Italy!

From Russell Norman to.... we'll see. Italy cookbooks & recommendations

I make no apologies for just how personal this roll-call of Italian food writers and cookbooks is going to be. I hope as it builds it will head in the direction of also being comprehensive but our kitchen bookshelves should, I think, be reflective of who we are, of our food lives and loves. So it is with mine and it seems perhaps especially so when it comes to the food of Italy. I can’t yet think why that is. Maybe it will come to me. Until then, here we go: These are, in no particular order, my evolving thoughts on the books I love of, and about, Italian food.

As our cookbook club month rolls along I will keep on updating this with more thoughts / recommendations on cookbooks and writers that fit this month’s theme: Italy.

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Please do feel free to join in the discussion in the comments here:

Or come to our meet-up on Sunday 14th July:

Cookbook Club online event: Sunday 14th July, 8.30 - 9.30am

This page has now been updated with the recording of the meet-up and list of books we discussed

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Russell Norman: Polpo - A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts) (2012) / Venice - Four Season of Home Cooking (2018) / Brutto - A (Simple) Florentine Cookbook (2023)

This can only begin with a sigh and a smile, and the memory of the night in November 2023 when I heard Russell had died. I raised several fireside negronis to a friend who would be truly missed. Russell was uniquely charismatic, generous with his time and his wit, and the consummate maître d’ / restaurateur. I loved that he always carried in his pocket a small wedge of card to level off any wobbly tables that might bring frustration to him or the diners he welcomed as friends right from their first walk through his door.