Florentine: The True Cuisine of Florence

Description

'Florentine is a book that appeals both to my sense of nostalgia and my appetite. It's a beautiful book, with gorgeous pictures of Florence, and snatches of Florentine life, but is far from being a coffee-table book: the recipes take you there just as evocatively.' Nigella Lawson Stroll through the streets of Florence with the 2020 edition of Emiko Davies' award-winning Florentine. This new format cookbook beautifully packages Emiko's recipes, photographs and insights, each informed by her experience of Tuscany's capital over more than a decade. As well, it includes new neighbourhood itineraries - from 24 Hours in Florence, to Day Trips Outside the City Centre, to Best Bistecca and Pastry Shops, to Shopping for Cook's Tools. Emiko's recipes transport readers to the piazzas of Florence. From her torta di mele - a reassuringly nonna-esque apple cake - to ravioli pera e ricotta - mouthwateringly buttery pear and ricotta ravioloni - she shares an enchanting culinary tour of the city. Visit pastry shops bustling with espresso-sippers, hole-in-the-wall wine bars, busy food vans and lunchtime trattorias, and learn how and why the people of Florence remain so proudly attached to their unchanging cuisine. It's a cuisine that tells the unique story of its city, dish by dish. From the morning ritual of la pasticceria (the pastry shop) and il forno (the bakery), the tantalising fresh produce of il mercato (the market) and il maccellaio (the butcher) through to the romance of la trattoria. With a nod to Florence's rich history, Florentine offers traditional dishes beloved in homes across the region too, including schiacciata fiorentina (orange and vanilla cake), apricot jam crostata (apricot jam pie), piselli alla fiorentina (peas cooked in tomato sauce) and cinghiale con le olive (stewed wild boar with olives). Seasons and long-held food traditions play an important role in the Tuscan kitchen and this is reflected in every Florentine menu, bakery window or market stall. A Japanese-Australian who lives in the hills of Tuscany with her Italian sommelier husband and their family, Emiko says that one of the things she has come to appreciate is that there is no such thing as Italian cuisine; rather, Florentine is about offering readers a local's perspective on one of the country's 20 regional cuisines. In this case, the one that has won her heart.

Emiko Davies was raised in an international household with a Japanese mother and an Australian father, and spent her childhood and adolescence between Australia and China. So it was inevitable that she found herself halfway around the world later in life, to the US for a Fine Art degree that then let her to Florence, Italy, as a twenty-year-old. She fell in love with Florence instantly and returned a few years later to study art restoration and photography for a year and soak in the Florentine lifestyle (learning Italian along the way). But then she met her sommelier husband Marco, and that year turned into sixteen (and counting). They live in Florence with their two daughters. Florentine is Emiko's first cookbook. It precedes her other cookbooks, Acquacotta (2017) and Tortellini at Midnight (2019). She continues to write about regional Italian food and travel on her blog, as well as for publications such as Gourmet Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Food52 and Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera.