Grazia Giuliani’s beautiful book Versatile Cooking & Living Italian is not so prissy that you wouldn’t mind getting floured or tomato-splattered fingers all over it. In fact it’s the sort of book that will become a much cherished kitchen friend. None of the recipes are too ‘chefy’ to prepare, they are simple, honest and authentic. The book’s everyday, special occasions and adventurous chapters are easy to leaf through – there’s plenty of  delicious culinary nuggets that, even if you never made one of the 105 recipes you’d feel you’d been on a wonderful journey with the author, family and friends.

There are twenty regions in Italy where each can have its own variation of a classic dish and even meal times vary – lunch and dinner are earlier in the north. But a basic three-ingredient recipe, Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino (spaghetti with garlic, oil and dry chilli pepper flakes) unites the nation and  is a simple, versatile dish often served at the end of an evening, typically by an Italian male, much the way barbecue is the domain of the man elsewhere. Other fascinating insights include that in the Emilia-Romagna region, gnocchi were made to celebrate the safe birth of a baby boy, a baby girl welcomed with lasagna.

Part scrapbook, family photo album, cherished recipes, anecdotes and restaurant recommendations it makes for a refreshing change on fancy, time-consuming Italian goose chases. Her book contains both recollections of her childhood and fresh accounts of a year spent in an eco-village in Tuscany with her own half-English family. Not for her to eat ready-made noodles out of a plastic pot standing in front of the television considering herself ‘fed.’

We were lucky to meet the beautiful Grazia, handsome husband, Adam, and gorgeous kids at a family party at Blake’s Hotel to launch her book. When asked why Blakes? Grazia told us she chose it  because ‘it’s flamboyant, just like Italian men are thought to be… Blakes is sexy, just like Italian women are thought to be… Blakes has passion, just like all Italians are thought to have… I certainly have.’ And she certainly does.

Prosecco washed down the best frittata we’ve ever tasted – light, bouncy and with mascarpone cheese still melting. At the party she told of family memories and inspiration from her much-missed mother’s eclectic way of cooking, entertaining and her slightly eccentric life style. Even on baking-hot holidays in the south of Italy she had the children out at midday snail hunting. Tossing them (the snails, not the kids) into a soffritto of very finely chopped onions and garlic, olive oil, fresh chopped tomatoes and herbs.  Grazia also writes fondly of her 85-year-old grandmother shopping for the best produce at the weekly local markets and meeting the village ‘characters’ there. It’s also a book celebrating her children and their friends as Italy is a place where parents take it for granted that a child will eat what they, as adults, eat.

At the family’s apartment in Milan there are two balconies on which Grazia grows potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries and herbs – the headquarters for salsa (tomato passata), marmellata (jam) and sottolio (pickles). Very much living the ‘slow food convivia.‘

Remaining true to regional Italian ingredients like cheeses and pastas but suggesting substitutes alongside these are recipes you won’t find in any restaurant.  For example her Uova in Zuppa (egg in soup) is from her solitaire-playing, grandfather, Pietro, uses easy to source ingredients and simple to make – and oh, so delicious-looking.

Grazia admits she’s a fan of risotto and her Risotto alla Milanese con Zafferano e Salsiccia (saffron and sausage) has tips such as toasting the arborio rice and using authentic Grana Padano cheese.

Pear in Aromatic Syrup with Mascarpone and Pistachio Nuts

Pera allo Sciroppo Aromatico con Mascarpone e Pistacchi

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes
Serves: 4-6 people

What you need

4-6 medium dessert pears
1 vanilla pod
700ml / 23½fl oz / 3 US cups water
50g / 1¾oz / 4 US cup demerara raw sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp dry rose petals (available from a spice market or similar specialist outlets)
¼ lemon
4-6 tsp acacia honey
4-6 scoops mascarpone (or substitute with double (heavy) cream or crème fraîche)
4-6 tsp peeled pistachio nuts

How you make it

Wash the pears. Slit the vanilla pod. Place the pears in a medium-sized saucepan (with a lid, used later) and add all the ingredients except the honey, the mascarpone and the pistachio nuts.

Bring to the boil on a medium heat (approximately 10 minutes). When the syrup boils, lower the heat to the minimum, cover with a lid and simmer for a further 20 to 25 minutes, until the pears are soft. Make sure that, every so often, you spoon some of the syrup onto the pears to flavour them.

Serve each pear in a single bowl. Pour some of the (strained) syrup over each pear. Add one tablespoonful of mascarpone and a teaspoonful of crushed pistachio nuts to each. Drizzle with a teaspoon of honey.

Serve immediately.

A delicious book of nostalgia for childhood, passion for life, food and family. Versatile Cooking and Living Italian is available for purchase from all good bookstores, Amazon or direct from the publisher’s website www.accpublishinggroup.com

On 3rd November 2012, at the newly refurbished Waterstone’s (14-15 Ram’s Walk, GU32 3JA) in the historic market town of Petersfield, Grazia will be presenting VERSATILE and offering some samples from recipes in the book. There’s another launch in  Florence at B&M Books and Fine Art on 15th November.

ISBN: 9781851496839
Publisher: ACC Editions
Hardback
RRP £25.00