Acquacotta: Recipes and Stories from Tuscany's Secret Silver Coast

Description

Discover the cuisine of a secret part of southernmost Tuscany, a sliver of land known as La Costa D'Argento - the silver coast. Named for the shimmery salt-and-pepper sand along this part of the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is a region of rolling hills, long beaches, overgrown fig trees, rambling vineyards - and rich culinary history. In Acquacotta, Tuscan-based, Australian-born writer and photographer Emiko Davies has compiled and adapted her Italian family's best-loved recipes from Capalbio, Monte Argentario, Giglio Island and inland to the hot springs of Saturnia and the ancient Pitigliano. In words and pictures, Emiko guides readers through the use of local ingredients, as well as sharing the history of rustic, storied dishes including scampi and potato soup, hand-rolled strozzapreti noodles, spinach and ricotta tortelli, chestnut gnocchi and the classic fig and chocolate bread, pagnotella. Plus, of course, the book's namesake acquacotta, a quintessential Maremman peasant dish that captures the spirit of this special place. Acquacotta is Emiko's second book, after Florentine.

Emiko Davies is the daughter of a Japanese mother and Australian father who grew up in Beijing. She moved to the US for a degree in Fine Art from Rhode Island School of Design, and then on to Florence when she was 20. There, she spent a semester studying etching in a converted horse stable and living within earshot of the bells of the Basilica of Santa Croce with a bunch of other international students. She returned to Florence four years later, this time to study darkroom photography and art restoration. At that time, she met her now husband, sommelier Marco Lami. They married a few years later inside the Palazzo Vecchio and Florence became her home. After several years living in the fast-paced heart of the city, the couple moved to Australia, where their daughter was born. But three years on, the pull of Italy became too strong and they returned to Tuscany. Marco took a job with The Four Seasons Hotel and they are now based just outside Florence. Emiko writes an eponymous blog - established with a view to one day writing a book -- that she dedicates to telling the stories behind the regional and historical Italian dishes, particularly Tuscan, in the context of family life. She also writes a weekly recipe column, 'Regional Italian Food', on regional recipes for the popular New York-based website Food52, and a bimonthly column in Italian for the food website of Italy's leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera. Wherever she is, the kitchen is the life and heart of her home. Emiko says she gathers there and cooks with her family every day. Emiko is the author of Acquacotta and Florentine.

'Acquacotta is a serious and authoritative homage to the foodways of this little-known but lovely corner of Tuscany, its history, its influences, its landscape and its wonderful produce. Every dish in this book respects local knowledge and tradition and thanks to the author's brilliant photography, its essential nature is revealed for all to see and understand. I love it.' - Stephanie Alexander