When I first moved to Italy in 1984, there were a couple of Italian guide books with an emphasis on eating in Italy. Often food is a part of a guide book, but for people like me, often the destination is all about the food.
Recently I received a review copy of my friend Elizabeth Minchilli’s new Italian food guide book, Eating My Way Through Italy. Like myself, Elizabeth is an American expat, living in Rome. Her love affair goes back to when her parent’s moved the family to Rome to live and then her returning to study in Florence, where she met her husband. When she was doing research for her app EAT ITALY, we joined her on her eating research, sharing some of our favorite places in and around Florence. You will read about it in the book too.
I read the book like a novel and finished it in two days.
She has written many books and articles on all things Italian. Recently she began a food blog and running food tours in Rome. Right now she is on tour in the USA promoting this new book.
If you get a chance, attend one of her events, here is the list for her events in the USA.
Click on the book cover for link to order now!
I adore how the book is written, not simply a guidebook, but rather a personal journal about places she has been, where she goes and a couple of recipes. PERFETTO. Elizabeth has already done a book on Rome, EAT ROME, and also has an app on where to eat in Italy, so this was a natural for her.
She covers these wonderful food destinations by region and their specialties with tips on where to enjoy the best of the area and then also gives you a few or her favorite recipes for you to have a taste in your own home. The best way to travel in Italy and enjoy the best food is to go where a local sends you. If that is the way you like to travel, then get this book. It is a trip around Italy. I am not sure if everyone knows, there is no such thing as Italian cooking, but rather regional cooking. Italy was only united in the 1860’s and still today, recipes don’t travel.
This book will give you an insight into those regional recipes. Traveling in Italy with food in mind is really like a giant treasure hunt! Each region has it’s specialties which you don’t want to miss. Menu’s maybe repetitive in one region, such as always seeing the Bistecca alla Fiorentina and Arista in Tuscany, but you won’t find them on the menu in other regions. Elizabeth has given you a very personal list of places to go, things to do and where and what to eat, simply sharing some of her favorites. This culinary trip takes you to Venice, Milano, Emilia Romagna, Florence, Rome of course, Umbria , Naples, Puglia, Sardegna and Sicily. Just a taste.
I have made a couple of recipes from the book, her Pugliese mother-in-law’s octopus recipe, which is also how I cook mine, with no water. These are the recipes you want to know how to make! Even though this is a guide book, the recipes are a bonus.
Another specialty from Puglia which you need to know about is eating at the butchers. There are small restaurants called Fornelli which are meats cooked over the grill. When in Puglia going to these butcher owned restaurants is a MUST on my list too. Recently Elizabeth posted the recipe for the Bombette, small rolled pork involtini, filled with cheese and grilled which her daughter Sofie learned while apprenticing at a butcher shop.
I used pork shoulder pieces, cut thin and then pounded out. Salt and pepper, then small chunks of cheese, I used an semi aged pecorino, not caciocavallo and parsley. Then you wrap and roll the meat around the filling and grill.
Cook until you don’t see any pink meat. This is usually done over coal and the flavor is much more intense.
Small morsels of goodness! When you get these in Puglia, they are bitesize and served in a paper bag. It is normal to order several kinds for the table and then to share.
I am heading down to Puglia next month for a custom tour and will be sure to use some of Elizabeth’s tips!
Whenever you to somewhere that a friend sent you, be sure to let the restaurant know, you want to be treated like a friend, not a tourist.
So after reading Elizabeth’s book…. and heading to her favorite places, say Mi Manda Elisabetta! Show them the book!
Travel like a local….. and be treated like one.
These shots are from a meal we had in a Fornello in Martina Franca. I am heading back in June with a group to Puglia so was inspired to do a recipe from there for you!
Remember I also have my Chianti app for those coming to Tuscany.!
