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American chef and author of A Thousand Days in Venice moves to rural Tuscany, where she and her husband discover village secrets of food, life, and love. Searching for the rhythms of country living, American chef Marlena de Blasi and her Venetian husband, Fernando, move to a barely renovated former stable in Tuscany. They dwell among two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves, and hot Etruscan springs. In this patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio collide, there is much to feed de Blasi's two passionsâ??food and love. In A Thousand Days in Tuscany, de Blasi brings us along as she and Fernando harvest grapes, gather chestnuts, forage for wild mushrooms, and climb trees in the cold of December to pick olives, one by one. They befriend the mesmeric Barlozzo, a self-styled village chieftain whose stories lead de Blasi deeper into the soul of Tuscany. Together they visit sacred festivals and taste just-pressed olive oil, drizzled over roasted country bread. In a cauldron set over a wood fire, they braise beans in red wine, and a stew of wild boar simmers overnight in the ashes of their hearth. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of Italian farming traditions and ancient health potions, but he has secrets he doesn't share, and one of them concerns the beautiful Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that happiness is truly a choice. Like the pleasurable tastes and textures of a fine meal, A Thousand Days in Tuscany is as satisfying as it is enticing. The author's own recipes are included.… (more)
This is a story of the author who moved to Italy once her children were grown, met a man, fell in love and stayed. Her first book was 1000 days in Venice, and once they moved to Tuscany, she decided it was time to write again.
The author is an American chef as well as an author and her new husband was a banker in Venice. Her husband wants a change, so they uproot their lives and moved to a quiet country side in Tuscany. They move into a small, renovated stable that they rent from a local family. They fall in love with the area and the people. Especially two people called Barlozzo and Farlina who show them the town. The new couple become intertwined in the town - helping with the olive harvest, and the grape harvest. They spend each evening at the local pub where a local family cooks and people gather to tell stories. They eat rich foods and learn to cook the local fair for themselves. They dream of opening a tour company to host people visiting the Tuscan area.
This was a pretty good book. IT is short, and moves quickly. I found myself starving a little more with each chapter. The Tuscan area is part of our vacation to Italy so I was mentally cataloging the delicious food she was eating. I think it would be amazing to be able to retire to a small town in the Italian country side and do nothing but feast on the delicious food.
If you are interested in constant talk about food, then check out this book. I would say if you are looking for a more indepth story, this isn't the book for you. She goes over the top talking about eating and food preparation, that I even felt that it was a bit too much. But - if you are looking for ideas of new meals to cook, take a look.
I think at this point there must be a whole genre/category built up around people who chuck it all and move to either Italy or France, live in run-down, dilapidated houses, discover la dolce vita and then write books about it. I am their target market.
This is a follow up to her previous book A Thousand Days in Venice which I have not read, and it works fine on its own. The writing is philosophical, sometimes overly so, and occasionally florid, but overall it's engrossing. There's a definite air of self-satisfaction that almost crosses over into smugness, but doesn't; the narrative isn't about the author finding her bliss - she's already done that - but more about her awareness of her bliss. It works better than it sounds like it should, although probably not as well as it could have.
The subtitle of this book is A Bittersweet Adventure and it is rightly titled (although it's not a thousand days, but merely a year, so maybe not). I won't say more because I'd hate anyone considering this read to stumble on to this review and be spoiled.
Not sorry to have read it at all, even if others have appealed to me more. ( )
Ah, Tuscany! High on my bucket list, and this book just whetted my appetite further. I can imagine living in this old farmhouse in the ancient village, creating traditions and eating good food. Delightful. ( )
Because being here is much, and because all this that's here, so fleeting, seems to require us and strangely concerns us. Us the most fleeting of all. Everyone just once, once only. Just once, and no more. And we too, once. And never again. But this having been once, although only once, to have been of the Earth seems irrevocable. RAINER MARIA RILKE
Dedication
For Jill Foulston, a beauty who, like Abraham's angels, stopped by one evening and, being here, changed things, ennobled them forever.
First words
'Ce l'abbiamo fatta, Chou-Chou, we did it,' he says, using the name he gave to me, clutching the steering wheel of the old BMW with both hands, elbows out straight like wings, shoulders hunched in glee, wheezing up a conspiratorial laugh.
American chef and author of A Thousand Days in Venice moves to rural Tuscany, where she and her husband discover village secrets of food, life, and love. Searching for the rhythms of country living, American chef Marlena de Blasi and her Venetian husband, Fernando, move to a barely renovated former stable in Tuscany. They dwell among two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves, and hot Etruscan springs. In this patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio collide, there is much to feed de Blasi's two passionsâ??food and love. In A Thousand Days in Tuscany, de Blasi brings us along as she and Fernando harvest grapes, gather chestnuts, forage for wild mushrooms, and climb trees in the cold of December to pick olives, one by one. They befriend the mesmeric Barlozzo, a self-styled village chieftain whose stories lead de Blasi deeper into the soul of Tuscany. Together they visit sacred festivals and taste just-pressed olive oil, drizzled over roasted country bread. In a cauldron set over a wood fire, they braise beans in red wine, and a stew of wild boar simmers overnight in the ashes of their hearth. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of Italian farming traditions and ancient health potions, but he has secrets he doesn't share, and one of them concerns the beautiful Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that happiness is truly a choice. Like the pleasurable tastes and textures of a fine meal, A Thousand Days in Tuscany is as satisfying as it is enticing. The author's own recipes are included.
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The author is an American chef as well as an author and her new husband was a banker in Venice. Her husband wants a change, so they uproot their lives and moved to a quiet country side in Tuscany. They move into a small, renovated stable that they rent from a local family. They fall in love with the area and the people. Especially two people called Barlozzo and Farlina who show them the town. The new couple become intertwined in the town - helping with the olive harvest, and the grape harvest. They spend each evening at the local pub where a local family cooks and people gather to tell stories. They eat rich foods and learn to cook the local fair for themselves. They dream of opening a tour company to host people visiting the Tuscan area.
This was a pretty good book. IT is short, and moves quickly. I found myself starving a little more with each chapter. The Tuscan area is part of our vacation to Italy so I was mentally cataloging the delicious food she was eating. I think it would be amazing to be able to retire to a small town in the Italian country side and do nothing but feast on the delicious food.
If you are interested in constant talk about food, then check out this book. I would say if you are looking for a more indepth story, this isn't the book for you. She goes over the top talking about eating and food preparation, that I even felt that it was a bit too much. But - if you are looking for ideas of new meals to cook, take a look.
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