Several years ago, on a break between theatrical gigs in Alabama, Mark traveled to Italy and fell in love with the people, food and culture. Armed with just enough courage, minimal Italian language skills, and a certain proficiency in the kitchen, he enrolled in a full-immersion cooking and language program. He would travel to Viterbo, Italy and live with an Italian family. His teachers were beyond his wildest dreams-he learned to cook from the grandmother, or Nonna, of the family, who prepared every meal in a bustling, busy household, as women in her family have done for generations. Her daughter, Alessandra, taught him the language with patience and precision. Besides culinary secrets and prepositions, they opened their lives to him, and made him a real part of their extensive family. Though the book contains authentic, delicious family recipes Nonna shared with Mark, Beyond the Pasta delves into food memoir subject matter not found in a typical cookbook. It was the day-to-day shopping with Nonna, exploring the countryside and le gelaterie, where he truly developed his language skills, and a new, more joyful and uniquely Italian way of looking at the world.
Beyond The Pasta; Recipes, Language and Life with an Ital...
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Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
300+ pages of Italian food, daily stories & memories in Italy. Every day a new recipe, the interpretation behind it and a story that ties it all in harmony...Italy through its cuisine and culture: every page, a new emotion! --La Gazzetta Italiana
His book has amazing recipes, wrapped in his story of his adventures in Italy. It's a very cool presentation of recipes within a story that helps each recipe tell a story. It reaffirmed my own wishes and dreams.
--ericriveracooks.com
A fine brew of recipes, b&w photos, and colorful, anecdotal narrative. Keep this one in mind for Christmas gifts to travelers, epicures, and stay-at-homes who like to read about other people's adventures. --Julia Oliver, Alabama Writers' Forum
The kind of meals that you really find in Italian homes, prepared by someone's Nonna. What touched me most were the emotions in this book. Accessible recipes and a great story teller are a pretty unbeatable combination. --Fruttodellapassione.net
For those of us desk-side who long to learn about cultures and food ... I'm particularly fond of Beyond the Pasta: the journal-style writing is delightful and recipes basic and exceptional. --Anthony Dias Blue, "Blue Lifestyle Minute"
His book has amazing recipes, wrapped in his story of his adventures in Italy. It's a very cool presentation of recipes within a story that helps each recipe tell a story. It reaffirmed my own wishes and dreams.
--ericriveracooks.com
A fine brew of recipes, b&w photos, and colorful, anecdotal narrative. Keep this one in mind for Christmas gifts to travelers, epicures, and stay-at-homes who like to read about other people's adventures. --Julia Oliver, Alabama Writers' Forum
The kind of meals that you really find in Italian homes, prepared by someone's Nonna. What touched me most were the emotions in this book. Accessible recipes and a great story teller are a pretty unbeatable combination. --Fruttodellapassione.net
For those of us desk-side who long to learn about cultures and food ... I'm particularly fond of Beyond the Pasta: the journal-style writing is delightful and recipes basic and exceptional. --Anthony Dias Blue, "Blue Lifestyle Minute"
From the Back Cover
"Mark has captured the essence of the Italian people." -Biba Caggiano, TV chef, cookbook author, and Sacramento restaurateur.
"Alabama and Italy--what a delightful and delicious combination." -Fannie Flagg, Best-selling author and actress.
"Mark understands and so beautifully conveys the transcendent nature of true cooking, cooking that comes from the heart and feeds not just the body but the soul. There is something universal about this that goes beyond culture, age, race, and gender--real food, real cooking, real sharing is something sacred and often under appreciated. His writing is smart, sensitive and wittily observed. Beyond the Pasta exemplifies how the act of cooking is intrinsically an act of sharing and affirmation, and has the potential to be an open expression of the heart." --Scott Peacock, chef and co-author with Edna Lewis of "The Gift of Southern Cooking: Recipes and Revelations from Two Great American Cooks."
"Alabama and Italy--what a delightful and delicious combination." -Fannie Flagg, Best-selling author and actress.
"Mark understands and so beautifully conveys the transcendent nature of true cooking, cooking that comes from the heart and feeds not just the body but the soul. There is something universal about this that goes beyond culture, age, race, and gender--real food, real cooking, real sharing is something sacred and often under appreciated. His writing is smart, sensitive and wittily observed. Beyond the Pasta exemplifies how the act of cooking is intrinsically an act of sharing and affirmation, and has the potential to be an open expression of the heart." --Scott Peacock, chef and co-author with Edna Lewis of "The Gift of Southern Cooking: Recipes and Revelations from Two Great American Cooks."
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More About the Author
Mark Leslie, a self-proclaimed "foodie" who loves to cook for anyone with an appetite, works across the country in professional theatre as a stage manager. Every year he vacations in Italy and lives to eat his way through every plate of pasta and cone of gelato placed before him. He shares those Italian experiences on his popular blog "Beyond the Pasta." A Chicago-area native and "Yankee" by birth, Mark has lived in Alabama for over 23 years, and celebrates the fact that he started life eating farina, progressed to grits, and finally arrived at polenta. Buonissima!
