APRIL 2019 - AudioFile
Will Damron narrates James Beard Award-winning food journalist Matt Goulding’s audiobook with energy, poise, and precision. The decision to emulate rather than imitate the myriad Italian accents adds to the enjoyment of this audiobook. All the Italians speak with the same intonation. This choice lets the author’s American voice ring true and focuses on the essence of the work: an examination of Italian cuisine in less celebrated locales. Sardinia, Sicily, and Puglia take star turns. Goulding is a fine food writer. He shares real insights into the pillars of contemporary Italian food—reverence for the nonne (grandmothers) and the preparation of great dishes from simple ingredients. Goulding also introduces the listener to the Slow Food movement, which originated in Italy, and profiles artisanal cheese makers, inventive pizzaioli makers, and master pasta makers. Here is an audiobook to be savored. A.D.M. 2019 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
04/16/2018
Goulding adds a delightful third entry to his Roads & Kingdoms series (after Grape, Olive, Pig) by chronicling his culinary travels throughout Italy. From the islands of Sicily and Sardinia to the northern tips of Piedmont and Lake Como, Goulding explores how Italian staples, such as pizza, pasta, cheese, bread, and wine not only vary from region to region, but from street to street of any village. Using fascinating historical material, interviews with Italian food professionals, and his own experiences, Goulding presents a rich, vibrant food culture that “is not frozen in time,” but is open to “a new wave of cooks, farmers, bakers, shepherds, young and old, trying to negotiate the weight of the past with the possibilities of the future.” In one chapter, he shadows a family of cheese makers who continue to make mozzarella cheese as their family has done for four generations, while experimenting with artisanal cheeses like “whiskey-soaked blue cheese.” Goulding records his discoveries—as well as travel advice (he explains the difference between a ristorante, trattoria, osteria, and enoteca), restaurant recommendations, and tips for eating like a native (“Enthusiastic eating is an easy way to both show and gain respect”)—in delightful, funny prose (“Italians are genius shoppers, who believe it’s their God-given duty to return from the market with the best meat, fish, and produce possible”). For travelers and Italophiles, this is a wonderful culinary guide. Agent: Kim Witherspoon, Inkwell. (June)
From the Publisher
Italy is a beautiful but complicated place, not so much a country as a collection of cultures and cuisines. Matt Goulding expertly navigates its wonders and eccentricities with wisdom and great passion.” — Anthony Bourdain
“For travelers and Italophiles, this is a wonderful culinary guide.” — Publisher’s Weekly
Publisher’s Weekly
For travelers and Italophiles, this is a wonderful culinary guide.
Anthony Bourdain
Italy is a beautiful but complicated place, not so much a country as a collection of cultures and cuisines. Matt Goulding expertly navigates its wonders and eccentricities with wisdom and great passion.
APRIL 2019 - AudioFile
Will Damron narrates James Beard Award-winning food journalist Matt Goulding’s audiobook with energy, poise, and precision. The decision to emulate rather than imitate the myriad Italian accents adds to the enjoyment of this audiobook. All the Italians speak with the same intonation. This choice lets the author’s American voice ring true and focuses on the essence of the work: an examination of Italian cuisine in less celebrated locales. Sardinia, Sicily, and Puglia take star turns. Goulding is a fine food writer. He shares real insights into the pillars of contemporary Italian food—reverence for the nonne (grandmothers) and the preparation of great dishes from simple ingredients. Goulding also introduces the listener to the Slow Food movement, which originated in Italy, and profiles artisanal cheese makers, inventive pizzaioli makers, and master pasta makers. Here is an audiobook to be savored. A.D.M. 2019 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
