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Клуб Умбрийска вечеря
Водена от любовта си към хубавата храна и истинските житейски ценности, този път Марлена де Бласи пренася читателите си в областта Умбрия, за да им разкаже не една, а четири истории – на Миранда, Нинуча, Паолина и Джилда. В книгата са не само тези истории, но и менюта и рецепти, свързани с кулинарните традиции на Умбрия.
Четирите селски жени, свързани една с друга чрез култура, кръв, традиции, състрадание, съпричастност и обич, се срещат всеки ден в една запусната каменна къща сред хълмовете над Орвието. Това е техният „Умбрийски кулинарен клуб“. Там жените се виждат всяка седмица, за да готвят и да се хранят, да пият вино и да разговарят. Докато преминават през кризи, трудности и редки мигове на несмущавана радост, има една завършена, ясна и нетленна мъдрост, която ги поддържа: „Готви вкусно, хапвай добре и разговаряй с хората, които обичаш“.
„След като отидох да живея в Орвието и се сприятелих с жената, която оглавяваше клуба, мина доста време, преди тя да рискува и да ми направи място на масата. Бях единствената „чужденка“, но скоро станах една от тях – можех да готвя, да слушам, да наблюдавам, да уча и да показвам някои от своите собствени похвати на останалите“ – казва авторката. „Това, което Миранда каза една вечер, може би дава най-добра представа за „Умбрийския кулинарен клуб“: „Не знам какво повече щях да науча за смисъла на живота, ако бях отишла по-надалеч от осемте километра, които делят мястото, където съм родена и прекарала целия си живот, и мястото, на което съм тук. Мисля, че където и да бях отишла, щях да открия вас. Души като вас. Ние сме великолепно еднакви. Не само ние петте, а всички жени.“
Марлена де Бласи описва какво готвят и с какво се хранят нейните героини така, че читателят закопнява да се пренесе там – сред самуните току-що изпечен хляб, омаята от подправки, кехлибарения зехтин и гъстото червено вино, което оставя следи по зъбите. Като поднася изобилни подробности за традиционната умбрийска кухня, авторката ни потапя в истории за вярност и предателство, за любов и страх от любовта, за задружност и самота, за вечната младост и остаряването. Истории за мъжете, смъртта, мафията и Църквата. В тези истории смъртта съществува, но тя не е драма, а част от живота. Остаряването е тежко, но си има своите положителни страни. А любовта е противоречива – хем болезнена, хем вдъхновяваща, каквато я познава всяка една жена.
Клуб „Умбрийска вечеря“ е като топъл зехтин за женската душа. Макар че действието се развива в 21-ви век, историите събуждат носталгия по едно отминало време, когато храната се е приготвяла по различен начин. Пастата се вари в мляко или вино, а не във вода, доматите се сервират ей така, без нищо, дори без босилек – само напечени от лъчите на слънцето, а маслините се берат ръчно, за да не се развали качеството на зехтина.
Мъдростта в историите на четирите умбрийки и тяхната „чужденка“ е женска и земна. Ако човек страда, сготви му и го нахрани – не е нужно да правиш повече. Това, че си заедно с друг, не те избавя от самотата. Всеки може да си измисли минало, за да живее спокойно, но в крайна сметка идва момент, когато трябва да се научи да прощава, за да продължи напред. Ето такива са умбрийските мъдрости. Четирите жени, които ги споделят, са непоклатими като древноримски богини, а прозренията им са вечни като умбрийските кулинарни традиции и простички като съставките на умбрийската кухня – хляб, зехтин, вино и подправки.
Четирите селски жени, свързани една с друга чрез култура, кръв, традиции, състрадание, съпричастност и обич, се срещат всеки ден в една запусната каменна къща сред хълмовете над Орвието. Това е техният „Умбрийски кулинарен клуб“. Там жените се виждат всяка седмица, за да готвят и да се хранят, да пият вино и да разговарят. Докато преминават през кризи, трудности и редки мигове на несмущавана радост, има една завършена, ясна и нетленна мъдрост, която ги поддържа: „Готви вкусно, хапвай добре и разговаряй с хората, които обичаш“.
„След като отидох да живея в Орвието и се сприятелих с жената, която оглавяваше клуба, мина доста време, преди тя да рискува и да ми направи място на масата. Бях единствената „чужденка“, но скоро станах една от тях – можех да готвя, да слушам, да наблюдавам, да уча и да показвам някои от своите собствени похвати на останалите“ – казва авторката. „Това, което Миранда каза една вечер, може би дава най-добра представа за „Умбрийския кулинарен клуб“: „Не знам какво повече щях да науча за смисъла на живота, ако бях отишла по-надалеч от осемте километра, които делят мястото, където съм родена и прекарала целия си живот, и мястото, на което съм тук. Мисля, че където и да бях отишла, щях да открия вас. Души като вас. Ние сме великолепно еднакви. Не само ние петте, а всички жени.“
Марлена де Бласи описва какво готвят и с какво се хранят нейните героини така, че читателят закопнява да се пренесе там – сред самуните току-що изпечен хляб, омаята от подправки, кехлибарения зехтин и гъстото червено вино, което оставя следи по зъбите. Като поднася изобилни подробности за традиционната умбрийска кухня, авторката ни потапя в истории за вярност и предателство, за любов и страх от любовта, за задружност и самота, за вечната младост и остаряването. Истории за мъжете, смъртта, мафията и Църквата. В тези истории смъртта съществува, но тя не е драма, а част от живота. Остаряването е тежко, но си има своите положителни страни. А любовта е противоречива – хем болезнена, хем вдъхновяваща, каквато я познава всяка една жена.
Клуб „Умбрийска вечеря“ е като топъл зехтин за женската душа. Макар че действието се развива в 21-ви век, историите събуждат носталгия по едно отминало време, когато храната се е приготвяла по различен начин. Пастата се вари в мляко или вино, а не във вода, доматите се сервират ей така, без нищо, дори без босилек – само напечени от лъчите на слънцето, а маслините се берат ръчно, за да не се развали качеството на зехтина.
