Cooking
Ah Springtime! Beautiful weather necessitates the need for the perfect beach read. Not that you have to go to the beach to read it--the backyard would be fine too. The ultimate beach read in my mind is a paperback, it's light and upbeat, nothing too serious, it has a little romance and whole lot of fun. Oh, and a little food and foreign travel wouldn't hurt either.
And so I give you my choice for one heck of a great beach read. The Food of Love is a twist on the classic Cyrano de Bergerac (Roxanne) story of mistaken identity with one man courting a woman on behalf of his friend but in this case it is done though food. The main characters are Laura, an American art student living in Rome, Tommaso her paramour and Bruno, the Cyrano character who happens to be a talented chef. Bruno cooks for Laura and of course she falls in love with Tommaso who she is lead to believe is doing the cooking all along. The story is set in Trastevere and the book feels in some ways like a travelogue, you get the sights and sounds and the flavors of Rome. You'll taste the aphrodisiac tartufo, enjoy trips to view Renaissance masterpieces, learn to make Saltimbocca (recipes in the back of the book) and get caught up in the romance of Italy.
There is plenty of humor, great details of Roman and Italian cuisine and culture and even a little sex thrown in to keep things interesting. Having once been an American girl in Italy, there was a lot I could relate to in it. There was even a beach scene that reminded me of going to the beach when I was in Rome. The author really has an eye for details, and an obvious passion for all things Italian. The book is thoroughly charming and if I'm not wrong it will soon be made into a movie. But for the beach, the paperback version is the way to go. The book came out a couple of years ago and you can find used paperback copies of it on Amazon for under $1. You can also check out the book website here.
FOOD
- Noodle Fest 2010
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer You can keep Disneyland, for me the happiest place on earth is Noodle Fest. I am an absolute noodle fanatic, so from the moment I heard about the event, fostering unity between North Beach and...
- Italian Cookbooks
When it comes to Italian food, the true measure of whether a recipe is authentic is whether it's the way your Italian mamma made it. It's hard to say whether a cookbook is ever truly authentic, unless of course your mamma wrote it. With Italian...
- California Soups & Salads Calendar
I don't know about you, but I need a calendar in my kitchen. While I use a calendar on my computer for most things, I like having another one in the kitchen to help me plan meals and shopping trips. My favorite kitchen calendars have been ones with...
- Explore Point Reyes
If you say California, many people think "beach". It's not that California doesn't have breathtaking mountain ranges, valleys, deserts, lakes, and forests. It does. But California is rightfully famous for it's beaches. Often featuring dramatic...
- Sneak Peek At Local Book Events
Melissa Mytinger, the events coordinator at Cody's Books here in Berkeley was kind enough to send me a sneak peek at upcoming book events related to food and cooking. Mark your calendars! Note that all of these are at the 4th Street store, and there's...
Cooking
The Food of Love: Book
Ah Springtime! Beautiful weather necessitates the need for the perfect beach read. Not that you have to go to the beach to read it--the backyard would be fine too. The ultimate beach read in my mind is a paperback, it's light and upbeat, nothing too serious, it has a little romance and whole lot of fun. Oh, and a little food and foreign travel wouldn't hurt either.
And so I give you my choice for one heck of a great beach read. The Food of Love is a twist on the classic Cyrano de Bergerac (Roxanne) story of mistaken identity with one man courting a woman on behalf of his friend but in this case it is done though food. The main characters are Laura, an American art student living in Rome, Tommaso her paramour and Bruno, the Cyrano character who happens to be a talented chef. Bruno cooks for Laura and of course she falls in love with Tommaso who she is lead to believe is doing the cooking all along. The story is set in Trastevere and the book feels in some ways like a travelogue, you get the sights and sounds and the flavors of Rome. You'll taste the aphrodisiac tartufo, enjoy trips to view Renaissance masterpieces, learn to make Saltimbocca (recipes in the back of the book) and get caught up in the romance of Italy.
There is plenty of humor, great details of Roman and Italian cuisine and culture and even a little sex thrown in to keep things interesting. Having once been an American girl in Italy, there was a lot I could relate to in it. There was even a beach scene that reminded me of going to the beach when I was in Rome. The author really has an eye for details, and an obvious passion for all things Italian. The book is thoroughly charming and if I'm not wrong it will soon be made into a movie. But for the beach, the paperback version is the way to go. The book came out a couple of years ago and you can find used paperback copies of it on Amazon for under $1. You can also check out the book website here.
| READ MORE Over at SF Station is my review of the Nua a fairly new restaurant in North Beach. |
FOOD
- Noodle Fest 2010
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer You can keep Disneyland, for me the happiest place on earth is Noodle Fest. I am an absolute noodle fanatic, so from the moment I heard about the event, fostering unity between North Beach and...
- Italian Cookbooks
When it comes to Italian food, the true measure of whether a recipe is authentic is whether it's the way your Italian mamma made it. It's hard to say whether a cookbook is ever truly authentic, unless of course your mamma wrote it. With Italian...
- California Soups & Salads Calendar
I don't know about you, but I need a calendar in my kitchen. While I use a calendar on my computer for most things, I like having another one in the kitchen to help me plan meals and shopping trips. My favorite kitchen calendars have been ones with...
- Explore Point Reyes
If you say California, many people think "beach". It's not that California doesn't have breathtaking mountain ranges, valleys, deserts, lakes, and forests. It does. But California is rightfully famous for it's beaches. Often featuring dramatic...
- Sneak Peek At Local Book Events
Melissa Mytinger, the events coordinator at Cody's Books here in Berkeley was kind enough to send me a sneak peek at upcoming book events related to food and cooking. Mark your calendars! Note that all of these are at the 4th Street store, and there's...