Italian Coastal: Recipes and Stories From Where the Land Meets the Sea
“Cookbooks like these are often travelogues as well, and Guinness does a great job tying in the cuisines of the different seaside destinations.”
“It was as I bobbed in the crystal-clear waters of Punta Scario Beach on the island of Salina that I truly began to appreciate the magical and restorative powers of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It had been a tough few months—I was juggling three jobs at the time and felt like I was being pulled in a million directions—but as I swam out towards the island of Vulcano, a cartoonishly conical active volcano, I felt all my worries drain away. Yes, I was on holiday, so of course my mood was bound to lift, but as I floated there, gazing back at the beach with its mounds of softly polished black pebbles, I realized that so many of my favorite spots in Italy have something in common: they are all scattered across this particular body of water.”
Located on Italy’s West Coast, east of the mainland, the Tyrrhenian Sea is enclosed by the Tuscan archipelago in the north, Sardinia and Corsica in the west, and Sicily to the south. The soil, rich in minerals from the volcano activity of Vesuvius, Etna, and Vulcano, yields bountiful quantities of produce, their flavors more intense than what is grown in other parts of the southern Mediterranean. And though there is a similarity in both the harvest and overall geography, Guinness notes that the major destinations of Tyrrhenian boast their uniquely distinctive culinary traditions.
This diversity is reflected in the book’s recipes. Some are easy and quick to make while Guinness describes others as cucina povera (poor cooking), a more intensive and slow style of cookery designed to bring out the best of simple ingredients.
It’s a breeze to make Crostini with Spicy Nduja Salami, Ricotta, and Basil or A Very Thin Zucchini and Basil Omelette, but the Caponata with Buffalo Mozzarella takes 15 minutes to prepare and 75 minutes to cook, and the prep time for Viviana’s Acquacotta, a thick Tuscan soup, is 20 minutes with a cooking time of three hours. By offering such a selection of recipes, Guinness has created a book that works for both home chefs with little time or inclination to spend hours in the kitchen with menus for Al VOLO or meals that can be ready in 45 minutes or less. Those who don’t mind taking an afternoon to turn out a meal can look at the menu she has titled “A Few Favourite Feasts to Impress.” In between, there are “Dishes to Make Con Calma,” foods that take a while to put together but that can be prepared in stages.
The ingredients needed are outlined in one of the informative chapters in the book and for the most part are easily found in American grocery stores including almonds, anchovies, bread crumbs, dried chilies, capers, oregano, pistachios, lemons, and zucchini. More difficult to get ingredients outside of large cities with Italian markets are Bottarga, a type of cured dried fish row which is a specialty of Orbetello, a town in Tuscany, and violet-hued olives from Gaeta, though Gunnes notes they are similar to the Greek kalamata olives.
Guinness, a writer who has cooked in both London and Italy, knows her subject well. Though born in London and having earned a first class Masters's degree in History and Italian at the University of Edinburgh, she grew up in Arniano, the Tuscan farmhouse 30 miles from Siena restored by her parents and romantically styled by her mother, interior designer Camilla Guinness. Her first book, A House Party in Tuscany, featured recipes and stories from Arniano, a residential painting school. The artistic sensibilities of growing up in such a home are apparent in her book with photos of beautiful platters of food artfully arranged on intricate painted tiles or on balconies and patios overlooking blue waters. Married, she lives in Florence with her husband and son.
Cookbooks like these are often travelogues as well, and Guinness does a great job tying in the cuisines of the different seaside destinations. It’s a trip to the islands that we can replicate at home.