Мъдростта в историите на четирите умбрийки и тяхната „чужденка“ е женска и земна. Ако човек страда, сготви му и го нахрани – не е нужно да правиш повече. Това, че си заедно с друг, не те избавя от самотата. Всеки може да си измисли минало, за да живее спокойно, но в крайна сметка идва момент, когато трябва да се научи да прощава, за да продължи напред. Ето такива са умбрийските мъдрости. Четирите жени, които ги споделят, са непоклатими като древноримски богини, а прозренията им са вечни като умбрийските кулинарни традиции и простички като съставките на умбрийската кухня – хляб, зехтин, вино и подправки.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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April 24, 2015
Memoir set in Orvieto, Umbria (lei e buono come pane)...
(Check out of author QA on our blog: http://www.tripfiction.com/emoir-set-...)
Author Marlena de Blasi has written several books. Her iconic memoir of her time in Venice – A Thousand Days in Venice – has been the go-to book for experiencing The Lagoon City in written form. Now she has moved location and turned her hand, via Tuscany, to the flavour of Umbria and has settled in Orvieto.
This is a bringing together of the lives of four women through the pen and presence of author Marlena de Blasi. Hewn from the rich dark soil of Umbria, whose roots are inimitably linked to the rolling and ever present past, each woman brings her individual history to life over the cooking hearth, as together they create rich, succulent and flavoursome dishes to whet the reader’s appetite (the reader will go away craving the food described… guaranteed!). As a reader it can be a challenge looking in on this group, absorbing the ambience and imagining the culinary creations that rise from the pages of the book – the desire to join them is so very strong. Whether it is preparing pigs’ testicles or cooking pasta in red wine, there is something for everyone to have their tastebuds tickled. Wild asparagus, otherwise known as Luppoli hops, has an incredibly delicate flavour… join in the Vendemmia and harvest the grapes… or climb the olive trees during the Raccolta, the gathering of the olives at the end of the year…
Some of the recipes incidentally are given at the back of the book.
The book is divided into sizeable portions as each woman elaborates on her individual heritage. It explores the ‘individual and collective pasts of these women”. Miranda, Ninnucia, Paolina and Gilda immerse themselves in the food preparation as each brings her story to life and the reader is truly an observer of intimate culinary and emotional sharing.
Miranda has been the leading light in the regular dinner gatherings, but feels it is time to hand over to someone new, someone who can bring innovative flair to the proceedings. Ninnucia talks about her history and the Mafiosi background – it was in Calabria, in Acquapendente di Sopra with her mother-in-law Cosima that she learned her way through life. She describes how her Grandmother would saw her way through the substantial bread, Pagnotta, cutting it into sizeable chunks, almost reflecting the structure of the book – four sections equate to the four women. And Paolina loses both her parents at a young age, and Niccolò – a friend of her mother – sires children with her but doesn’t commit in terms of marriage. How does she cope with this in traditional Italy? Gilda, last but not least sheds light on her own story.
It is a very readable book, detailing life in Italy, a life that may elude the visitor on a brief visit. The author has an easy style and her use of middle European shorthand – buss (kiss), auto (car), testament (will) feels natural in her prose and really adds flavour to the narrative; in the hands of a lesser author it might, however, have felt like an affectation.
The setting is essentially Orvieto, less than 90 minutes from Rome, which sits on top of tufo, volcanic stone. The city is virtually car free, and is crowned by a beautiful Duomo, which at sunset is lyrically described as “a glittering wedding cake awaiting a bride”.
The Umbrian Thursday night Supper Club will inspire you to visit this beautiful area of Italy. It has incentivised me to be more creative in my cooking and add flavour with bunches of fresh herbs and colour. Enjoy!
(Check out of author QA on our blog: http://www.tripfiction.com/emoir-set-...)
Author Marlena de Blasi has written several books. Her iconic memoir of her time in Venice – A Thousand Days in Venice – has been the go-to book for experiencing The Lagoon City in written form. Now she has moved location and turned her hand, via Tuscany, to the flavour of Umbria and has settled in Orvieto.
This is a bringing together of the lives of four women through the pen and presence of author Marlena de Blasi. Hewn from the rich dark soil of Umbria, whose roots are inimitably linked to the rolling and ever present past, each woman brings her individual history to life over the cooking hearth, as together they create rich, succulent and flavoursome dishes to whet the reader’s appetite (the reader will go away craving the food described… guaranteed!). As a reader it can be a challenge looking in on this group, absorbing the ambience and imagining the culinary creations that rise from the pages of the book – the desire to join them is so very strong. Whether it is preparing pigs’ testicles or cooking pasta in red wine, there is something for everyone to have their tastebuds tickled. Wild asparagus, otherwise known as Luppoli hops, has an incredibly delicate flavour… join in the Vendemmia and harvest the grapes… or climb the olive trees during the Raccolta, the gathering of the olives at the end of the year…
Some of the recipes incidentally are given at the back of the book.
The book is divided into sizeable portions as each woman elaborates on her individual heritage. It explores the ‘individual and collective pasts of these women”. Miranda, Ninnucia, Paolina and Gilda immerse themselves in the food preparation as each brings her story to life and the reader is truly an observer of intimate culinary and emotional sharing.
Miranda has been the leading light in the regular dinner gatherings, but feels it is time to hand over to someone new, someone who can bring innovative flair to the proceedings. Ninnucia talks about her history and the Mafiosi background – it was in Calabria, in Acquapendente di Sopra with her mother-in-law Cosima that she learned her way through life. She describes how her Grandmother would saw her way through the substantial bread, Pagnotta, cutting it into sizeable chunks, almost reflecting the structure of the book – four sections equate to the four women. And Paolina loses both her parents at a young age, and Niccolò – a friend of her mother – sires children with her but doesn’t commit in terms of marriage. How does she cope with this in traditional Italy? Gilda, last but not least sheds light on her own story.
