It Happened in Florence by Nita Tucker

A few months ago I read It Happened in Florence by Nita Tucker (with Christa McDermott), which I believe was self-published in March 2012.  Readers of my Tuscany and Umbria book know that I love The Florentine, the biweekly, English language newspaper founded 7 years ago, so when I heard about this book -- written by the paper’s publisher -- I couldn't wait to read it. The Florentine can be found all around town and is targeted to the Florentine English-speaking community, both residents and visitors.  It is positively the most thorough resource for events and activities listings and I wish there were publications just like it -- with its great mix of articles covering hard news, culture, politics, business, travel, food, and sports -- in all of the destinations I write about in my Collected Traveler series.  Some of my most favorite regular features are "The Medici Archives," "Il Fatto Bello," and "Italian Voices."  Additionally, the paper prints two special issues (Florence for Students and Summer in Florence) that are indispensable and it has a book publishing arm with some great titles (my friend Robin brought me back a copy of Florence con Amore that I particularly like).

Anyway, Nita Tucker is one very fortunate woman: she was part of a team that established this great periodical; she was able to live in Florence for four years; she has an extraordinary husband and wonderful kids; and she is aware of, and never takes for granted, that she has an amazing life. I would love to meet her.  (Tucker is also the author of How Not to Stay Single, How Not to Screw it Up, How Not to Stay Single After 40, and Beyond Cinderella: The Modern Woman's Guide to Finding a Prince, none of which I've read but now I know that she's the perfect author for these kinds of books because she is filled with optimism and enthusiasm.)

When I started It Happened in Florence I was hooked by the second paragraph, which reads, "I live here! This is my life!" (and yes, the italics are hers.) I am admittedly drawn to this kind of enthusiasm. While I usually spend a lot of time sifting through "amateur" opinions from those that are more "seasoned," I'm really not very impressed by jaded points of view, and I like when people recognize they are experiencing something unique and special. If they didn't, there wouldn't be much point to traveling in the first place, and just because thousands of other people have been moved by Florence in the past doesn't mean that visiting the city can't be a life-changing experience for someone now. That said, however, I admit that there are a lot of italics in this book and they do become annoying; but Tucker's enthusiasm continues to win the day.
This is essenziale for anyone who will be staying in Florence or Tuscany for a length of time, but it's also useful and enlightening for anyone who wants an inside look into daily life in Florence (as well as for anyone contemplating starting a business in Florence). Especially helpful is the chapter 'Nita Tucker's Top Ten List of Things You Need to Know' ("that Italians assume you already do know, should know and are stupid for not knowing!") but there are other helpful phrases, cultural taboos, traditions,and etiquette tips that turn up in every chapter.

I enjoyed reading this book so much that I read another one she wrote, with Victoria Miachika, called Essential Florence: The Practical Guide for Living in Florence (also self-published, I believe, in 2010).   This book is more like a directory (chapter 11 is an "Essential White Pages") and is super essenziale for English-speaking foreigners spending lengths of time in the city.  However, I find it very useful for insight into cultural traditions Tucker didn't include in her other book.  Chapter 9, 'Embracing Cultural Differences,' is eye-opening reading for anyone who wants more than a superficial knowledge of Italians (and the 'Superstitious Survival' article by Roseanne Wells, reprinted from The Florentine -- one of several included in the book -- is fascinating).  I admit that a big smile crossed my face when I saw that the first edition of my Tuscany and Umbria book -- published in 2000 and entitled Central Italy: Tuscany & Umbria) was first on a list of 'Some Good Reads,' but I can't help making a correction to another recommended title: Made in Italy: A Shopper's Guide to the Best of Italian Traditions is not authored by Suzy Gershman (misspelled as Gersham) but is by Laura Morelli (and it's an excellent book, one that I also recommend often). 

Tucker no longer lives in Firenze -- I won't spoil the story here -- but she does return frequently, and she hasn't lost any of her passion for it: "Before I hit the pillow that first evening, I feel as if I've never left and it feels great. Still enthralled with Florence's beauty, my spirits soar at the sight of the Ponte Vecchio or at the vision of Il Duomo lit up at night."

