Customer Reviews

The Food of Italy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Root's The Food of France is a highly entertaining classic. The Food of Italy is slightly less so.

As with The Food of France, Root gives us here a survey of the food of an entire country. The country here is, of course, Italy. The book details the varieties and specialities of each region in Italy, which each make up a chapter in the book.

As with The Food of France, Root examines not only the specialities and food of a particular region, he discusses also what it is in terms of taste, ingredients and cooking methods that makes a particular dish distinctly of that region. Beyond that, he also examines the history, geography and native food resources of a region in considering what it is that has gone into making the food of that region distinctly so. He studs each examination with charming details and anecdotes. And he does this all with methodical meticulousness.

In each chapter, Root will start with examining the history, geography and available food resources of the region. Each chapter is divided roughly into the various major cities and districts that comprise the particular region being discussed. The food of each city and district is then discussed, starting with the savoury dishes and ending the sweet. Each chapter finishes off with a discussion of the wine and alcoholic beverages of that region.

Mostly, he tells it with inimitable style. However, unlike The Food of France, there were times with The Food of Italy when I felt it a bit of a slog to read. Quite literally from time to time I just felt like I was wading through a listing of descriptions of different types of food. In the chapter on Liguria, for example, Root discusses x number of dishes in a section headed antipasti and entrées, then x number of dishes in a section headed soups, and so on through sections on fish, meat, poultry, game, vegetables, and finally, desserts.

However, you can't argue though with the immensity of his knowledge, and the book deserves 5 stars alone just for that. Ultimately, if you are interested at all interested in reading about food, your collection would not be complete without this, and his other classic: The Food of France.

My Personal Rating Scale:
5 stars: Engaging, well-written, highly entertaining or informative, thought provoking, pushes the envelope in one or more ways, a classic.
4 stars: Engaging, well-written, highly entertaining or informative. Book that delivers well in terms of its specific genre or type, but does not do more than that.
3 stars: Competent. Does what it sets out to do competently, either on its own terms on within the genre, but is nothing special. May be clichéd but is still entertaining.
2 stars: Fails to deliver in various respects. Significantly clichéd. Writing is poor or pedestrian. Failed to hold my attention.
1 star: Abysmal. Fails in all respects.

This book is sold as a companion volume to Root's The Food of France, though the two are of quite different character. Whereas the French volume shows a deep and intimate familiarity with a beloved cuisine that has largely weathered the cultural purges in France since WW2, the Italian volume shows the author as a traveler in a country in which he felt less at home, where he was cataloguing a highly diverse culinary landscape more or less dish by dish. The resulting compendium feels a bit compulsory, as though Root were eating his way through a checklist, the breadth and depth of which were not apparent before he'd spent his advance. Several times his nicely-written narrative verges on tedium, as when he catalogues the minor wines of Umbria or enumerates the differences between the sausages of Modena and those of Bologna. Missing is the rapture and warmth of the French volume.

But one must not disparage the content of this less-than-ecstatic reportage: there is more on Italian food recorded here than in any other book I've been able to find in English. He sytematically hits the culinary high points of the entire country, region by region. Unfortunately, much of what he recorded is now lost, or at least homogenized into one national cuisine. Travelers to Italy will be forgiven for assuming that pizza is as much Florentine as it is Neopolitan now that Florence boasts maybe 50 good pizzerie. The highly local traditions Root recorded have largely disappeared. So consider this book to be a touching record of a lost gustatory landscape and of the heroic, not always inspired, travels of a lonely American far from his home in France.

This is a richly descriptive book organized mainly by geography. Cataloging a colorful cook's tour of very diverse regional cuisines. He proves that there is much more to being a traveler, than sightseeing. The differences in geography, history, and culture make up the foundation of a peoples cuisine. From less known wines and dishes to the well cherished ones. What to order and where is all here. The depth of his knowledge of Italian food isn't equal to that he showed in "The Food Of France." Ex: The chapter on Liguria was choppy, and the very chapter titles were not as precise as in the aforementioned title. With France he used names of what the regions main cooking fat was. Here he used the names of historical peoples "Saracens, etc that contributed to the areas cuisines." Still an excellent read.

Imagine eating delicious meals in every region of Italy, at someone else's expense, for years on end. That's pretty much what Waverly Root did in his long career as a journalist. And the result is a classic work about Italian food.

There are maps showing the food specialties of every Italian region and the best cities to visit for great eating. Each city is rated on a map, so you can easily create your own travel itinerary.

And there's a long chapter for each region, describing it special food and wine. Just the thing to feed daydreams.

This is a most enjoyable book, covering the highways and byways of the food of Italy. It is not a cook book. It is a book about a culture, or rather the agglomeration of cultures that is Italian food. Highly recommended to the armchair or the actual traveller, and the lover of Italian life and culture.

Long out of print. An excellent book, received in good condition, as described. Root is a good writer and very opinuated. Good history and geography, in addition to the food descriptions. Interesting side note: the previous owner's business card was inside.

The level of detail is fantastic and the Italian trivia in the book is fascinating! I am enjoying reading this book with pen in hand, making stars in the margins so I can reread the good parts. Definitely a great part of my wine self-education.

A great background read for anyone who wants a better understanding of the origins of "Italian" food. Though now about 35 years old, the book includes solid historical facts about the many cultures that have influenced the cuisine of the Itallian peninsula. Still a classic read for foodies and history buffs alike.

I am pleased to have received the book exactly as listed. The shipment was prompt, and I am pleased. I highly recommend this seller. Thanks.