Book description
Pellegrino Artusi is the original icon of Italian cookery, whose
legendary 1891 book
Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well
defined its national cuisine and is still a bestseller today. He was
also a passionate gastronome, renowned host and brilliant raconteur, who
filled his books with tasty recipes and rumbustious anecdotes. From an
unfortunate incident regarding Minestrone in Livorno and a proud defence
of the humble meat loaf, to digressions on the unusual history of
ice-cream, the side-effects of cabbage and the Florentines' weak
constitutions, these writings brim with gossip, good cheer and an
inexhaustible zest for life.
Pellegrino Artusi (1820-1911) was an Italian businessman and
gastronome. His working life as a silk merchant allowed him to acquire
considerable wealth, which was used to fund his passions: literature
and food. He self-published the now-famous Italian cookbook La
scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiare bene(The Science of
Cooking and the Art of Eating Well) in 1891 and sold over
200,000 copies before his death. Writing only two decades after the
unification of Italy, Artusi was the first to include recipes from all
regions of Italy in a single cookbook and helped establish a national
Italian identity.
Luigi Ballerini teaches modern and contemporary Italian
Literature at the University of California. He has translated into
English several Italian works.
