Why I Write About Italy
I’m a big fan of food writing. The backstory behind what, why and how food is eaten is both an interest and a passion. This may have to do with my travels in Italy with our Italian family and friends where food is a national treasure. It definitely has to do with childhood memories of family gatherings where food was the centerpiece of the celebration. As CIO (Chief Inspirational Officier) of CosituttiMarketPlace I've drawn inspiration from many sources and reasons for why I write about Italy.
It all begins with a family picture and a connection that has lasted over 10 decades. A picture of our Italian family with their friends taken in 1919 in the countryside near Vicenza. Someone once drew arrows on the picture to identify our relatives including Gino, the one with the big hair. The arrows have faded away but I can imagine the pleasure our family found in the day. The other is a picture of our Nonna who immigrated to America that same year. The others are recent fotos of trips taken over the last 25+ years reconnecting with our family in Northern Italy and making many friends along the way.
Eating, shopping, cooking and traveling in Italy with our Italian family and friends I’ve learned that every plate of food and every bottle of wine brings life to the Italian table. I’ve come to realize the pivotal place food has in Italian culture. Italians take time and effort to prepare a well-laid table where there is beauty and grace in the smallest detail. Meals are an essential part of Italian life. Not that they obsess about food or over indulge. Italians truly value food and its preparation. Without saying a word, season after season food is a vehicle for the transmission of culture and generational traditions.
Traveling in Italy and staying with our Italian family and friends has led me to believe that they seem to know how to balance work and relaxation. They travel through the workday with a mid-day break, surrounding themselves with beauty and art, eating fresh and vibrant food at meals. Italians exist with fewer clothes, simpler food, smaller living accommodations and cars. They eat less, weigh less, buy less but better quality. They travel more and enjoy their friends and family more.
I want to imitate this but can Italy be duplicated? My writings are recollections and experiences of sites seen, food eaten, life lived and generational memories of families and friends who believe that sitting at a well-laid table is a lost art that must be found again.
Why You Might Like My Writings and Books? You love Italy. You love Italian food. You drool over the fashions of Milan and sigh over the bridges in Venice. Your vino is rosso. Your blood boils at the sound of a Ferrari and you dream of basking under the Tuscan sun.
To My Readers: My writing style is creatively informative with a goal and desire to write simple, useful content that is easy to understand with a comfortable reading font and a manageable number of pages per chapter for pleasurable reading which I hope you will enjoy.
Writing Style: I like the food writing of Elizabeth David, Patience Gray, MFK Fisher and Waverley Root because it's more that just about a recipe or food, but also about travel, a place, a way of life and culture. I like the travel writing of Burt Wolf and of course Anthony Bourdain.
Recommended Book Store Readings To See and Savor Italy: Issuu
Udderly Italian
A Culinary and Cultural Taste of Regional Italian Cheese
Italian cheese is not merely a product. It is a history, taste, quality and tradition of a country. Each regional variety reflects each Alpine pasture, each field of wildflowers; the ash, leaves or hay used in ripening, the animals and artisans who make it.
Used as an ingredient, garnish, topping or simply enjoyed on its own, Italian cheese never disappoints.
Drop by Drop
The Making,Tasting and Traditions of Balsamic Vinegar
In the pantheon of Italian food products one type of vinegar stands out above the rest, Aceto Balsamico from the regions of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy.
Learn about tastings, traditions, artisan production, the best way to recognize and use a true balsamic vinegar and the author's personal visit and tasting at a balsamic acetaia in Emilia Romagna.
Rosemary and Red Wine
Italian Dishes, Recipes and Traditions For Two of Italy's Most Iconic Ingredients
Two of Italy’s most iconic ingredients, rosemary and red wine, take center stage to connect the culinary and cultural heritage of regional Italian food with a collection of recipes from generations of Italian cooks, chefs, restaurateurs, cooking schools and the author’s time spent in Italy with her Italian family and friends.
Ingredients and methods are prefaced by brief introductions meant to help the reader and would-be cook understand the purpose of the dish, its storied history, or a trick for making it just right. The recipes are a culinary backstory to the author’s travels in Italy over the last 20+ years and include taste and travel tips that make this part cook book and part culinary travel guide. The author encourages you to look beyond the fork of every Italian dish and you will find a fascinating gastro-history developing a taste for Italy and wanting more.
Pasta for a Princess
A Culinary Fantasy
In the Court of the Bentivoglio Christoforo Zafirano was regarded as a maestro, a master of l'arte della cucina but this would be his greatest achievement. In only 3 days the beautiful and infamous Lucrezia Borgia would arrive in Bologna and he must prepare an unforgettable feast fit for a Renaissance princess and bride to be.
First in a series for young taste travelers, all the recipes in this book are suitable for cooking with children under the careful and constant supervision of a parent or adult.
Invited Presentation: St. Simon the Apostle School, Indianapolis, IN
Seeing and Savoring Italy
A Taste and Travel Journey through Northern Italy,
Tuscany and Umbria
"There are travel books and there are cookbooks, but our favorites are the ones where the genres coexist".
Drawing on the historical and cultural traditions of Italian food with personal anecdotes on her experiences, the author takes you on a taste and travel journey through Northern Italy, Tuscany and Umbria to hidden and little known places as she travels with her Italian family and friends.
Along the way she develops a style of travel that pairs the pleasures of eating with the history and art of the region that result in a unique travel experience way beyond a "show and tell" tour with recipes to bring Italy home.
Invited Presentation: Southlake AAUW Book Study Group