  Visit Tucker's world at www.nitatucker.com

Saudi Aramco World and The Raft of the Medusa

Are you familiar with Saudi Aramco World magazine? I wasn’t until I was working on my Istanbul book (and in fact there are several articles in my Istanbul book that originally appeared in Saudi Aramco World). The bi-monthly magazine is quite interesting, and well written, and was founded in 1949, when it was simply called Aramco World (since the July/August 2000 issue the magazine has taken the slightly longer title).

The Saudi Aramco oil company publishes the magazine to “increase cross-cultural understanding,” and its goal is “to broaden knowledge of the cultures, history and geography of the Arab and Muslim worlds and their connections with the West” (I’ve quoted directly from the website). A subscription is complimentary – see the details on the site – and I encourage you take a look (the articles can also be read on-line).  Also, don't miss the virtual walking tours of the Alhambra, Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, and the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on the site.

In the current issue, there are two terrific articles that I think you’ll enjoy as much as I do: ‘A Walk Through Historic Arab Paris’ by Nancy Beth Jackson and “The Point of the Arch” by Tom Verde, which traces the Gothic architectural feature of the pointed arch across five countries and as many centuries. It is positively fascinating, and Verde’s journey begins at the trail’s end, “in the city where Gothic architecture was born: Paris.”

Additionally, there is a sidebar in an article about Mauritania entitled 'The Wreck of the Medusa' that includes a little more information than I previously knew -- readers of my Paris book know that I devote pages 485 to 487 in the book to this monumental tragedy.  Romantic painter Theodore Gericault's canvas of the event, 'The Raft of the Medusa,' hangs in the Louvre and it's on my short list of the world's most impressive paintings.  Gericault's tombstone in the Pere-Lachaise cemetery also feaures a relief of the painting.   And as Albert Alhadeff notes in his excellent book The Raft of the Medusa: Gericault, Art, and Race (Prestel, 2002), French historian Jules Michelet "saw represented in the painting 'the shipwreck of France.'" 

Mireille Guiliano

"Nothing but beauty and douceur" -- Mireille Guiliano, all photos taken by the author in and around her home, les Alpilles, Provence 

I have often said that one of the very best perks of compiling the books in my Collected Traveler series is that I sometimes am fortunate to meet some of the writers whose work I highlight. This is always an honor and a pleasure for me, and a few months ago I had to pinch myself when Mireille Guiliano invited me to lunch here in New York!  Mireille, of course, is the author of French Women Don't Get Fat,  French Women for All Seasons, Women, Work and the Art of Savoir Faire and The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook (as well as former president and CEO of Veuve Clicquot champagne, a division of LVMH).  I invited her to share some of her Paris favorites for my book (these appear on page 195) as well as the Champagne region (pages 588-589). 

I've been a big fan of Guiliano's books, especially the earlier two, and I admit I gave myself a small pat on the back when I discovered that my eating habits almost mirrored those Guiliano endorses (though, okay, I should drink less wine, but I am very slow in coming around to that one!).  When her cookbook was published last year, it seemed like a logical next step, but I wasn't sure there would be many recipes I would find unique.  As it turns out, I was wrong -- there are some recipes that don't differ too much from those you'll find in other French or Mediterranean cookbooks, but there are plenty that are new, and Mireille shares still others from her family.  I extolled the virtues of The 'Magical Breakfast Cream' recipe to anyone who would listen, and it alone is a reason to peruse the book (the recipe doesn't sound very exciting, including as it does, flax, an ingredient I have long felt tasted like sawdust; but you'll have to believe me that it's a truly yummy yogurt concoction).  

What Mireille espouses is not rocket science, even though to some North Americans it might seem like it is; rather, it's really just common sense, paying attention to your eating habits and how much exercise you get, and remembering how important the phrase 'joie de vivre' (joy of living) is!  And I very much believe that much of her advice is also applicable to men.   

Mireille proposed we meet at a restaurant I'd walked by a few times but never tried, La Silhouette [362 West 53rd Street / (212) 581.2400 / http://www.la-silhouettenyc.com/], and our meal was really quite delicious.  We each had champagne, small poached eggs with asparagus, and a mixed seafood acqua pazza and everything was superb.  The service was also very warm and efficient.  La Silhouette is a bit deceiving -- when you walk into the entry, you can't quite tell that the space stretches all the way back, but when you walk through a somewhat narrow room you end up in a bright, airy, large room that's very pleasant.  I'm looking forward to returning. 

