Customer Reviews

Bitter Almonds: Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I believe this is one of the most underrated cookbooks in terms of awards (Child, Beard, etc.) and public attention. I LOVED the story, and I feel like I was allowed to have something very personal, special and unique in the recipes which are exquisite. Had I not known a wonderful Italian lady (Carmel Anthony) and tasted her special cookies, however, I may not have known enough to get this book. You'll love it!

I have just returned from Sicily where I visited Maria's shop and saw the convent where her childhood was spent. I wish I would have read the book before my visit. The smell of almond pastries led me right up the narrow street and to the pastries and candies in her shop, and they are marvelous. The convent is just a short walk up the street from her shop, in the square. The recipes she shares in the book are uncomplicated and simply delicious. Her story is not embellished. There is no polished prose. It is as she saw it and lived it and has told it with her unique Sicilian expression. I enjoyed reading it and I will continue to enjoy her recipes.

To sit in Maria Grammatico's world-famous pastry shop in stunningly beautiful Erice, on the top of a mountain in northwest Sicily, having a caffe and eating her delicious Genovesi, is to be a little nearer to heaven...figuratively, if not literally. Her feistiness and strength of character mitigated a rather difficult early life and made Maria into the success she is today. This brief, but delightful, autobiography (aided by Mary Taylor Simeti, a wonderful author in her own right), along with her terrific and not particularly difficult recipes, forms a sweet read.

Yes, you can go to the pastry shop, but it is more important to read the book. Even translated into English, the voice is extraordinary. The story begins sad but unsentimental -- Maria's family is so poor they send her and one of her sisters to the nunnery where the nuns will feed her and she will work -- but has a happy ending with Maria grown, educated, independent, and prosperous, living near her family. The trimphant personality comes through honest and unembellished. All of the redundancy typical of real human conversation is preserved, so it seems you are listening to Maria's voice.

Watch Maria make genovesi on youtube. Then read Leonardo Sciascia's detective novel "To Each His Own" and his collection of short stories "The Wine-Dark Sea" (both published in lovely NYRB Classics editions I especially loved "Demotion" about the ladies of the village rescuing Santa Filomena, long may she reign, from the Vatican's ax), Lawrence Durrell's "Sicilian Carousel", and Mimetta LoMonte's cookbooks (as much for the recolletions of growing up in Sicily as for the recipes) and get the "Blue Guide" to Sicily and you will be ready to go. Mary Taylor Simeta's recollections are informative too.

This could almost be sub-titled The Nun's Story (With Sweets). Except that Maria never really was, or became a nun. But she had an orphan's life in a religious institution and spent her days making sweets, which the convent sold for income. This then is Maria's story of resilience and survival, and how she ended up having the best little sweets shop in all of Erice.
I've had holidays in Sicily, in a seaside village called San Vito Lo Capo. On a clear day one could almost see Erice, this ancient town on a rock above Trapani. I've run through the cobbled streets of Erice and I've eaten those delightful almond biscuits and contemplated which Martorana fruit to buy. And I am so sorry now I had not discovered this delightful book before I visited Erice, because I am sure I must have been in Maria's shop, yes, I must have tasted her sweet offerings.
If you love life, if you love biography and a window on other worlds and other eras, do read this book. And if you have fallen in love with Sicily's sweet things, as I have, you will have the bonus of Maria's recipes.
This book, Maria's story, affirms so much of what is human and universal in us all.

I came back from a trip to Erice, Sicily, wanting to read this book, and I found it very satisfying. It taught me more about Erice, which is a special place: beautiful scenery, wonderful accommodations (La Pineta), impressive food considering the location, and a break from the heat and congestion of big Italian cities. The story of Maria was fascinating to me, the daughter-in-law of Sicilian immigrants to the US -- like an inside view to an ordinary, but not so ordinary life. I think her story would also appeal to readers interested in cooking and to anyone interested in the lives of creative, heroic women. So far I've tried one cookie recipe, and it came out very nice. I plan to make more soon.

I also visited Maria at her shop in Erice. We were very impressed with the wonderful marzipan creations and other goodies, and bought gifts to take home....some did not make it home! I am eager to read the book.

I met this woman by chance when in Eurice. We wandered in off the lane way for a treat and she was working in the kitchen. Although there was the language barrier - she was charming. If you go, do NOT leave without trying her cannoli - which is why i ended up tracking this book down.

The product arrived with numerous pages missing in the book. I filed a claim, was offered another book in exchange since they were out of this title. I asked for another book which ended up not being available so requested my money back and was given a credit on my card. While the merchandise was damaged, I have to say the resolution was swift and to my satisfaction. So the product gets one star but the resolution process gets five stars.