CUCINA TIPICA by Andrew Cotto @andrewcotto #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

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How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In A Nutshell:  An American soul-searching in Tuscany

New Yorker Jacoby Pines takes a trip to Tuscany with his girlfriend, Claire, a travel/food writer.  He's not having the best of times: a drunken text sent to the wrong person lost him not only his job but any prospect of getting another in that field*.  Being unemployed is not doing much for his relationship with ambitious, status-orientated Claire.  A frustrated former musician, Jacoby has no family, feels insecure, useless and worried that he and Claire are nearing the parting of ways - particularly concerning their very different reasons for wanting to go to this part of Italy.

The adventure side of the story is fairly low-key, with some interesting relationships and amusing situations.  The descriptions of the area and the food probably make up half the book, and I enjoyed these to a certain extent, but I don't eat meat and dairy and am not a 'foodie' (I think knocking up a vegetable chilli with a ready-made sauce is cooking), so it was a bit wasted on me.  If of the gourmet persuasion, though, you will adore this. 

I liked: 1. Jacoby's realisations about himself, that he was at home in rural Italy and was not a New Yorker at all, and his observations about his previous wealth-orientated, competitive lifestyle - according to Claire, the 'real' world - and the ex-pats of 'Chiantishire'.  2.  The depiction of the place itself, the people and the way of life.  3.  The characterisation and dialogue.  4.  The writing style.  5.  The outcome.

I was less keen on: 1.  the food detail.  2. Some of the dialogue being written in Italian.  Obviously it was necessary for authenticity, but as I can't speak it, I didn't actually know what they were saying.  Sometimes I could guess, but more often not.  My only other comment is directed at the publisher - does this book not deserve to be wrapped in colour?  I can imagine a cover splashed with luscious olives, lemons, bottles of red wine, pizza dripping with tomatoes and olive oil, sunshine and blue skies, that would leap out at those who long for a Tuscan idyll.

To sum up: a rather lovely book in many ways; not quite my thing but if you do fancy it, there's a sequel, too!

(I started idly DuckDuckGo-ing paintings of Tuscan food....)

Laura Napoli

Silvia Vassileva

On the blog of Sue Jane - not clear if her work or not.

*having once had a serious verbal warning for a near-the-knuckle email joke sent to the wrong person, who then reported me, I loved this bit!