A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany
This travel guide and cookbook charts a fresh path. Elon has little interest in the well--documented, popular sites of Tuscany. Florence and Siena attract her not at all. Out-of-the-way villages nestled in valleys or atop hilly crags summon her, and the unusual culinary specialties of these places really make her prose flow. Elon's taste buds lead her from one small-town restaurant to another. There she finds traditional dishes, whose recipes she records. Exploded Beans, garlic and herbs flavoring beans whose skins have burst open in the oven, offers an unusual side dish. Farro, an ancient grain undergoing a modern revival, appears in risotti and soups and in combination with other ingredients. Hot-pepper marmalade pairs with local sheep's-milk cheeses. Rabbit and simple poultry dishes abound. Onions and polenta bake together to form a large tart for a first course. Many dishes will appeal to vegetarians looking for new tastes. Elon's meticulous documentation of restaurant hours and locations makes this an especially practical guide for anyone driving through Tuscany.Mark KnoblauchCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved