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This is a new edition of a classic of early 17th-century food
writing. The book was written by the Italian refugee, educator and
humanist Giacomo Castelvetro who had been saved from the clutches
of the Inquisition in Venice by the English ambassador, Sir Dudley
Carleton in 1611. When he came to England, he was horrified by our
preference for large helpings of meat, masses of sugar and very
little greenstuff. The Italians were both good gardeners, and had a
familiarity with many varieties of vegetable and fruit that were as
yet little known in England. He circulated his Italian manuscript
among his supporters, dedicating it to Lucy, Countess of Bedford,
herself a keen gardener and patron of literature. Gillian Riley's
translation of this hitherto unpublished document has been
recognised as being fluent, entertaining and accurate from its
first appearance in 1989. Castelvetro takes us through the
gardener's year, listing the fruit and vegetables as they come into
season, with simple and elegant ways of preparing them. Practical
instructions are interspersed with tender vignettes of his life in
his native city of Modena, memories of his years in Venice and
reminiscences of his travels in Europe. He writes of children
learning to swim in the canals of the Brenta, strapped to huge
dried pumpkins to keep them afloat; Venetian ladies ogling
passers-by from behind screens of verdant beanstalks; sultry German
wenches jealously hoarding their grape harvest; and his intimate
chats with Scandinavian royalty about the best way to graft pear
cuttings and discomfort the Pope. English cooking was on a cusp. It
had yet to absorb the new ways of Europe, although some of the best
practice of Dutch and French gardening was having its effect on our
diet. But there were still many new styles of cooking and recipes
to absorb, as well as new plants to enjoy (for instance broccoli),
and new ways to set them out on the table. This treatise
anticipates many of the changes that were to come about over the
next one hundred years. Castelvetro urges that we should eat more
salads with the same enthusiasm that was evinced by John Evelyn in
his book on salad-stuff of 1699. This edition is printed in two
colours, has a graceful typography (using the Galliard typeface)
and generous layout, and is equipped with a knowledgeable and
informative introduction by the translator.
As anyone who has ever been on a diet knows, they simply don't
work. No one can diet indefinitely and, once you stop, the weight
simply piles back on. Eating Less is not about dieting; instead, it
places the emphasis where it belongs, on healthy eating and eating
less. This revised and updated edition offers you a unique and
inspiring solution to overeating: its aim is to look at thoughts
and beliefs about food, unravel the mind's addictive impulses, and
retrain it to have a more healthy, balanced relationship with food.
It introduces you to practical techniques that you can apply in
your daily life; it shows you how to set your own limits without
feeling deprived and becoming rebellious; and it gives you the
ability to develop greater control by helping you to overcome
addictive behaviour. So simply follow Eating Less and see your
weight fall off and stay off. 'Eating Less is likely to succeed
where diet books fail. The utter simplicity of its message and
techniques makes it easy to start and continue with a programme
that revolutionises your attitude to eating and weight.' Sarah
Litvinoff
From ancient Rome to early modern Europe, the relationship between
humans and food has been portrayed in artworks for thousands of
years. From farming, cooking and feasting scenes depicted in the
Middle Ages in books of hours to the fish and fruit of ancient
frescoes and mosaics, Food in Art gives fresh insights into how
food items were cultivated, hunted, trapped, stored, traded,
prepared and served throughout the ages. In this richly illustrated
book, leading food historian Gillian Riley demonstrates how works
of art can provide us with detailed information about the
preparation and preservation of food that is missing from the
history books. Artists of all periods and in all places have
portrayed the tools and environments of the gastronomic world - of
the drying, salting or smoking of meat, fish or vegetables, for
example - and the enjoyment of eating, from the simplest peasant
meals to the grandest banquets. These works allow us, as
twenty-first-century viewers, to appreciate the colours, imagine
the smells and salivate over the recipes of the foods, kitchens and
dishes of the past.The book also explores the many links between
food and myth, religion and legend in an array of artworks: is our
perception of fruit in Christian art skewed by their symbolic
meaning? Were the golden apples of the Hesperides indeed apples, or
were they quinces or oranges? Covering everything from ancient wall
paintings and medieval illuminated manuscripts to stained glass and
funerary monuments, Food in Art explores these questions and many
more in this aesthetically pleasing and highly readable volume.
Universally acclaimed by the critics, and now available for the
first time in paperback, here is an inspiring, wide-ranging, A-Z
guide to one of the world's best-loved cuisines. Designed for cooks
and consumers alike, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food covers
all aspects of the history and culture of Italian gastronomy, from
dishes, ingredients, and delicacies to cooking methods and
implements, regional specialties, the universal appeal of Italian
cuisine, influences from outside Italy, and much more.
Gillian Riley here celebrates a heritage of amazing richness and
delight. She brings equal measures of enthusiasm and expertise to
her writing, and her entries read like mini-essays, laced with wit
and gastronomical erudition, marked throughout by descriptive
brilliance, and entirely free of the pompous tone that afflicts so
much writing about food. The Companion is attentive to both
tradition and innovation in Italian cooking, and covers an
extraordinary range of information, from Anonimo Toscano, a
medieval cookbook, to Bartolomeo Bimbi, a Florentine painter
commissioned by Cosimo de Medici to paint portraits of vegetables,
to Paglierina di Rifreddo, a young cheese made of unskimmed cows'
milk, to zuppa inglese, a dessert invented by 19th century
Neapolitan pastry chefs. Major topics receive extended treatment.
The entry for Parmesan, for example, runs to more than 2,000 words
and includes information on everything from its remarkable
nutritional value to the breed of cow used to produce it (the razza
reggiana, or vacche rosse).
For anyone with a hunger to learn more about the history, culture
and variety of Italian cuisine, The Oxford Companion to Italian
Food offers endlesssatisfactions.
The popularity of Italian food all over the world is ever
increasing. Unhampered by any sense of superiority, and unburdened
by the weight of a great classical tradition, Italians cook and eat
in the ways they have known and trusted for generations, absorbing
new influences while cultivating and maintaining a distinct and
esteemed gastronomic tradition. Lovers of Italy, the Italian
people, and their cuisine, from the general ravioli revering public
to those with specialist skills and interests, will welcome this
new A-Z reference. The Companion consists of a short introduction
followed by entries covering a range of topics such as the
universal appeal of Italian gastronomy, influences from outside
Italy, dishes, ingredients, delicacies, obscure terms, cooking
methods and implements, regional specialties, personalities, books
and writers, and history. This is an inspirational work providing
an even blend of history, practical information, quotation, and
anecdote.
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Paperback
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R398
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Discovery Miles 3 300
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