Aperitivo: The Cocktail Culture of Italy

Description

Australia's love affair with cocktail culture continues to evolve, with the success of ever-more specialized drinks books such as Bitters, The Drunken Botanist, and David Wondrich's titles. This is the natural next step in that evolution. Italian food is one of Australia's favorite ethnic cuisines, and the cocktail craze shows no signs of slowing. And yet there are no books on aperitivo, the Italian tradition of enjoying light cocktails with small dishes. Aperitivo combines the allure of the Italian lifestyle with 100 classic and contemporary recipes for bringing la dolce vita to your next gathering.

Marisa Huff first fell in love with Italian food and drink as an exchange student at the University of Padua. After graduating from UCLA, she received a Fulbright scholarship to returned to Italy, continuing her studies in Rome. From there she went to work for the Slow Food organization in Torino. Since then she has worked for Alice Waters (owner of Chez Panisse), Jeffrey Steingarten (food editor of Vogue), and Del Posto restaurant (owned by the Batali & Bastianich Group). Her writing has appeared in La Cucina Italiana and The Art of Eating.

"Marisa Huff's delightful book captures the simple joy of delicious Italian aperitivi and the snacks that are paired with them. An easy-to-use guide to living la dolce vita." -Mario Batali, chef, restaurateur, entrepreneur "Marisa Huff explores the eccentricities that differentiate the culture, history, and ingredients of Italy's regional aperitivi in concise, expertly written recipes that showcase her mastery of a subject that lacked a credible American perspective until now. In addition to being the most useful cookbook in my bar, Aperitivo is the most valuable collection of canonical Italian cocktails in print today." -Jim Meehan, author of The PDT Cocktail Book "Part insider travel guide, part party planner, part intrepid recipe resource, Marisa Huff's Aperitivo is the ultimate handbook to inspired Italian entertaining. It's stylish and sophisticated, and, just like the cocktails that fill its pages, it whets your appetite for more!" -Gail Simmons, food expert, TV host, and author of Talking with My Mouth Full "Marisa Huff has brilliantly curated and adapted drinks-as well as savory small bites-from many of the best aperitivo spots in Italy. An inspiring combination of recipes and superb instruction, this book expertly conveys why the Italian aperitivo as an experience is so much greater than the sum of its parts." -Joe Bastianich, restaurateur, TV host, and author of Restaurant Man "You've heard of armchair traveler guidebooks. Well, this inspiring, la-dolce-vita volume is more of a bar-chair travel guidebook. Think a travelogue of Italy's Happy Hour. . . [Aperitivo] allures readers page by glossy page through a spirited tour of Italy's top regional and urban drinking destinations - from Turin to Venice, from Milan to Rome, and plenty 'farther afield' establishments in between." -AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE "Part cookbook and part cocktail book, Aperitivo is a beautifully photographed, city-by-city look at that all-important sliver of time between work and dinnertime and the culture of drinking that has proliferated within it." -PUNCH MAGAZINE "This book is a delight. This book is important. And, if you love Italian food, this is the book you have to own, read, use, and tote on that next trip to Italy. Getting through life gracefully involves just a few things - money and love aside. You need exactly three things: some good food, delightful beverages, and a guiding principal. Happily those three are here in the pages of Aperitivo." -THE HUFFINGTON POST