Early on at La Silhouette, Mireille mentioned she was leaving in a few weeks for her house in Provence -- the beautiful photos above were taken in and around her property.  I enviously sighed as Provence is one of my most favorite places on earth (my very first visit there as a student in 1979 remains one of the most memorable experiences of my life) and we spent most of our lunch talking about how much she loves this region.  She recently wrote me and said that a quote from Voltaire, that translates as "I've decided to be happy because it's good for one's health," has become her motto in Provence, where happiness comes naturally, perhaps because Provence is her little paradis terrestre (earthly paradise).

I thought other Francophiles would be as interested as me in learning about Mireille's Provence (as well as some general thoughts about her books and about life), so I've shared them below.  And don't miss Mireille's 'Table Hopping in Provence,' found under 'French Finds' on her French Women Don't Get Fat website:   
Q: Did you have a sense, when you wrote French Women Don’t Get Fat and then French Women for All Seasons, how successful the books would be here in the U.S. (and indeed the world)? Were you surprised at the books’ reception?

A: I knew they would have an interest and an impact but certainly not as huge and/or long-lasting…7 years later I still get lots of email daily from women who are discovering or rereading, and some of the readers' stories are amazing. So, it makes me feel good to be making a little difference in some people's lives. The book seems timeless, and the reception still amazes me. Daily mentions in the press is also telling, and the phrase "French women don't get fat" has become iconic, a point of reference.

Q: Did you and your husband consider buying a house in another region of France or did you have your hearts set on Provence?

A: We've been going to Provence since we got married and half of my family lives/lived there in Aix, Avignon, and Beaucaire/Tarascon. My husband Edward fell in love with it from the very first visit. To us it's the light, the sky, the history, the architecture, the climate, the vegetation, the smells, the cigales (cicadas), the views of les Alpilles [the area in the western edge of Provence between Avignon and Arles that’s named after a small mountain range], the food, the wines, the art, and much more. After Paris, it's the part of France that has the most culture and on top it has a quality of life one can't just get in a big city.

Q: Once you were looking for a house in Provence, did you have a particular area in mind, and did it take you a long time to find it?

A: Yes, very specific and only in the village where we stayed in every summer. We also wanted an old house, not too big, no need for tennis court, etc., and we found this 1780's bergerie (sheepfold), just perfect for us. It's a bit outside the village, isolated, but also close enough to walk there and we have a great view on the village and the Alpilles. Total silence (the greatest luxury in my book) rules most of the year except when farmers work in their olive groves. We are far from the main road so no car noise.

Q: Without revealing the exact area of Provence where you are right now, what are some of the things you’re looking forward to doing there this summer?

A: The beauty of Provence is that you can stay at the house, enjoy the lavender, the pool, the terrace, the view, do nothing… but you can also be very busy with what is around: Avignon, St Rémy de Provence, Arles, Les Baux but also lots of small villages, and in the summer an amazing choice of concerts with music festivals all over as well as les Chorégies d'Orange which always amazes our guests and is a unique experience [les Chorégies – the name is derived from the Greek “choreos” -- is the oldest festival in France and dates from 1860; the remaining 2012 summer schedule, which runs through 30 July, includes works by Rossini, Mozart and a Lyric Concert featuring Michel Plasson, Diana Damrau, and Béatrice Uria-Monzon]. We've been a few times but last year's ‘Rigoletto,’ with a first-rate Italian cast and the Paris orchestra, will forever stay with as one of the greatest musical evenings of our life. There are also plenty of lovely markets, restaurants, and artisans in Provence. The sky is the limit.

Q: You have a number of houseguests throughout the summer months. What are some typical meals you like to serve Chez Guiliano, and what cookbooks other than your own do you use?

A: I don't use cookbooks. I do simple meals because the ingredients are so great one does not need to do much. I have a wonderful cheese monger who makes fresh goat cheese and faisselle (sort-of a cottage cheese that’s made in both goat and cow varieties) and who delivers, which is a treat. A few farmers also bring me what they have so what I cook is a function of what I get. Tomatoes are probably what we eat the most often as there are so many types. We eat them plain, in salads, with ricotta on tartines (open-faced sandwiches), grilled and stuffed with meat. Meals are easy in the summer. I do a few batches of ratatouille every week (guests love it warm, cold, with fish or white meat or on top of pizza dough). We have a very good fisherman so I have fresh fish and once in a while lamb or bull on the grill. Desserts are fruit from cherries to strawberries to apricots to melons to figs…

Q: You’ve said in other interviews that you are very fond of champagne, but are there Provençal wines you drink that you recommend?

A: We rarely drink champagne though when I offer it nobody says no. There are lots of wonderful rosés and local white and red wines we love, from Château Romanin (our favorite) to Domaine Henri Milan and Mas de la Dame to wines from Draguignan [wine growing area in the neighboring département of Var] to Château La Verrerie and many others we buy when we tour with guests.

Q: What’s on your ‘To Read’ list this summer, and what are you reading right now?

A: With the iPad I reread Proust or the classics and contemporary French literature, but I also like books on art. I am currently reading a French translation of Dora Maar (the house Picasso "gave" her is in Ménerbes, a village in the Lubéron not far from us) and Prisonnière du Regard, written by Dujovne Ortiz. Friends bring me books (my favorite present) on Bonnard as a museum opened in Le Cannet near Cannes, and he is one of my favorite painters. And, of course, I always like to read about Matisse or Cézanne or Van Gogh. After seeing the exhibition on artist Gerhard Richter in Paris I am also reading about him.

Q: And what’s on your iPod or stereo that you’re particularly enjoying?

A: Some jazz, lots of Chopin, French songs by Brassens, Ferrat and Reggiani (sheer poetry). Right now, I am totally addicted to Musica Nuda. The singer, an Italian, Petra Magoni, has this amazing voice and sings not only in Italian but English and French…from Bach to the Beatles (she's a trained opera singer) and Ferruccio Spinetti is incredible at the bass. Amazing talent. We discovered them recently at a concert in Ravello.

Q: You have proven that one can adopt many French ways of living in the States. In New York, what are some of your tips for keeping France in your life, and what are some of your favorite purveyors for the kinds of items -- good quality produce, flowers, home décor finds, books, butchers, clothing, skin care, scent, etc. – that define your joie de vivre?

A: I have to admit I would have a hard time living here without the Union Square Greenmarket. I buy fruit, veggies, eggs, milk, butter, fish and the little meat we eat there. For books, I go to the various small independent bookstores in the Village but there is really nothing equivalent to what is available in Paris from the great Galignani on rue de Rivoli to Librairie des Femmes on rue Jacob or La Hune on place St.- Germain and many small ones (without going too much into stereotype, reading is on top of the list to many French much like music to Germans and painting to Italians). Clothing I rarely buy here. I am not much of a shopper and like about a dozen stores in the world where I go over and over as I visit and if/when I see a piece I like I get it if I feel, "hmm…I could wear this tonight."  Here not much really ever fits me well with my small French frame, and I've long been a fan of Italian and Japanese clothing because of the style, quality and no alteration ever. I don't really have a big wardrobe just a few nice mostly timeless pieces to go out and comfortable ones for home, cotton pants and a white or pastel shirt for the summer and black or navy leggings with light green or blue cashmere sweater in winter. C'est tout.

But of course she makes it seem so simple....!  When Mireille returns from Provence at the end of the summer she has a busy autumn ahead of her, one that includes more writing, so stay tuned.

http://www.mireilleguiliano.com/ * http://www.frenchwomendontgetfat.com/



Just back from a weekend in Lambertville, New Jersey!  You may have read my previous post  earlier this year about Frenchtown, New Jersey, which is very near Lambertville.  Though I've now been to Frenchtown half a dozen times I'd never been to Lambertville, and now I can report that it's as lovely and charming as people had told me.

