briciole

tomato, cucumber and radish salad / insalata di pomodori, cetrioli e ravanelli

light, refreshing, colorful, flavorful: perfect! (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Three months ago, I listened to an interview1 with science writer Christie Aschwanden2, author of the book Good To Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery3. I was so intrigued by what I heard that I purchased the book and learned a lot by reading it. While I am not a competitive athlete, I exercise regularly and a year and a half ago I started running regularly. Regardless of how far you push yourself, recovery is a fundamental component of physical... Read more →

green bean and torpedo onion salad / insalata di fagiolini e cipolla rossa di Tropea

a simple seasonal side dish with a lot of flavor (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO, cheeseboard by BHVwoodworks1) The memoir Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton2 had been on my to-read list for a while. I had read good reviews and was intrigued by the title. Hamilton's writing and storytelling style makes for an easy reading and the events she narrates with more details are well chosen. The three parts of the title corresponds to the three parts of the book and three periods of her life: childhood-early adulthood, chef/owner of a restaurant, marriage and motherhood. My favorite part... Read more →

artichokes, fava beans and sausage / carciofi, fave e salsiccia

satisfying spring flavors (sapori di primavera) (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO, cheeseboard by BHVwoodworks) Reading Buttermilk Graffiti1 by Edward Lee, the current selection of the Cook the Books club, was a pleasure from the first to the last page. Lee is a great storyteller: he brings the readers with him in his travels, inside every eating establishment he visits, next to every person he talks to. Together with the more factual details of his 16 stories, each centered around a place with specific food traditions, he shares doses of personal opinions, memories, experiences. Each chapter of the book ends with... Read more →

artichoke spread / paté di carciofi

creamy distillation of artichokes A recent visit to the local bookstore resulted in the purchase of the novel The Goldfinch by the American author Donna Tartt.1 Published in 2013, The Goldfinch won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, among other honors. Distinctly Dickensian in breadth, The Goldfinch grabbed my attention from the mysterious opening pages, and soon I found myself deeply interested in the adventures of the protagonist, Theo Decker, who reminded me a lot of Pip, the protagonist of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. The first person point of view works well in the story. The title refers to a... Read more →

popiah: fresh spring rolls with jicama / involtini primavera con patata messicana

composite flavor and texture I read Crazy Rich Asians1 by Kevin Kwan, the current selection of the Cook the Books club, in just a few days. It is a modern version of a Victorian novel set mostly in Asia, particularly the island state of Singapore. When Rachel and Nick, the protagonists, arrive in Singapore, they are greeted by Nick's bet friend, Colin, and his fiancée, Araminta. Together, they go to eat at one of Singapore's hawker centers. I have never been to Singapore, but I learned about hawker centers and the characteristics of Singaporean food thanks to the paper Lucey Bowen... Read more →

pan-fried banana with macadamia nuts / banana in padella e noci di macadamia

crunchy, soft and sweet I read the novel Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers1 by Sara Ackerman, the current selection of the Cook the Books club, in just a few days: the story is interesting, at the level both of the individual characters and of the historical background. To the tragedies of World War II and of the internment of Japanese-Americans, the novel, set on the Big Island of Hawaii, adds the personal tragedies of Violet, whose husband disappeared a year before the story starts, and of their daughter, Ella, whose distress hints at a devastating secret she cannot share. The... Read more →

delicata squash stuffed with fagiolina del Trasimeno and leeks / zucca ripiena di fagiolina del Trasimeno e porri

dinner, plain and simple (linen by La FABBRICA del LINO) The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty1, the current selection of the Cook the Books club, is a captivating read and a book difficult to describe in a few words: world history, food history, personal memories, travels all play a part in the story, which has an epic reach, encompassing centuries and large spaces, using the author's family tree as guide. Even before reading the book, I knew Twitty is a great story teller, whether he talks about a specific dish or is inhabiting the lives of his enslaved ancestors. I understand... Read more →

sweet pepper, onion and zucchini tart / torta salata con peperoni dolci, cipolle e zucchine

a favorite dinner fare (linen by La FABBRICA del LINO) At a conference this past February I met author Anne Perry and a few days later to I found myself in a bookstore that had a copy of The Cater Street Hangman, first book of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series1. The coincidence was too tempting to resist. I liked the book so much that I read the following three novels in the series: Callander Square, Paragon Walk and Resurrection Row. Besides being good mysteries, the novels attract me because of their setting: Victorian England. They look at the life of... Read more →

sourdough whole-wheat cheese crackers / cracker integrali al formaggio

one by one, they will soon be all gone (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) The August-September selection of the Cook the Books club is the novel Sourdough by Robin Sloan1. Intriguing title, I thought immediately, but did not know what to expect: I rarely read reviews before I read a book (sometimes do so after turning over the last page2). Being familiar with the San Francisco Bay Area contributed to the story's appeal, but even if you don't know the island of Alameda or the San Francisco Ferry Building, you will enjoy the twists and turns of Lois Clary's adventures... Read more →

stuffed zucchini / zucchine ripiene

a delicious pair on a plate (napkin by La FABBRICA del LINO) The June-July selection of the Cook the Books club was Garlic and Sapphires, The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl1. The author is well known for her sparkling prose and engaging way of talking about food—the latter skill honed during her career as food critic, which is the subject of this memoir. Readers interested in restaurants in NYC and the life of a restaurant reviewer will find the book entertaining. To be honest, I am neither. I think that her first memoir, Tender at the... Read more →