It is a very readable book, detailing life in Italy, a life that may elude the visitor on a brief visit. The author has an easy style and her use of middle European shorthand – buss (kiss), auto (car), testament (will) feels natural in her prose and really adds flavour to the narrative; in the hands of a lesser author it might, however, have felt like an affectation.
The setting is essentially Orvieto, less than 90 minutes from Rome, which sits on top of tufo, volcanic stone. The city is virtually car free, and is crowned by a beautiful Duomo, which at sunset is lyrically described as “a glittering wedding cake awaiting a bride”.
The Umbrian Thursday night Supper Club will inspire you to visit this beautiful area of Italy. It has incentivised me to be more creative in my cooking and add flavour with bunches of fresh herbs and colour. Enjoy!
March 22, 2015
"A good supper...restores to us the small delights that the day ransacks. Through crisis and catastrophe, and rare moments of uninterrupted joy, it's the round, clean and imperishable wisdom that sustains them: cook well, eat well and talk well with people who are significant to your life."
Every Thursday night for decades a small group of Umbrian women, occasionally accompanied by the their husbands or lovers, have met in an old stone house belonging to Miranda to share their supper. Under sheaves of dried olive branches, seated on plank benches, they have laughed, cried, cooked and eaten together.
Befriended by Miranda, Marlena De Blasi, an American chef, journalist and food critic who has made her home in rural Orvieto, was invited to join the women, taking a place at the table every Thursday, delighting in both the food, and the stories each woman has to tell.
In The Umbrian Supper Club, Marlena shares what she learned of the lives of the four women members - Miranda, Ninuccia, Paolina and Gilda, as she joined with each in preparing Thursday night suppers over a period of four years.
The women's stories are moving and fascinating, aged between 52 and 80 something, they have lived full lives. They have variously been wives, mothers, daughters, sisters and lovers, they have endured heartache, loss, poverty and celebrated love, friends, and food. They speak, as the gather, prepare and cook their supper of childhood, family, aging, sexuality, of the evil eye, the Mafia, religion, of life and death.
"'I wish life could end all even, like a supper when there's that last little roasted potato with a single needle of rosemary clinging to its crust and the end of a sausage, charred to a crunch, a heel of bread, the last long pull of wine. Even. Everything in harmony. I have always preferred that last bit of my supper to the first, the beginning being fraught with hunger, the last with serenity. As life should be. Every supper can be a whole life'"
Full of mouthwatering descriptions of food preparation and feasting, The Umbrian Supper Club will delight any foodie. Crusty bread freshly baked in a woodfire oven is dipped in oil pressed by a donkey driven mill, pasta is simmered in litres of local red wine, thyme leaves are stripped from their branches to flavour scored duck breasts.
Several full recipes of traditional Umbrian dishes, such as Zucca Arrostita and La Crostata di Pere e Pecorino adapted for the modern cook, are included, but plenty of cooking advice is informally dispensed through the pages.
"In a basket on the worktable there are perhaps a dozen heads of garlic, the purple colour of the cloves bright beneath papery skins. Slapping head after head with the flat of the cleaver, she scrapes the smashed, unpeeled cloves into a five-litre jug of new oil in which she's earlier stuffed leaves of wild sage, wild fennel flowers, rosemary,a fistful of crushed, very hot chillies. She is building one of her famous potions. Violence, she calls it. She uses it to gloss vegetables before tumbling them into the roasting pan, to massage into loins of pork and the breasts and thighs of her own fat chickens, to drizzle over burning hot charcoaled beef and veal."
The Umbrian Supper Club is a delightful true story of family, friendship and food.
July 31, 2016
I picked this book thinking it was fiction but it's a memoir that reads like fiction. The women are generous, complicated and find joy in food and each other. You get the back stories of the women apart from Marlena and this has left me eager to find out more about her.
If you love books about food and about people I would recommend this. A wonderful find.
If you love books about food and about people I would recommend this. A wonderful find.
April 18, 2015
“The only sauce is olive oil – green as sun-struck jade – splashed in small lustrous puddles, through which one skates the flesh, the fat, the bones, the potatoes, the bread. In the last, best drops, one skates a finger.”
This book is a joy to read or preferably savour!
The stories are wonderful, the food is wonderful and they are each a part of the other – the stories don’t exist without the food, the food is the product of the storytellers.
Author, Marlena de Blasi lives in the Umbrian town of Orvieto, where each week a small group of women meet, sometimes with their men, sometimes alone, for the Thursday night supper club. The “club house” is an almost derelict stone farm house in the hills above the Orvieto, but who needs luxury when you have food, wine and good company?
This is not a wealthy community; there is no money to spare, but a walk through the hills produces stalks of wild asparagus, wild thyme and mushrooms. Add some olive oil, a little salt, a hot pan and “Dinner is served”. Each woman contributes whatever she has; maybe flour for the bread, tomatoes fresh from the vine; or the olive oil crushed in her family’s shed. If someone has an ingredient, everybody has it.
Marlene de Blasi’s entry into this inner circle was a slow and cautious journey, but when the matriarch of the group, Miranda, announces her retirement, Marlena says “I’ll cook”. For the next four years, it became Marlena’s task, her joy, to choose the elements for supper, to plan the menu and with the help of one or another of the women in the club, to prepare the meal.
As they cook, they talk, telling Marlena the stories of their lives, lives of love, loss, mistreatment and food. Some of the stories are particularly sad, but these are not women seeking sympathy. They aren’t victims, they do not invite you to a “Pity Party”.
Miranda, for example, has been a widow since her twenties. At the funeral of her beloved Milo, she met his lover and their son. How she handles this situation is dignified and her admission “In case you’re also wondering if I miss him, I’ll tell you that I don’t. I don’t miss Milo, not he himself … Ah but how I long for the man I thought he was”, went straight to my heart.
