http://www.politics-prose.com/food-books
Chefs, foodies, and Italophiles will treasure Elena Kostioukovitch’s Why Italians Love To Talk About Food (Farrar Straus & Giroux, $35). This masterful tome is a culinary encyclopedia and travelogue—a chronicle of Italy’s regional cuisines. In each chapter, Kostioukovitch introduces a region and explores the foods that define it. We learn about Piedmontese truffles, Neapolitan mozzarella di bufala, and the Roman Jews’ unique relationship to eggplant. Cuisine is a “code that pervades all of Italy,” Kostioukovitch writes, and discussing it “means celebrating a rite, uttering a magic formula.” Gorgeous photos and mouthwatering sample menus round out this literary feast. Elizabeth Sher
Chefs, foodies, and Italophiles will treasure Elena Kostioukovitch’s Why Italians Love To Talk About Food (Farrar Straus & Giroux, $35). This masterful tome is a culinary encyclopedia and travelogue—a chronicle of Italy’s regional cuisines. In each chapter, Kostioukovitch introduces a region and explores the foods that define it. We learn about Piedmontese truffles, Neapolitan mozzarella di bufala, and the Roman Jews’ unique relationship to eggplant. Cuisine is a “code that pervades all of Italy,” Kostioukovitch writes, and discussing it “means celebrating a rite, uttering a magic formula.” Gorgeous photos and mouthwatering sample menus round out this literary feast. Elizabeth Sher