According to the Lambertville Historical Society website, what is now the "city" (really, it's just a village) was originally purchased from the Delaware Indians as a portion of a 150,000 acre tract along the Delaware River north of Trenton.  The purchase price was about $2,800, and over the years the council of West Jersey subdivided and sold the land to farmers and developers.  The first resident of Lambertville was John Holcombe, who built the stone house on North Main Street that became known as Washington's Headquarters (one of many, obviously!).  In 1732, a fellow named Emanuel Coryell obtained a charter to operate a ferry crossing the Delaware River slightly south of the present Lambertville-New Hope (Pennsylvania) Bridge.  He also operated a tavern and an inn, and at the time these settlements (Lambertville and New Hope) were simply called Coryell's Ferry.  Lambertville was the mid-point on the two-day journey between New York and Philadelphia.    

Coryell's estate was divided among his four sons when he passed away and by the early 1800s the property had been subdivided.  In 1812, a wooden bridge was constructed across the Delaware River and Bridge Street was established.  In the same year, Captain John Lambert built a stone tavern and inn on Bridge Street, which today is Lambertville House, a very nice inn where I stayed this weekend.

In 1830, the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company began building and operating a canal to connect the Raritan and Delaware Rivers, and this 44-mile canal  follows the river to Trenton.  By 1849, Lambertville was incorporated and was home to 1,417 people.  Things rather boomed for a while, but the flood of 1903 -- which caused enormous damage and swept the covered bridge away (the iron one there now dates from 1904) -- began a spiral of unfortunate events (including the abandonment of the Delaware and Raritan Canal by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1937) and the town fell into decline.  Happily, Lambertville was "discovered" again in the 1970s and '80s, and a lot of beautiful buildings and the canal path have been restored, and lots of galleries, antique shops, and unique boutiques have opened up.

The Inn at Lambertville Station has an enviable position right on the canal (and also has several options for eating and drinking), but Lambertville House is less of a hustle-and-bustle kind of place, and each of the guest rooms is named after a local personality.  I stayed in the Edward Redfield (1869-1965) room on the 4th floor, and I didn't realize that Redfield was an American Impressionist painter and a member of the art colony in New Hope (in fact, as he was the first painter to move to the area he is considered to be a co-founder of the artist colony, with William Langson Lathrop).  Redfield studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and at the Academie Julian and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and today some of his work is in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Meeting the owners of the Lambertville retailers was a treat, and among those I particularly enjoyed were at June's Antiques (37 Coryell Street), Panoply Books (48 N. Union Street), the Antiques Center at The People's Store (28 N. Union Street), The Chocolate Box (really beautiful shop at 39 North Union, e-mail: info@chocolateboxusa.com) and the Tomasello Winery shop (1 North Union), where I tasted (and bought) a terrific, dry rose called Summer Solstice, absolutely perfect for the hot weather we've been having.

On Sunday, my husband and our traveling companions drove north, mostly following the river, to Frenchtown, where we (again) had a terrific lunch at the Lovin' Oven and enjoyed wandering (again) around Two Buttons, the fantastic Asian emporium owned by author Elizabeth Gilbert and her husband.  If you go, don't miss The Buddha Wall, a huge stone carving from Indonesia that depicts the Last Temptation of the Buddha (the Wall is at the edge of the Lovin' Oven's outdoor patio).

Lambertville House

A National Historic Inn

32 Bridge Street / (609) 397.0200 / http://www.lambertvillehouse.com/

Book jacket photo by Steven Rothfeld, http://www.stevenrothfeld.com/ / photo of Frances Mayes and two others, taken at Bramasole, by Peggy Harrison, http://www.peggyharrison.com/. 

"Food!  The obsesssion of every Tuscan."  -- Frances Mayes

My most recent interview with Frances Mayes ("Catching Up with Frances Mayes") appears in the current issue of Dream of Italy!  (If you are already a subscriber you've likely read it by now, and if you're not a subscriber, you should be!  Seriously, when you subscribe to DOI you become part of a passionate community of Italy enthusiasts, and in addition to the monthly newsletter you have access to the archive, receive some special discounts, etc., etc., plus Kathy maintains a blog which she updates daily.)  