No story is complete without luscious, evocative food. Just as a story can’t be told without food, food can’t be enjoyed without the local wines the supper club love. Wine is used to cook, as a dunking accompaniment to freshly baked bread, and of course, to drink. This is the true joy of the book; food, love, wine and stories are not separated into compartments. They are integral to the whole. As a woman shares her history, she shares her favourite recipes.
The food sounds amazing, but it is amazing for its simplicity, not for its numerous ingredients. “The lowest circle in hell should be reserved for people who play with food”.
A few of the recipes included in the narrative are published at the end of the book, but this is not a cook book. It is the true story of Miranda, Ninuccia, Paolina and Gilda, who talked, laughed and cooked while sharing their lives with an empathetic woman who shares them with us. I recommend you savour The Umbrian Supper Club, for the histories and the food.
This review is published on Starts at 60 link here http://bit.ly/1O3rQH1.
This book is a joy to read or preferably savour!
The stories are wonderful, the food is wonderful and they are each a part of the other – the stories don’t exist without the food, the food is the product of the storytellers.
Author, Marlena de Blasi lives in the Umbrian town of Orvieto, where each week a small group of women meet, sometimes with their men, sometimes alone, for the Thursday night supper club. The “club house” is an almost derelict stone farm house in the hills above the Orvieto, but who needs luxury when you have food, wine and good company?
This is not a wealthy community; there is no money to spare, but a walk through the hills produces stalks of wild asparagus, wild thyme and mushrooms. Add some olive oil, a little salt, a hot pan and “Dinner is served”. Each woman contributes whatever she has; maybe flour for the bread, tomatoes fresh from the vine; or the olive oil crushed in her family’s shed. If someone has an ingredient, everybody has it.
Marlene de Blasi’s entry into this inner circle was a slow and cautious journey, but when the matriarch of the group, Miranda, announces her retirement, Marlena says “I’ll cook”. For the next four years, it became Marlena’s task, her joy, to choose the elements for supper, to plan the menu and with the help of one or another of the women in the club, to prepare the meal.
As they cook, they talk, telling Marlena the stories of their lives, lives of love, loss, mistreatment and food. Some of the stories are particularly sad, but these are not women seeking sympathy. They aren’t victims, they do not invite you to a “Pity Party”.
Miranda, for example, has been a widow since her twenties. At the funeral of her beloved Milo, she met his lover and their son. How she handles this situation is dignified and her admission “In case you’re also wondering if I miss him, I’ll tell you that I don’t. I don’t miss Milo, not he himself … Ah but how I long for the man I thought he was”, went straight to my heart.
No story is complete without luscious, evocative food. Just as a story can’t be told without food, food can’t be enjoyed without the local wines the supper club love. Wine is used to cook, as a dunking accompaniment to freshly baked bread, and of course, to drink. This is the true joy of the book; food, love, wine and stories are not separated into compartments. They are integral to the whole. As a woman shares her history, she shares her favourite recipes.
The food sounds amazing, but it is amazing for its simplicity, not for its numerous ingredients. “The lowest circle in hell should be reserved for people who play with food”.
A few of the recipes included in the narrative are published at the end of the book, but this is not a cook book. It is the true story of Miranda, Ninuccia, Paolina and Gilda, who talked, laughed and cooked while sharing their lives with an empathetic woman who shares them with us. I recommend you savour The Umbrian Supper Club, for the histories and the food.
This review is published on Starts at 60 link here http://bit.ly/1O3rQH1.
April 21, 2015
The author Marlena De Blasi has been a chef, a journalist, a food and wine consultant and a restaurant critic. In this book she relates how when she moved to the Umbrian village of Orvieto she was befriended by Miranda and became part of her regular Thursday supper club.
Miranda had been hosting such a night for years but decides due to age, that it's time for someone else to take the helm and makes Marlena her successor. As a non native this isn't initially well received by the other women. The book deals with the period between 2004 and 2008 when Marlena began hosting the group assisted and sometimes criticised by the other female members, Paolina, Gilda, Ninuccia and Miranda herself.
Over time, not only does Miranda become integrated into the group, but she also discovers the life stories of her new female friends. The stories are all different and hark back to a age far removed from the modern age. The stories build a picture of a society that was both innocent and yet corrupt, with the church and the clans (Mafia)wielding power. Their stories are emotional ones of lost loves, lost families and poverty. Yet as a balance to this is the redeeming power of love and friendship. Through all of the stories food plays an important role.
In a largely poor community reliant on subsistance farming, it became currency as well as sustenance and people ate what they had, what they could barter or what they could steal. The Thursday night suppers are also reminiscent of this as the meals are made from seasonal produce supplied by those attending, the only proviso being it has to be the best of what they have. The book is full of mouthwatering descriptions of largely peasant style food which would still grace any table in terms of provenance, flavour and skill. In additional to the descriptions throughout the book, there are also additional formal recipes supplied at the back.
I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and felt at times likes reading a novel.The women revealed their stories over time as they prepared food in the kitchen so their stories never felt contrived, but became part of the natural course of the book. The book is part social history, part political history and part recipe book which combines to make a satisfying whole.
I received an ARC in return for an honest review.
Miranda had been hosting such a night for years but decides due to age, that it's time for someone else to take the helm and makes Marlena her successor. As a non native this isn't initially well received by the other women. The book deals with the period between 2004 and 2008 when Marlena began hosting the group assisted and sometimes criticised by the other female members, Paolina, Gilda, Ninuccia and Miranda herself.
Over time, not only does Miranda become integrated into the group, but she also discovers the life stories of her new female friends. The stories are all different and hark back to a age far removed from the modern age. The stories build a picture of a society that was both innocent and yet corrupt, with the church and the clans (Mafia)wielding power. Their stories are emotional ones of lost loves, lost families and poverty. Yet as a balance to this is the redeeming power of love and friendship. Through all of the stories food plays an important role.
In a largely poor community reliant on subsistance farming, it became currency as well as sustenance and people ate what they had, what they could barter or what they could steal. The Thursday night suppers are also reminiscent of this as the meals are made from seasonal produce supplied by those attending, the only proviso being it has to be the best of what they have. The book is full of mouthwatering descriptions of largely peasant style food which would still grace any table in terms of provenance, flavour and skill. In additional to the descriptions throughout the book, there are also additional formal recipes supplied at the back.
I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and felt at times likes reading a novel.The women revealed their stories over time as they prepared food in the kitchen so their stories never felt contrived, but became part of the natural course of the book. The book is part social history, part political history and part recipe book which combines to make a satisfying whole.
I received an ARC in return for an honest review.
June 15, 2015
As someone who doesn't give a second thought to food, this book has been much needed eye-opener. The author successfully convinces me of the primal nature of food and the role it plays in nourishing the soul while sustaining the body. I can never again underestimate the beauty of everyday cooking and eating. The process of gathering ingredients, transforming them into a nourishing meal and devouring it together can never again appear mundane to me. With nuggets of wisdom hidden away in between carefully crafted recipes, this book provides a charming outlook on life.
February 1, 2017
I couldnt finish this book because it really became pointless. There was no point to it except to write out recipes in literary way. I mean the stories of the five women were so utterly boring and pointless. I read the book under the pretext that it was just like under the tuscan sun and it wasnt... the characters basically tell the protagonist their boring personal stories while making food. Most of the page time is devoted to preparation of food... i love food and i love books but i could not love this one ...
October 23, 2016
I was so looking forward to this book because of my Italian connection and love for Umbria but it didn't turn to be a laid back quiet read as expected. I didn't feel connected to any character and left the book after the third person's story. Not sure whether I should pick Marlena's other renowned books now . Life is too short to waste time on a bad book.
June 20, 2016
If you are hungry and only have cereal or limp lettuce or on a diet this book is not for you. But if you love reading about food and want to smell the ragu and the pasta that comes seeping out of every page, then quick go get it. And some fresh tomatoes, some Italian red and a pasta making machine.
Food sings from every page of this book. But so do the women whose stories are told through the food and the social cooking and the community. The lives of those women - which is a true story - is interesting, inspiring and so Italian. The mafia, unmarried mothers, wine making, bread making, food and food and the joy of communal cooking and eating. What I wouldn't give to attend a Thursday night with them. Long may they continue. Until then I will read and re-read their stories and moan that no-one has invented a scratch and sniff book so I can really experience their Thursday suppers. Save me a glass of wine please, I'm getting my plane ticket.
I received a free copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Any chance of a free plane ticket for 'further research'?
Food sings from every page of this book. But so do the women whose stories are told through the food and the social cooking and the community. The lives of those women - which is a true story - is interesting, inspiring and so Italian. The mafia, unmarried mothers, wine making, bread making, food and food and the joy of communal cooking and eating. What I wouldn't give to attend a Thursday night with them. Long may they continue. Until then I will read and re-read their stories and moan that no-one has invented a scratch and sniff book so I can really experience their Thursday suppers. Save me a glass of wine please, I'm getting my plane ticket.
I received a free copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Any chance of a free plane ticket for 'further research'?
August 18, 2020
Our library book club choice. A small group of mainly elderly Italians meet each Thursday night for supper. Previously their leader Miranda has cooked for them but as she is ageing they begin sharing the meal preparations. Food is the predominant obsession for these people and it is an inextricable element of their culture and everyday lives. Over food and wine, in seemingly endless quantities, five of the women in particular share intimate life stories.
The book is well written but the enormous amount of often repetitive details about food began to be quite nauseating. Nevertheless, if you're interested in Italian food and culture I think you'd enjoy it and might even be tempted to try making one of the many recipes at the back of the book.
The book is well written but the enormous amount of often repetitive details about food began to be quite nauseating. Nevertheless, if you're interested in Italian food and culture I think you'd enjoy it and might even be tempted to try making one of the many recipes at the back of the book.
June 13, 2015
I liked the concept but got bored...managed to finish it but only just.
June 6, 2019
I loved this book much more than I was expecting. Reading it on the way to Orvieto, it set the tone for my time in the magical city!
The book was such a wonderful glimpse into this city on the hill! And the description of food was to die for! I was hooked from the very beginning after she mentions Babette’s feast. It’s true as other reviewers mentioned below that it’s so very sad to see the custom of shared family meals disappearing; of people being able to sit down together to a shared meal. There’s a great act of hospitality in their making- in selecting the best ingredients and making by hand these traditional and no so traditional meals from locally grown ingredients. It is an act of hospitality and performance it up!
But it is also an act of generosity in being able to receive and partake in the meal. To eat what is served with thanks and pleasure. Communal practices matter so much.
This is my first book by this author. She writes wonderfully not just about food which will make your mouth water — but her descriptions of place are incredibly evocative. It’s a simple story: A group of older women come together every Thursday evening to share a meal. During the course of the supper club, we learn how each of the women has really suffered. How each of these ladies have had a terrible challenge. The lady from Calabria particular had a terrible time ; in fact I would say they all had terrible troubles at one time. And that’s how it goes. That’s life and it’s no small feat to take pleasure and be satisfied with simple things— like sharing a meal with friends.
Delightfully, recipes appear at the end— recipes are too complicated for me but I do want to try the pasta with chocolate. I can’t even imagine what it taste like —penne regate with 99 percent cocoa, cloves and cinnamon and ginger!!!
The book was such a wonderful glimpse into this city on the hill! And the description of food was to die for! I was hooked from the very beginning after she mentions Babette’s feast. It’s true as other reviewers mentioned below that it’s so very sad to see the custom of shared family meals disappearing; of people being able to sit down together to a shared meal. There’s a great act of hospitality in their making- in selecting the best ingredients and making by hand these traditional and no so traditional meals from locally grown ingredients. It is an act of hospitality and performance it up!
But it is also an act of generosity in being able to receive and partake in the meal. To eat what is served with thanks and pleasure. Communal practices matter so much.