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By SJ Rowhan
Format:Hardcover
It's a memoir, it's a cookbook, it's a travelogue, it's a warm and wonderful look at the amazing journey of a witty and insightful guy. Sometimes books can try to be too much, but this one adds the right amount of everything to leave you delightfully contented.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Jan Vallone
Format:Hardcover
This is a beautiful, fun and well-written book for anyone who would like to feel and taste Italy at home.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Kaleigh
Format:Hardcover
If you are like me, you are drawn to Italy for many reasons. The food, the history, the scenery, the language and the lifestyle are the highlights for me. Lately, I have been on a bit of a hunt to read every account of Americans in Italy that I can get my hands on. But, most of them are more like fairy tales than real life. Not everyone who falls in love with Italy can afford to or wants to move there, have an affair with a devastatingly attractive Italian and renovate an old farm house. But that seems to be what most of these books are about.
Beyond the Pasta is not that book. Instead, it is the combination of the most authentic Italian recipes you are likely to find with one of the sweetest, most relatable accounts of an American's time in Italy. Mark Leslie writes in a style which makes you feel like if you had lived this experience, you could have written it. When he shares his thoughts and reactions, you immediately think, "that sounds just like something I would do." Because of this form of storytelling, by the end of the book, your emotions are almost as invested as Mark's. About half way through the book, I started forcing myself to slow down because I wanted it to last longer. (Kind of like a good meal.) Anyone interested in Italy, food, or even how people from different cultures can grow together will love this book.
Beyond the Pasta is not that book. Instead, it is the combination of the most authentic Italian recipes you are likely to find with one of the sweetest, most relatable accounts of an American's time in Italy. Mark Leslie writes in a style which makes you feel like if you had lived this experience, you could have written it. When he shares his thoughts and reactions, you immediately think, "that sounds just like something I would do." Because of this form of storytelling, by the end of the book, your emotions are almost as invested as Mark's. About half way through the book, I started forcing myself to slow down because I wanted it to last longer. (Kind of like a good meal.) Anyone interested in Italy, food, or even how people from different cultures can grow together will love this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By D. Criscione
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
After reading Beyond the Pasta I highly recommended it to everyone I met telling them it is a travel journal/cookbook that will make you laugh and cry. Not only that but you will want to try every recipe and book a trip to Italy. I personally signed up for Italian lessons and started cooking Italian meals while practicing my Italian. I am planning a trip to Italy next year.
I have also purchased the book as Christmas gifts to all of my friends and family and added it to my Book Group's reading list.
Mark Leslie has a way of writing and sharing his experiences to make you feel like you are there. I couldn't put the book down once I began reading.
It's FUN!
I have also purchased the book as Christmas gifts to all of my friends and family and added it to my Book Group's reading list.
Mark Leslie has a way of writing and sharing his experiences to make you feel like you are there. I couldn't put the book down once I began reading.
It's FUN!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Kate Hurster
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book has not only reignited my passion for cooking, but it has inspired my upcoming visit to Italy. I'm bound and determined to take a cooking class while I'm there!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There were tears and much laughter, none of it silent. I was so sad when the book ended because I wanted to read about another month in Italy. Can't wait for the next one! Bravo!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was delighted with this book on more than one level. The shopping and cooking were great. The family was a delight. And Marks' insights were amazing. All of this while enjoying a slice of Italy. I strongly recommend this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is fun to read and contains many delicious recipes. I recommend it to all lovers of Italian cuisine and culture.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Become immersed!
Beyond the Pasta goes way beyond an Italian cookbook. It is impossible to not become invested in Mark Leslie's stories. I love the charming conversational tone of this book. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Cheryl Hart
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting!
Could this have been the start of a plot for a feature film?
Read the following from the book's publicity material with a deep "Hollywood Trailer" voice:... Read more
Read the following from the book's publicity material with a deep "Hollywood Trailer" voice:... Read more
Published 3 months ago by I. Darren
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved this book!
I am not not an avid reader, but I loved this book. I got picture's in my head that made me feel like I was there.
Published 4 months ago by Mary Lou Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
So much more than a cookery book
Beyond The Pasta is so much more than just another Italian cookery book as besides providing great recipes Mark writes a diary about his trip to Italy to learn authentic Italian... Read more
Published 23 months ago by LindyLouMac
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grande!!!!
Mark's book is a great read. It is a heartfelt review of his experiences cooking, living, learning with an Italian family. Read more
Published on April 26, 2011 by Belle N. Kasson
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must have for any cook/home chef!
As I began reading this book I was very drawn in to the premise of a guy going to Italy for four weeks to learn how to cook Italian food and learn the Italian language. Read more
Published on April 26, 2011 by Michelle L. Lutz
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, Vicarious La Dolce Vita Journey
Sit back, relax, pour yourself a glass of chianti and enjoy an armchair tour of Italy courtesy of Mark Leslie's candid and heartwarming adventures. Read more
Published on December 21, 2010 by Dee Long
4.0 out of 5 stars
Page turner even for long-time Italy expat
Even as someone who has lived in Italy for seven-plus years, I found Mark's story lively and engaging -- and believe me, that doesn't always happen for me with books in this... Read more
Published on December 14, 2010 by Michelle Fabio, Bleeding Espresso