Dream of Italy Founder, Editor, and Publisher, Kathy McCabe, still receives lots of queries about Frances from her readers, so the publication of a new book by Frances and her husband, Edward Mayes -- The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes From our Italian Kitchen (Clarkson Potter) -- seemed like an opportune moment for another interview (I interviewed Mayes in 2005 for Dream of Italy and I had the very great pleasure of meeting her at Bramasole when I was working on my Tuscany and Umbria book -- my interview with her appears on pages 160-169).   

Frances and Ed collected their favorite recipes for this book, and as Frances writes in the 'La Cucina' chapter, "If you came to visit me in Tuscany, we would cook the food described in this book."  What I didn't have space for in Dream of Italy is to mention some of the recipes I've had the chance to make over the last few months.  Here I can report to you that I had great success with the following:

*Chicken with Olives and Tomatoes (I didn't use the recipe for roasted tomato that appears on page 42, but rather I used one I'd cut out of some publication or another that simply calls for cherry tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary)

*Farro Salad (double delicious if you love farro as much as I do)

*Fiorella's Red Pepper Tart (though Fiorella apparently purchases ready-made piecrusts, I don't, ever, after buying one once and it was horrible -- perhaps in Italy there are good quality crusts available; so I made the pate brisee crust in the first edition of Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts, which has long been my go-to, never-fail, recipe though probably more authentic would be a pasta frolla (recipe on page 192) minus the sugar)

*Onion Soup in the Arezzo Style (as the recipe states, you eat this with a fork -- it gets baked in the oven and still comes out a little bit soupy)    

*Pici with Fresh Fava Beans (A friend had given me some pici pasta, unique to Tuscany, that she'd bought at O & Co. and this recipe was calling as I love, love, love fava beans)

*Green Beans with Black Olives (the recipe also calls for orange peel, which my husband absolutely detests, so I used lemon instead)

*Ed's Crostini Neri (I've made a fair number of recipes for this classic Tuscan starter of chicken liver on toast but I'm making this one exclusively from now on)

In truth, a number of recipes in the book are quite similar to those in other Tuscan or Italian cookbooks, so home cooks should not expect to find 150 unique recipes; but many feature a unique twist on a well-known favorite, and still others are from local places in and around Cortona and elsewhere in Tuscany that Ed and Frances particularly like, as well as from places like The Catering Company in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, run by Franca Dotti who is originally from Milan. 

I have bookmarked lots more pages with recipes, and I'll make them over the next few months.  But for me, this book is more about inspiration: I love reading about the seasonal rhythm at Bramasole; about local traditions; and about all the friends Frances and Ed have made in and around Cortona, notably Sylvia Regi at the lovely and trendsetting Relais Il Falconiere (Sylvia is pictured in my book on page 499) and Ann Cornelisen, author of a treasured book, Torregreca: Life, Death, and Miracles in a Southern Italian Village, originally published in 1969 and reissued by Steerforth Italia in 1998; Frances loves it also as she wrote the Foreword to the Steerforth edition.  I also love looking at the photographs of the tables set alfreso, and as I note in my Dream of Italy piece, I love that the label for Bramasole's olive oil features a detail from 'The Birth of the Baptist' fresco in the Cappella Tornabuoni in Santa Maria Novella by Ghirlandaio. I'm sorry to say I haven't yet tried Bramasole oil, but I'm now hugely anticipating it.  The oil is only available by mail order -- essentially you become a member of the Bramasole convivium and commit to purchase the oil in advance of the harvest.  Ed and Frances only import the amount of oil that has been pre-purchased, and it's not available in retail stores (I suppose it might be at some point in the future, but not now).  For all the details about the oil and for ordering, browse http://www.thetuscansun.com/.  

Perhaps the best reason for reading and cooking from this book is expressed by Frances: "Most recipes are simple and the few that are not are fun.  This is real Tuscan food from a small hill town we have grown to love as home.  Because of our  many years here, we've had the great luck to learn about Tuscan food from the inside, not as visitors...what I hope becomes real for you is the astonishing range of Tuscan food, and the sense of joy that permeates the Tuscan kitchen."   

   



Photos above the book are of the Villa Aurelia and the Mercedes and Sid R. Bass Gardens, American Academy in Rome, taken from the AAR website, http://www.aarome.org/.