This is my first book by this author. She writes wonderfully not just about food which will make your mouth water — but her descriptions of place are incredibly evocative. It’s a simple story: A group of older women come together every Thursday evening to share a meal. During the course of the supper club, we learn how each of the women has really suffered. How each of these ladies have had a terrible challenge. The lady from Calabria particular had a terrible time ; in fact I would say they all had terrible troubles at one time. And that’s how it goes. That’s life and it’s no small feat to take pleasure and be satisfied with simple things— like sharing a meal with friends.
Delightfully, recipes appear at the end— recipes are too complicated for me but I do want to try the pasta with chocolate. I can’t even imagine what it taste like —penne regate with 99 percent cocoa, cloves and cinnamon and ginger!!!
January 28, 2018
Didn't actually finish this one. I was actually really disappointed in it and found the writing style very mannered and couldn't maintain interest.
March 1, 2024
This was such a charming book. Learning about all the women's stories and the food they enjoyed together was such a delight.
July 20, 2019
Really enjoyed this book while visiting Umbria. The descriptions of food and cooking were spot on for the region and helped me more fully experience it while traveling.
November 6, 2016
Absolutely terrible, depressing life advice from bitter old women, mixed with beautiful passages about food.
But even then, the beautiful passages about food got to be too much.
I got BORED. I did not expect to. It's a book about food and Italy, one my passion and the other my family heritage, surely I would love it?
I kept putting it down. I read in the back of the book that the author included enough detail in the food passages for a proficient home cook to follow, but I honestly would have preferred a lot of that detail to be moved to the back where the recipes are.
I actually found it difficult to figure out who was speaking on more than one occasion; I felt little to no sympathy for the characters even though the details of some of the stories were truly awful; and the permissiveness of low expectations of the men in the stories and their subsequent poor behaviour irritated me more and more as I progressed through the book.
I do want to cook some of the recipes, but that's the main reason I'll be holding onto this book.
But even then, the beautiful passages about food got to be too much.
I got BORED. I did not expect to. It's a book about food and Italy, one my passion and the other my family heritage, surely I would love it?
I kept putting it down. I read in the back of the book that the author included enough detail in the food passages for a proficient home cook to follow, but I honestly would have preferred a lot of that detail to be moved to the back where the recipes are.
I actually found it difficult to figure out who was speaking on more than one occasion; I felt little to no sympathy for the characters even though the details of some of the stories were truly awful; and the permissiveness of low expectations of the men in the stories and their subsequent poor behaviour irritated me more and more as I progressed through the book.
I do want to cook some of the recipes, but that's the main reason I'll be holding onto this book.
August 1, 2016
Lectuur gevonden in ons Italiaanse huisje. Dan maar meteen beginnen lezen om volledig ondergedompeld te worden in 'Umbrische sferen' en te likkebaarden bij authentieke (en uitgebreide) beschrijvingen van exotische gerechten.
Interessant vond ik de verwijzingen naar het rurale leven van de vier hoofdrolspeelsters, de maffia en haar akelige praktijken en de verwijzingen naar de typische inheemse rituelen.
Aan het begin van het boek had ik een beetje schrik dat de focus voornamelijk zou liggen op het eten, de locale wijnen en specerijen, maar dat bleek al bij al behoorlijk mee te vallen. Onderwerpen als 'ouder worden', verwerkingsprocessen, verlatingsangsten en verloren liefdes kwamen ruim aanbod.
Gelukkig was het boek geschreven in het Engels en niet Italiaans. Want dat zou 'un problema' (klopt dat?!) zijn geweest voor mij... En ohja, die Italianen gebruiken wel érg (!!!) veel wijn...i
Interessant vond ik de verwijzingen naar het rurale leven van de vier hoofdrolspeelsters, de maffia en haar akelige praktijken en de verwijzingen naar de typische inheemse rituelen.
Aan het begin van het boek had ik een beetje schrik dat de focus voornamelijk zou liggen op het eten, de locale wijnen en specerijen, maar dat bleek al bij al behoorlijk mee te vallen. Onderwerpen als 'ouder worden', verwerkingsprocessen, verlatingsangsten en verloren liefdes kwamen ruim aanbod.
Gelukkig was het boek geschreven in het Engels en niet Italiaans. Want dat zou 'un problema' (klopt dat?!) zijn geweest voor mij... En ohja, die Italianen gebruiken wel érg (!!!) veel wijn...i
February 24, 2021
Marlena de Blasi is a lovely writer, and her books are both inspiration and comfort reading to me.
Nothing better after a stressful day than to pour a glass of wine and escape to her world, her friends, her loves and her cooking – and Italy.
Nothing better after a stressful day than to pour a glass of wine and escape to her world, her friends, her loves and her cooking – and Italy.
October 25, 2019
What a lovely book following the stories of 5 ladies who meet up and swap recipes and cook for each other. The little village in Italy sounds idyllic.
August 8, 2018
Boring and pointless . A chore to read
October 24, 2019
Do you know someone who believes, because they never ask questions or show the slightest interest in others, that their life is endlessly fascinating and the only topic of conversation worth having? In my initial dip into this book I thought I had come across THAT PERSON. There was a rather smug and self-satisfied feel to the first few chapters which really put me off. But persistence was rewarded - maybe because she is right, her life is far more fascinating than mine, but I think more so because as the book progresses she fades into the background and it's clear that author can listen to other people's stories intently and she has reproduced some of them here. They are extremely moving.
The book is organised around a group of 5 women who meet up for a shared dinner on Thursday nights, often with partners and friends in attendance as well. Marlena de Blasi, the author, is an expatriate who has been living in Italy for some time but a fairly recent transplant to Umbria. She has been a chef in a former life and has written several books on cooking. She connects up with a group of women who live in a village on the outskirts of the main town and is invited to join the supper club. Over the course of several years the women share their traditional and inventive methods for bringing out the best in the everyday ingredients (which for them are items such as prosciutto, fresh figs, fresh-pressed olive oil, garlic, fresh-baked bread, hand-rolled pasta, and wild herbs) and cooked over a wood-fired stove with a few pots and pans.
