Delizia! by John Dickie
Everyone loves Italian food. But how did the Italians come to eat so well? The advertising industry tells us the answer lies in the vineyards and olive groves of Tuscany - among sun-weathered peasants, and mammas serving pasta under the pergola. Yet this nostalgic fantasy has little to do with the real history of Italian cuisine.For a thousand years, Italys cities have been magnets for everything that makes for great eating: ingredients, talent, money, and power. So Italian food is city food, and telling its story means telling the story of the Italians as a people of city dwellers. In DELIZIA! the author of the acclaimed COSA NOSTRA takes a revelatory historical journey through the flavours of Italys cities. From the bustle of Medieval Milan, to the bombast of Fascist Rome; from the pleasure gardens of Renaissance Ferrara, to the putrid alleyways of nineteenth-century Naples. In rich slices of urban life, DELIZIA! shows how violence and intrigue, as well as taste and creativity, combined to make the worlds favourite cuisine.
'Mouthwatering..like lunch in the green hills above Lake Como, or dinner at the horseshoe bays of Sardinia, Dickie's book is sheer pleasure.' * Financial Times *
'Informs as well as enlightens...a clever and provoking account of Italy's history' * Guardian *
'Full of fascinating detail' * Independent *
'Important' * Observer *
'Like a really classy cook shop, Delizia! is stuffed with arcane culinary facts and gadgets, anecdotes, recipes and stories.' * Sunday Telegraph *
'A feast of horrors and delights...hard to fault: enlightening and consistently moreish' * The Sunday Times *
delightfully witty and anecdote-rich * Sunday Telegraph *
'witty history of Italy through food.' * Sunday Times *
'Informs as well as enlightens...a clever and provoking account of Italy's history' * Guardian *
'Full of fascinating detail' * Independent *
'Important' * Observer *
'Like a really classy cook shop, Delizia! is stuffed with arcane culinary facts and gadgets, anecdotes, recipes and stories.' * Sunday Telegraph *
'A feast of horrors and delights...hard to fault: enlightening and consistently moreish' * The Sunday Times *
delightfully witty and anecdote-rich * Sunday Telegraph *
'witty history of Italy through food.' * Sunday Times *
John Dickie is Professor of Italian Studies at University College London. Hodder & Stoughton published his Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia in 2004, to ecstatic reviews. It became an international bestseller, with over 20 translations, and won the CWA Dagger Award for Non-fiction that year. Since then he has published Delizia!: The Epic History of the Italians and their Food (2007) - now a six-part TV series for HIstory Channel Italia and other networks worldwide. His most recent books are Mafia Brotherhoods (2011) and Mafia Republic: Italy's Criminal Curse (2013).
In 2005 the President of the Italian Republic appointed him a Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarieta Italiana.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780340896419 |
| ISBN 10 | 0340896418 |
| Title | Delizia! |
| Author | John Dickie |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Year published | 2008-05-01 |
| Number of pages | 432 |
| Prizes | Winner of Andre Simon Memorial Fund Award: Special Commendation 2007 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |