Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa
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Book Overview
Italy's tumultuous history can be traced through its food. In an epic scooter trip from the Ionian Sea to the far north, distiguished food writer Matthew Fort explores the local gastronomy and culinary culture of a country where regional differences are vibrantly alive.
In no other country is food so much a part of everyday life as it is in Italy. Matthew Fort's plan is a simple one: to travel by scooter from Melito di Porto Salvo - the southernmost town in Italy and where Garibaldi landed in 1860 to begin his conquest of Naples - to Turin in the north, eating drinking, talking and noting as he goes.
Passing through Calabria - rich in spices, Arabian-influences of almonds and dried fruits, as well as Spanish chocolate (Fichi al Ciocolatto, mostacciolo) - and on to Campania - from where the historic Nepalese pizza has become infamous - Fort discovers the rich connection between historical tradition and cuisine. The Italian genius for combining abundance and thrift is evident from the economy of the mountainous and sparse landscape of Molise, where much use is made of pastas and chillies, and adjoining lush Abruzzo, with its delicious cheeses and risottos.
Fort travels on to Emilia-Romagna, where much of what we have come to love in Italian food can be found: prosciutto di Parma, mortadella, ravioli, taggliatelle and zamponi...In Piedmont, the wine-and-truffle country stretching from the shadow of the Alps through arable flatlands, the cooking of France and Northern Europe fuses with that of Italy. This enticing sum of parts - the dishes, producers, ingredients, consumers and eating occasions - make up nothing less than a contemporary portrait of the country.
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Customer Reviews
Rated 5 starsSuperb writing and a delicious experience
The traveling by Vespa in Italy idea is what first attracted me to this book. I'm both a Vespa nut and a lover of Italy. My wife and I have a home Puglia and have traveled quite a bit elsewhere in that grand country. I fell in love with both the charming scooters and a cuisine that's close to heaven on earth. I'd enjoyed Peter Moore's "Vroom with a View," his story of traveling by Vespa from the north to the south of Italy...
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Rated 5 starsBella! Bella!
Matthew Fort's infatuation for all things edible and Italian are wonderfully palpable in this gastronomic treasure. Heady and sumptuous as a fine red wine, EATING UP ITALY: VOYAGES ON A VESPA -- part travel memoir, part specialty recipe book -- recounts Fort's journeys all over the stunning Italian countryside, while lavishly showcasing each region's own unique culinary "nuances". Italy's romance and mystique lay in its beautiful...
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Rated 5 starsYour will want to travel Italy for sure!
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher of Reader Views (2/07) If you were not hungry when you start reading "Eating Up Italy" you will be by the end of the first chapter. This story is about the author, an Englishman, who has had a lifetime affair with Italy finally following his dream of touring the country from the southern tip to the northern border on a Vespa. It must have been a comical scene with him slowly and carefully navigating...
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Rated 5 starsCombo of travelogue and recipes
This as an estheticaly beautiful, artsy-looking book with high quality pages, cover, illustrations and a gorgeous cover design. Well written, the food descriptions will make your mouth water; the descriptions of places will make you feel as if you're there. What's unusual is that this book combines recipes with the travelogue, about 50/50. Recommended for all foodies with an interest in Italy. And for everyone interested...
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Rated 5 starsFantastic!
I only read really good non-fiction books -- and this was one of the best I've read in the last 10 years. Made me seriously want to visit Italy, and not as a tourist but as a hungry person. I tried some of the recipes and they're really good. If you want to understand something deeper about Italy and her cuisine -- which is really just good food -- I highly recommend this book!
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