For the women, their approach to food is enfolded into their individual histories, which are revealed over time to the author. Women who have had few advantages in life, they have each had their own heartaches and challenges. The stories are the diamond in this book, each diverse and unique, none of them ending on a note of defeat. The food runs a close second though, and the careful descriptions of how the food is prepared is enthralling. Marlena de Blasi delivers the goods.
The book is organised around a group of 5 women who meet up for a shared dinner on Thursday nights, often with partners and friends in attendance as well. Marlena de Blasi, the author, is an expatriate who has been living in Italy for some time but a fairly recent transplant to Umbria. She has been a chef in a former life and has written several books on cooking. She connects up with a group of women who live in a village on the outskirts of the main town and is invited to join the supper club. Over the course of several years the women share their traditional and inventive methods for bringing out the best in the everyday ingredients (which for them are items such as prosciutto, fresh figs, fresh-pressed olive oil, garlic, fresh-baked bread, hand-rolled pasta, and wild herbs) and cooked over a wood-fired stove with a few pots and pans.
For the women, their approach to food is enfolded into their individual histories, which are revealed over time to the author. Women who have had few advantages in life, they have each had their own heartaches and challenges. The stories are the diamond in this book, each diverse and unique, none of them ending on a note of defeat. The food runs a close second though, and the careful descriptions of how the food is prepared is enthralling. Marlena de Blasi delivers the goods.
May 19, 2020
I have been reading this book for the last 9 months; the longest it has ever taken me to read a book in 60+years. I am of Italian descent and for several years have hosted a Sunday night supper group of ladies; except I do all the cooking (by design) and they bring the libations. We gather round the table for hours enjoying each other's company, sharing stories of our lives, trying to solve the problems of our personal worlds (with some success) and the problems of the world (not so much!). This is what piqued my interest in the book.
But I had a real love/dislike relationship with the book. I loved the premise of a group of women of various ages and backgrounds meeting for dinner once a week. I loved the Tuscan setting and most especially the extremely in-depth description of their cooking and foraging endeavors.
However, as much as I loved it, I found it hard to read more than 10-20 pages at a time before the characters and their stories became a blur. . . a few days later I would repeat the exercise. My book is so ragged and worn that I would find it difficult to pass on, although I would recommend it, albeit with a caveat about my reading experience.
I'm not sure the story could have been written in any other way without losing the essence of the book. I'm glad I read it but looking forward to resuming my normal reading pace!
But I had a real love/dislike relationship with the book. I loved the premise of a group of women of various ages and backgrounds meeting for dinner once a week. I loved the Tuscan setting and most especially the extremely in-depth description of their cooking and foraging endeavors.
However, as much as I loved it, I found it hard to read more than 10-20 pages at a time before the characters and their stories became a blur. . . a few days later I would repeat the exercise. My book is so ragged and worn that I would find it difficult to pass on, although I would recommend it, albeit with a caveat about my reading experience.
I'm not sure the story could have been written in any other way without losing the essence of the book. I'm glad I read it but looking forward to resuming my normal reading pace!
January 21, 2019
Borrowed from the library. I had meant to read this in 2018 for the challenge (month or day of the week in title), but simply couldn't finish it with all the holidays, etc. I'll count it towards 2019 instead.
It took me a while to get into this book. I wanted to like it, but it just wasn't sparking. Finally, about halfway through, it became pleasant to read, not just going through the motions. The narrator is an American who loves to cook, living in Umbria. Every Thursday a varying group of people come together to eat supper. The leader is Miranda, but she soon decides she is too old to be doing this, and - like a knowing matriarch - gets the narrator to volunteer to take over. Only the three other main characters are not quite trusting of the American, so decide to take turns "helping" her. Which is exactly what Miranda wanted. The narrator eventually learns the life stories of these women.
The book finishes with recipes for some of the food cooked for the Thursday suppers.
It took me a while to get into this book. I wanted to like it, but it just wasn't sparking. Finally, about halfway through, it became pleasant to read, not just going through the motions. The narrator is an American who loves to cook, living in Umbria. Every Thursday a varying group of people come together to eat supper. The leader is Miranda, but she soon decides she is too old to be doing this, and - like a knowing matriarch - gets the narrator to volunteer to take over. Only the three other main characters are not quite trusting of the American, so decide to take turns "helping" her. Which is exactly what Miranda wanted. The narrator eventually learns the life stories of these women.
The book finishes with recipes for some of the food cooked for the Thursday suppers.
May 12, 2023
i really enjoyed this book but it was really tough to get into (i started it months ago and stopped at page 50 and then picked it up again like three days ago) - the writing was intellectual and flowed in a way that definitely slowed my pace, which was a bit of a deterrent. still, the story was beautifully written and i could almost smell the food that the ladies were cooking.
a complaint that i did have, however, was that this book often switches from perspective to perspective, past to present and back again, and it was difficult to follow when that happened. it's an interesting adjustment to be reading about italy after my almost exclusively china/east asia-themed tbr but this was such a refreshing change of pace.
never thought i'd crave pasta, but here i am tempted to go to tj's and buy a big bottle of red wine and some penne.
a complaint that i did have, however, was that this book often switches from perspective to perspective, past to present and back again, and it was difficult to follow when that happened. it's an interesting adjustment to be reading about italy after my almost exclusively china/east asia-themed tbr but this was such a refreshing change of pace.
never thought i'd crave pasta, but here i am tempted to go to tj's and buy a big bottle of red wine and some penne.
February 22, 2024
Actual rating 4.25
“You've understood nothing. Abundance is perilous.”
Those of you who have been reading my book thoughts for a while will know that I love a memoir by Marlena de Blasi. Her books are comfort reads for me. They take me on gentle journeys to remote villages in Italy where traditions are still honoured as if time has stood still. It could be that the author paints an idyllic picture of life as it once was and it is very possible that since this book was written, between 2004 and 2008, change has made its way to these hilltop Umbrian villages too. But, deep down, I want to believe that what we call progress is still taking its time to drag itself up the steep slopes on which these places are perched.
I've seen several negative reviews complaining that nothing much happens in this book. I find this to be true but not in a bad way. Within the pages of TUTNSC are the memoirs of four women: Miranda, Ninuccia, Paolina and Gilda. A few of these women lived their whole lives within an 8km radius of the town where they were born. So don't expect wild escapades and daring adventures. What I got from this book was a heartwarming feeling of the formidable power and sincerity of female friendships; about lives lived frugally but fully; about the joy and importance of cooking and feeding others with the freshest and most seasonal local produce available. More than anything, this book is about connections. Lifelong connections born out of a shared past, fleeting memories that, as we age, become more and more precious.
This is not a faultless book. It comes across as too wordy in places and the construction of the sentences sometimes felt very Italian (which is fine but native English readers may find them a bit awkward) but I loved it. In a convoluted way that only I will understand, it took me back to my childhood, to a time when connections were real and friendships were forever.
“A family is made of love. Only sometimes is it also made of blood.”
“You've understood nothing. Abundance is perilous.”
Those of you who have been reading my book thoughts for a while will know that I love a memoir by Marlena de Blasi. Her books are comfort reads for me. They take me on gentle journeys to remote villages in Italy where traditions are still honoured as if time has stood still. It could be that the author paints an idyllic picture of life as it once was and it is very possible that since this book was written, between 2004 and 2008, change has made its way to these hilltop Umbrian villages too. But, deep down, I want to believe that what we call progress is still taking its time to drag itself up the steep slopes on which these places are perched.
I've seen several negative reviews complaining that nothing much happens in this book. I find this to be true but not in a bad way. Within the pages of TUTNSC are the memoirs of four women: Miranda, Ninuccia, Paolina and Gilda. A few of these women lived their whole lives within an 8km radius of the town where they were born. So don't expect wild escapades and daring adventures. What I got from this book was a heartwarming feeling of the formidable power and sincerity of female friendships; about lives lived frugally but fully; about the joy and importance of cooking and feeding others with the freshest and most seasonal local produce available. More than anything, this book is about connections. Lifelong connections born out of a shared past, fleeting memories that, as we age, become more and more precious.
This is not a faultless book. It comes across as too wordy in places and the construction of the sentences sometimes felt very Italian (which is fine but native English readers may find them a bit awkward) but I loved it. In a convoluted way that only I will understand, it took me back to my childhood, to a time when connections were real and friendships were forever.
“A family is made of love. Only sometimes is it also made of blood.”
November 27, 2023
I really wanted to like this book and was happy to buy it when my book club suggested it. But I work as an editor and found the inconsistencies and grammatical issues too distracting, so I didn't finish. The dialog just makes little sense.Af first, the people in the group (rural folks living a simple life) speak as one would expect, and it makes sense. And then it goes weird when a woman describing her life suddenly starts using words like anchorite, superfluous, etc. And when she describes her dead love, it sounds like romance novel prose. She's speaking to another woman and the dialog is about kissing his smoked-soaked lips Sorry, no one speaks like that and it drove me nuts. And I wasn't the only one in my group who found this, so I know I'm not crazy here.
July 7, 2020
Four stars for the food, recipes and the local colour of Umbria including the characters and their recall of the past. It is a beautiful area and the local detail was delightful and very easy to relate to.
I was less excited by the long winded discussions that took place between the writer who they called Chou and the local women Miranda, Ninuccia, Paolina and Gilda in their preparation and enjoyment of the food. The history was interesting but the formal language seemed to jar.
The last section with recipes is terrific and useful as the measures are all metric so I look forward to trying them all and recreating the supper club atmosphere.
I was less excited by the long winded discussions that took place between the writer who they called Chou and the local women Miranda, Ninuccia, Paolina and Gilda in their preparation and enjoyment of the food. The history was interesting but the formal language seemed to jar.
The last section with recipes is terrific and useful as the measures are all metric so I look forward to trying them all and recreating the supper club atmosphere.
February 8, 2021
I feel a little bad giving this such a low rating because while I was reading it, I found it interesting and I rather relished her use of language. However, once I reached the 100 page point I realised the next 246 pages were all along the same lines - food and conversation. I like food and conversation but I think if I stayed with the book just to complete it, the book would have completely lost its charm.
So the parts I read were probably 3.5 stars but I give it 2 stars simply because I could not push myself to complete it, and I think it has something to do with how overly indulgent the author has been with her story.
So the parts I read were probably 3.5 stars but I give it 2 stars simply because I could not push myself to complete it, and I think it has something to do with how overly indulgent the author has been with her story.
October 5, 2023
Mogę być niezupełnie obiektywna, bo książkę czytałam na bardzo udanych wakacjach we Włoszech właśnie 🤪 Ale mimo to słowa Marleny de Blasi bardzo mnie zachwyciły. Jestem pod wrażeniem że autorka za bohaterki wzięła panie 60+ i każda z nich to nie babcia bez charakteru tylko charyzmatyczna kobieta która na kartach książki opowiada swoje życie z którego jest dumna! I to jest okraszone opisami kolacji i przygotowywania jedzenia! Czytając zorientowałam się że dla mnie samej ogromną wartość ma dobre jedzenie, szanujące mnie towarzystwo i dobre wino (polecam przy czytaniu tej książki!). Bardzo polecam, szczególnie jeżeli ktoś szuka kultury na włoskie wakacje.
November 13, 2017
In prose that wanders its way from contralto to soprano, the writer Marilena deBlasi has created a memoir of four women who dine together on Thursday nights. Each of them has a story told with a precision much like a chef's knife, slicing through joys, pains, and abandonments. The author employs food metaphors throughout, and offers the reader a wealth of description of the odors and tastes of food prepared in a "rustica," without electricity and with the wealth of the local produce and salumeria.
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