At the end of March, I was invited to a swell party to launch a terrific little book, Zuppe: Soups From the Kitchen of the American Academy in Rome by Mona Talbott with photographs by Annie Schlechter. This volume is actually the second in a series which is devoted to the Rome Sustainable Food Project, published by The Little Bookroom – you may remember that I kvelled about the first book, Biscotti, when it was published in the fall of 2010.

Though the festa for the book was almost three months ago, I have waited to post anything about it because I wanted to make enough of the recipes so I could accurately talk about it (though for the record, my aim is not to post about stuff I don’t like, which seems wasteful and mean spirited, so if it’s on my blog it’s something I want to enthuse about). Oddly perhaps, since everyone loves soup and soup recipes are very forgiving, I love the Biscotti book a little more than Zuppe, but that’s because I’m a baker and I am crazy for biscotti. However, Zuppe is a keeper and has earned a deserved spot on my (crowded) kitchen bookshelves.

At the American Academy (more about this below), soup is served every day. As Talbott writes in her Introduction, “we fill a large glazed terracotta zuppiera at the very last possible minute and carry it out to the lunch table…The vast Italian vocabulary for soup – aquacotta, brodo, crema, minestra, minestrina, minestrone, pappa, passata, ribollita, vellutata, zuppa – has become part of daily life here on the Janiculum Hill.” Some of these recipes are also found in other Italian cookbooks (though they are not identical) but most are original to the Academy’s cucina. Here are the soups I have made:

Spicy Carrot Soup (simple but quite delicious)

Lentil, Rice, and Chicory Soup (really good; I substituted Grana Padana for Pecorino Romano)

Potato and Fennel Soup (great combination of ingredients)

Chicken and Farro Soup (my husband and I love farro, and this one is a winner)

Chickpea, Pumpkin, and Farro Soup (another no-brainer; I used butternut squash)

Tomato and Rice Soup (I’ve always liked this minestra but this is a better version than the recipe I’d been making)

Chickpea and Pasta Soup (again, this version is far better than my former go-to one)

Soups I’m trying over the next few weeks: Fava Bean, English Pea, and Chicken Meatball Soup, Asparagus and Small Pasta Soup, Very Green Spring Vegetable Soup, Pureed Pea Soup with Mint, Pea and New Potato Soup.

In my house, my husband, daughter, and I have a lot of meals that are soup and salad, year-round. If some recipes are time consuming to make and eat on the same weeknight, it’s completely doable to make a soup for the next night’s dinner, or to make soup on Sunday night and eat it one night over the next few days. With Zuppe in hand you will not lack choices, and a bonus I didn’t expect is that the majority of these recipes feature inexpensive ingredients, and when you consider that soups typically provide more than one meal they are quite economical indeed. I also really like that the recipes are arranged by season, and honestly, I believe I will work my way through every single recipe in this book. (And by the way, what appear to be food stains on the book jacket really aren’t – they’re supposed to be there, I like to think because it’s an indication that this book will be a well-used volume in anyone’s kitchen.)

Author Mona Talbott was at the Zuppe book party, and though I didn’t have the opportunity to meet her, I enjoyed her remarks to the gathered guests. She’s certainly had some of the best jobs I can think of: working at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and at Eli’s Vinegar Factory and E.A.T. in New York; consulting for Hillary Clinton at her home in Chappaqua, New York; chef for photographer Annie Leibovitz; and designing a children’s gardening and cooking program for Bette Midler’s Restoration Project in New York. Since 2007, Talbott has been Executive Chef at the Rome Sustainable Food Project (her best job yet in my opinion!), a fabulous idea that was envisioned by Alice Waters in 2006. According to Talbott, the food served at the American Academy had traditionally been fairly mediocre; but according to the Academy’s website, now the RSFP “has transformed the community of the American Academy in Rome…Our food inspired by la cucina romana, Chez Panisse, and the collective experience of those working in the AAR kitchen, has created an edible narrative in our communal meals.” RSFP is a member of Rome’s Slow Food Community, and its menus reflect inspiration from the history of food in the Lazio region as well as from the culture of the AAR.

