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Read Stories of Food and Life Audible Audio Edition Mariuccia Milla Sandra Boysen Sluberski Mary Scipioni Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 1 hour and 57 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Mary Scipioni Audible.com Release Date February 5, 2019 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B07ND5MLBQ

Stories of Food and Life Audible Audio Edition Mariuccia Milla Sandra Boysen Sluberski Mary Scipioni Books Reviews

• Although the title of this book (STORIES OF FOOD AND LIFE) might suggest otherwise, this is not a “how to” cookbook for one of the two greatest cuisines (in my opinion) in the Western world. Rather, it belongs to that category called “Food Writing,” whose principal apostles may well be the likes of M. K. Fisher and Michael Pollan. Mariuccia Milla now joins them with this little treatise from “Aglio” to “Zabaione”—figuratively speaking.
  
  What, then, is “Food Writing?” Although I’m hardly an authority, I would have to suggest that “Food Writing” is writing about food as an essential ingredient of living. The Italians understand this. The French understand this. The English and we Americans, by and large, do not. (“Will, who is English, did not understand the culinary rivalry between Italy and France” [p. 41].) For that reason (among others), we have to be thankful for people like Mariuccia Milla.
  
  And why is that? I’ll let you be the judge. On p. 15, we find “(a)nd there we sat, with our wine, and (with) the old, burnt bread embellished with hot flavors and sun-drenched tomatoes, feeling that we, too, had become better(—)annealed by fire(—)and (that) with our warm companionship and simple dinner, all was right with the world.” All right … so Mariuccia and I don’t necessarily agree on the matter of punctuation and relative pronouns. Still, I’ll take her cooking any day over my punctuation!
  
  And might one accuse Mariuccia of brandishing a bit of Italian culinary wisdom? I believe so—specifically, on p. 31 “(w)e have evolved together with our local food sources, and it makes tremendous sense to go with this seasonal flow. There are reasons that we should eat things at their peak, and I believe these reasons are more complex than we can understand. There is a certain greediness in wanting everything all the time. Besides that, .limited availability makes dishes more special, and they become the celebration of a fleeting moment.”
  
  But then, Mariuccia brings a special experience and understanding to her Food Writing. On p. 35, we find “Italians handle their vegetables (as) Native Americans treated their kill with respect and a proper funeral. Preparing and enjoying food is an aesthetic experience that nourishes the soul as well as the body. Understanding its origins informs and enhances this experience.”
  
  Okay, okay! But how about a bit of “how to”—just for the value-added of it? On p. 37, we get such a “how to” in connection with the art of growing tomatoes—pomodori—like a pro “(s)he showed me her tomato plants, which were tied to stakes amid a mosaic of herbs and flowers. The bed was enclosed with a border of marigolds. Inside that, there was a wider band of oregano that lined the marigolds all around. These two layers of defense protected the tomatoes, under which a host of dandelions grew.
  “Elena turned to me and said, ‘The odor of the marigolds keeps the ground animals away, should they get under the wire fence. They also attract predator insects like ladybugs, that eat other pests. The oregano attracts pollinating insects(,) and its strong fragrance acts as a repellent to others.’
  “What about the dandelions? Are they just weeds?’ I asked.
  “‘No, I use them as a groundcover under the tomatoes. They have taproots that keep the soil loose and help circulate nutrients for the tomatoes. And I use the leaves in salads.’”
  
  Lest you think that Mariuccia is all about gardening, vegetables and herbs and nothing else, please pay close attention to this concluding sentence of Chapter 6 (p. 42) “(o)h, and don’t forget to wear your capris and flats. You never know when someone will offer you a ride on their Vespa.”
  
  That said, I couldn’t help but note this little declaration on p. 57 on a subject very near and dear to my own heart—or at least to my stomach “Italy is far and away the world’s most important producer of artichokes, and April is actually the peak season.”
  
  So…read STORIES OF FOOD AND LIFE with both leisure and pleasure. It is, at most, an afternoon’s read, even if the author’s insights and suggestions may well weather you a lifetime.
  
  RRB
  Brooklyn, NY
  25 March 2019
• What’s better than short stories about living in Italy? Short stories relating to food and the culture, along with directions on making these Italian delights. Each story transports you to the land where food is life and food is love.