, or seafood stews. Jenkins offers graceful descriptions of Puglia's landscape and introduces readers to local fishermen, bakers, pastamakers, olive oil producers, and winemakers who produce the best food the region has to offer. A detailed section for travelers offers restaurant and hotel suggestions and provides a list of dishes and food products that are specialties of the region. A resource guide and extensive notes on choosing ingredients round out this splendid cookbook, which will win readers over to this charming and less-discovered region of Italy.

used & new available from $89.98

The Food of Italy, by Waverley Root

Root, who made his living as a foreign correspondent and has written several volumes on his penchant for food, is an excellent guide whose descriptions will convince globetrotters that there's much more to travel than sightseeing. Along with "The Food of France", this book won the 1990 James Beard Cookbook Award. To read this book is not just to learn the proper preparation for lasagna and risotto, but also to encounter the Medicis, to witness an opulent banquet for two, and to learn the fables surrounding the origin of tortellini. With great learning and omnivorous curiosity, Waverley Root explores all the byways of a cuisine so nuanced that even the basic ragù Bolognese has some two hundred variations. "The Food of Italy" takes us from the legally enforced frugality of the Renaissance table to the enduring Saracen luxury of Sicilian desserts, from the lasagna of Bologna to the saltimbocca (literally, "jump in the mouth") of Rome. We learn of the elephant forced to spend the winter of 1551 in the South Tyrol and the dishes named after him, and the proper way to bottle Chianti.

$14.96

Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit, by Mort Rosenblum

Until one stops to notice, an olive is only a lowly lump at the bottom of a martini. But not only does a history of olives traverse climates and cultures, it also reveals fascinating differences in processing, production, and personalities. Aficionados of the noble little fruit expect miracles from it as a matter of course. In 1986, Mort Rosenblum bought a small farm in Provence and acquired 150 neglected olive trees that were old when the Sun King ruled France. He brought them back to life and became obsessed with olives, their cultivation, and their role in international commerce. After rice, corn, and wheat--the three staples of, respectively, East Asia, the Americas, and Eurasia--the olive is the foodstuff most closely bound to history, shaping the course of nations and empires. Mort Rosenblum, the author of :Secret Life of the Seine" and many other books, gives us a wide-angle, engrossing account of the olive's life and natural history, studding his narrative with conversations with farmers all around the Mediterranean. Rosenblum predicts an upsurge in olive cultivation in the United States as more and more people become aware of the fruit's many healthful qualities. If you have the urge to take up farming, read this fine book--you may be moved to put in some olive trees and try your luck. Winner of the James Beard Award.

$12.24

Diane Seed's Rome for All Seasons: A Cookbook, by Diane Seed

Diane Seed, author of "Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces", has lived in Rome for over twenty five years, drawing inspiration from the best foods of Italy. Here she brings together classic Roman dishes with a lighter touch (Basil gnocchi made with ricotta); delicious traditional dishes from the Jewish quarter (Red Mullet with Raisins and Pine Nuts); and newer specialties from Romes's famous trattorie, (Butterfly Pasta with Mint and Green Tomato Sauce). Dishes like Chicken with Lemon and Balsamic Vinegar, and Spaghetti with Pachino Cherry Tomatoes show how many Italian ingredients and dishes, from Modena to Sicily, have become Rome's own. Beautifully illustrated by Marlene McLoughlin.

Used and new from $1.50

The Food Lover's Guide to the Gourmet Secrets of Rome, by Diane Seed

Organized by neighborhood, this book is a tour through the gourmet treasures of the eternal city, and features detailed reviews of its best restaurants, markets, and specialty shops. Diane Seed, a locally-based food expert and teacher, gives details about which products or wines to seek out, which local eateries, and which dishes are authentically local, such as the fried artichokes of Trastevere or the Orvieto from the hills outside the city. Seed divides Rome into nine areas to explore, coordinating her culinary suggestions with the major sites in each area sure to be on a visitor's itinerary. Peppered throughout are forty traditional Roman recipes usually taught at the author's cooking school in the Piazza Venezia neighborhood..

$29.70

The Silver Spoon, by Phaidon Press

First published in 1950 and revised over time, Italy's bestselling culinary bible, “Il Cucchiaio d'argento”, is now available in English. The Silver Spoon boasts over 2,000 recipes and arrives in a handsome (and weighty) photo-illustrated edition complete with two ribbon markers. Its chapters make every menu stop from sauces and antipasti through cheese dishes and sweets, with many standout dishes like Genoese Pesto Minestrone, Eggplant and Ricotta Lasagna, Pork Shoulder with Prunes, and Chocolate and Pear Tart; the book also includes a number of "eccentricities," like sections on patty shells and bean sprouts, surely not an Italian dining staple. Meant to be inclusive, the book also offers a wide range of non-Italian, mostly French formulas, supplemented by a few "exotic" and other non-traditional entries. Though the recipe range is vast, it must be said that American readers, anxious to cook this authentic fare, will encounter problems. Translating a cookbook from one language to another requires cultural recasting as well as word substitution, and in this the book's editors have been lax. The problems include non-idiomatic usages, for example, calling for "pans" when "pots" is needed; awkward conversions from the metric system, resulting in requirements like eleven ounces of zite; and the inclusion of ingredients like cavolo nero (Tuscan cabbage), tope (a Mediterranean fish), and pancetta copatta (ham-stuffed pancetta) that are unavailable here and for which no alternatives are suggested. In addition, the recipes themselves are often insufficiently specific or detailed--even seasoned bakers will pause before cake recipes that don't specify pan size--and can also lack yields. Space considerations have also meant printing recipes in single, one-column paragraphs, which can make place-finding while cooking difficult, and there are typos and other goofs (one recipe for four specifies six cups of sliced scallions; another requires that a marinade be "stirred frequently for five to twelve hours"). All this said, many cooks--casual and serious alike--as well as cookbook collectors, will want The Silver Spoon. It's an essential document of the Italian table and as such a classic. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine a complete cookbook library without the book--a welcome evocation of a much-beloved repertoire by those who know it best. –review for Amazon.com by-Arthur Boehm