I am dying to visit the AAR (via Angelo Masina 5), and yes, I’m also dreaming about applying for the Visiting Artist and Scholars program so I may live there while working on a book about Rome. (There are tours of the Academy, by appointment, Monday through Friday; and there are lots of events that are open to the public – check the site, and note there are also events in its New York office, 7 East 60th Street / (212) 751.7200 / info@aarome.org.) Founded in 1894, the AAR is my kind of paradiso: officially, the mission of the Academy is to “foster the pursuit of advanced research and independent study in the fine arts and humanities” and it was chartered as a private institution by an act of Congress in 1905. But more appealingly the AAR offers a chance for American artists and scholars “to spend significant time interacting and working in one of the oldest, most cosmopolitan cities in the world. The richness of Rome’s artistic and cultural legacy and its power to stimulate creative thinking served as the initial impetus for the Academy’s founding.” In addition to the beautiful Villa Aurelia and its surrounding gardens pictured above, there is the Arthur and Janet C. Ross Library and the Photo Archive, plus there are more gardens – about eight additional acres – on the property.

Additionally, the opportunity to share RSFP meals from the Academy’s kitchen is enormously appealing. Brad Kessler, an AAR Fellow in 2009, wrote on the AAR site that “today in Rome, one never feels far removed from Latium’s agricultural roots. Shepherds still graze their sheep along the airport road in Ostia. Wild arugula and fennel thrive in the city parks. Capers spill and bloom from the Aurelian walls. The kitchen at the academy knits together the seemingly disparate worlds of scholarship and eating. Culture and agriculture. Art on the page (canvas or mosaics) and art on the table. In Rome these arts have never been far removed.” Kessler concludes by noting that every meal at the Academy was a kind of Cook’s Tour of the Roman Campagna, and “we learned to live there, as we did back home, inside a landscape.” Positively the next best thing to being at the Academy (or anyplace you’re dreaming about) is to eat like you’re there, and Zuppe, like Biscotti, will transport you to the top of the second-highest hill in Rome. (Stay tuned for the next book in the series: Pasta!)

Flowers in the Nolan Greenhouses, New York Botanical Garden / taken from the New York Botanical Garden website, http://www.nybg.org/.

Last weekend I saw the new 'Monet's Garden' exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden and it is a terrific show!  Just wonderful.  I forgot my camera (again), but the photos above feature some of the flowers that are in the garden beds inside the Conservatory.   I won't spoil it by telling you everything about the show but I will say that if you have visited Giverny, Monet's home outside of Paris in Normandy, you will really be impressed by what the NYBG staff has done.  If you've not yet been to Giverny, you'll really want to go!

Monet's house museum in Giverny, 75 kilometers west of Paris, welcomes approximately 500,000 visitors a year -- during the seven months it's open -- and is the second most visited site in Normandy.  "My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece" Monet famously said, and he wasn't just superficially interested in what was growing on his property.  "My garden is a slow work," he noted, "pursued with love and I do not deny that I am proud of it.  Forty years ago, when I established myself here, there was nothing but a farmhouse and a poor orchard...I bought the house and little by little I enlarged and organized it...I dug, planted, weeded, myself; in the evenings the children watered."

The NYBG's show includes an exhibit of two rarely seen Monet paintings and his palette in the Rondina Gallery; the Monet to Mallarme Poetry Walk in the Perennial Garden; photographs of Giverny by professional gardener and acclaimed photographer Elizabeth Murray, who helped to restore the Giverny gardens in the 1980s and who is the author of the 20th anniversary edition of Monet's Passion: Ideas, Inspiration and Insights from the Painter's Gardens, Pomegranate, 2010) in Ross Hall; and lots of special events (films, concerts, poetry readings, and hands-on art for kids).

The exhibit is curated by Dr. Paul Hayes Tucker, considered one of America's foremost authorities on Monet and Impressionism, and his Claude Monet: Life and Art (Yale University Press, 1998) has been a favorite book of mine.  Additionally, I highly recommend Monet or the Triumph of Impressionism by Daniel Wildenstein (Taschen, 2010); and Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie  Cowell (Broadway, 2011) for companion reading.

'Monet's Garden' runs through the 21st of October -- don't miss it!