The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy. by Giacomo Castelvetro

The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy. by Giacomo Castelvetro

This is a new edition of a classic of the early 17th-century. The book was written by the Italian humanist, Protestant convert and refugee, Giacomo Castelvetro whom, upon coming to England, was horrified by the English preference for large helpings of meat, masses of sugar and very little greenstuff. Italians were good gardeners and had a familiarity with many varieties of vegetable and fruit that were as yet little known in England or, as he noted in his dedication, were being grown only for display rather than for human consumption. Castlevetro circulated his Italian manuscript (Brieve racconto di tutte le radici, di tutte l'herbe, e di tutti di frutti , che crudi o cotte in Italia si mangiano) among his aristocratic supporters and dedicated it to Lucy, Countess of Bedford. 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. 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. This edition is printed in two colours, has a graceful typography (using the Galliard typeface) and generous layout. This translation has been recognised as being fluent, entertaining and accurate from its first appearance in 1989 and is equipped with a knowledgeable and informative introduction by Gillian Riley as well as a foreword by the food writer Jane Grigson.

Gillian Riley is a food historian and freelance typographer. She has written many books on food in art such as Renaissance Recipes and Impressionistic Picnics and is the author of A Feast for the Eyes, the National Gallery Cookbook. Riley contributes regularly to the Oxford Food Symposium. She lives
in London.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781903018644
ISBN 10	1903018641
Title	The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy.
Author	Giacomo Castelvetro
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Prospect Books
Year published	2012-01-04
Number of pages	176
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.