$26.37

Bitter Almonds: Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood, by Mary Taylor Simeti and Maria Grammatico

In the early 1950s, Maria Grammatico and her sister were sent by their impoverished mother to San Carlo, a cloistered orphanage in Erice, and ancient hill town on the western coast of Sicily. It was a Dickensian existence – beating sugar mixtures for six hours at a time, rising before dawn to prime the ovens, and surviving on a diet of vegetable gruel. But it was here that Maria learned to make the beautifully handcrafted pastries that were sold to customers through a grille in the convent wall. At 22, Maria left the orphanage with no personal possessions, minimal schooling and no skills other than what she carried in her head and her hands. Today she is the successful owner of her own pasticceria in Erice, a mecca for travelers the world over. Her counters are piled high with handmade biscotti, tarts, cakes and jams – Torta Divina, Cassata Siciliana, Cotognata. A frequent customer, Mary Taylor Simeti became her friend and chronicler. “Bitter Almonds” is a memoir, a tribute to Sicilian food and culture, and the record of a vanishing craft. At the heart of the book are forty-six recipes of unique Sicilian specialties, recorded for the first time.

Used and new from $6.07

Italian Cheese: Two Hundred Traditional Types : A Guide to Their Discovery and Appreciation, by Slow Food Editore, Piero Sardo (Editor), Gigi Piumatti (Editor), R. Rubino (Editor)

Slow Food is sweeping the nation, at a snail’s pace. This international organization was started in Italy by people who perceive McDonald’s as the symbol of a society that is overshooting its own limits. The greatest loss of all is the pleasure of eating foods that are made without the restrictions of time. Many of the cheeses portrayed in this delightful book--stracciata, giuncata, formaggio di fossa, formaggetta della valle Argentina--are not household names and they probably never will be. They’re a few of the 201 traditional Italian farmhouse cheeses lovingly described in this new book from Slow Food International as a "contribution to the conservation of a vast heritage of local products, born of Italy’s extraordinarily varied landscapes, natural environments, dairy breeds, and cheesemaking techniques." Starting with illustrated descriptions of traditional and industrial cheesemaking, Slow Food’s authors take us through the processes of buying, tasting, and storing cheeses. Dictionaries of tasting terms and the language of cheeses and cheesemaking provide essential preludes for the heart of this book--descriptions of Italy’s farmhouse cheeses, traditionally made from cow’s, ewe’s, and goat’s milk. Organized by region and accompanied by elegant color photographs, each description covers how the cheese is made and matured, along with historical and geographic nuggets. Written by people in love with farmhouse cheeses, and with everything small, local, slow, and traditional foods and food systems represent, this is an informative and hopeful book, celebrating a rich, rural European tradition. This book will make you start packing your bags for a cheese lover’s tour of Italy. Slow Food, founded in 1986, is an international organization whose aim is to protect the pleasures of the table from the homogenization of the modern fast-food life. Through a variety of initiatives, it promotes gastronomic culture, conserves agricultural biodiversity and protects traditional foods at risk of extinction. It now boasts more than 80,000 members in 100 countries. A portion of the proceeds from sales of A World of Presidia will go to the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity to support Presidia projects.

Used and new from $5.50

Café Life Rome: A Guidebook to the Cafés and Bars of the Eternal City, by Joe Wolff

The cafe is indisputably central to Roman life. Café Life Rome is the first guide book dedicated solely to the cafés and bars of Rome. Instead of relying on city guides with cursory listings, this book, with its rich photography and informed descriptions, steers travelers through Rome's 5,000 bars to the perfect cafe. Café Life Rome focuses on thirty of the best, in four different areas of the city. Some of these establishments are hundreds of years old and some are relatively young, but each has a story to tell. These cafés also offer food and drink at reasonable prices, or a specialty of the house worth a small splurge. Visitors will be able to choose a comfortable bar close to their accommodations, make it a hangout of their own and watch the Romani at close quarters. It may even be a place where Hemingway or Fellini came to unwind, too.

$15.60

Fiction

Home To Italy, by Peter Pezzelli

Inspired in part by his grandmother’s childhood home in Abruzzo, this is the author’s first novel. The story is of Peppi, who is expected to bury his grief after the death of his beloved wife by tending to his gardens and taking long bicycle rides. Instead, Peppi shocks them all by leaving Rhode Island to return to Villa San Giuseppe, the Italian village where he spent his childhood, and to “il mulino”, his family’s old mill. He temporarily moves into an apartment over the candy factory run by his childhood best friend, Luca. It is modest but livable, with a lovely view of Luca’s neglected gardens and his equally neglected daughter, the fiery Lucrezia. Lucrezia’s legendary temper and workaholic schedule hide the pain she feels over her husband’s death years before. At first she tolerates Peppi as an eccentric annoyance – her father’s strange but handsome American friend who fixes things around the factory and is bringing the gardens back to life. Soon, Lucrezia’s interest in Peppi deepens. Soon the gossip is flying through Villa San Giuseppe: Lucrezia’s arriving to dinner on time! She’s eating olives from a man’s hand! She’s wearing heels! Under the warm Italian sun a tentative romance begins to bloom between the grieving pair, yielding to a surprisingly strong passion with the power to heal their wounds and promise second chances.

$11.20

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