The Vinegar of Spilamberto: And Other Italian Adventures with Food, Places and People

In 1958, Doris Muscatine's husband, a medieval scholar, got a Fulbright for a year of research in Italy. They lived in Rome and almost immediately became hopeless Italophiles. The Vinegar of Spilamberto is the enchanting story of their experiences. The couple returned often, staying in various apartments—a house in Venice, a medieval tower in Tuscany, and a villa on the Appia Antica with its own catacombs.

From such small places as Populonia and Rovescala to bigger ones like Riace and Dozza,...