Al Dente

by WilliamBlack (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2003

  $3.25

  William Black is serious about Italian food, and in this title he eats whatever gets in his way - expounding the joys of everything from maggot-infested cheese to pasta with donkey sauce. William travels the length and breadth of Italy in his quest for the most delicious and authentic cooking and the very finest ingredients - eating agnolotti in Turin, chasing after rabbits in Ischia and viewing the mattanza, the annual tuna catch, off Siciliy far to the south. One minute he's scoffing eel brodetto, the next he's waxing lyrical about frog risotto.

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $3.25

  In Al Dente , William Black travels the length and breadth of Italy in order to get to the roots of Italian food. Our intrepid gastronome eats whatever gets in his way which often isn't quite what it seems. If it's cheese then it may be considered ripe only when it has been predigested by maggots or perhaps made solely from the milk of tired cows. A bowl of pasta might come with donkey sauce. A dish of wind dried tuna apparently includes its testicles. A lovely risotto has been made with seagull broth...William's dedication to his task knows alarmingly few bounds. His quest for the most delicious and authentic cooking and the very finest ingredients takes him to some wonderfully familiar places as well as others far off the beaten track: he drinks great coffee in Turin, chases rabbits in Ischia and views the mattanza, the annual tuna catch, off the coast of Sardinia. One minute he's scoffing eel brodetto, the next waxing lyrical about the joys of frog risotto. And as he eats his way to the country's culinary heart, he unearths the fascinating story of his own family's role in Italian history. A joy from cover to cover and 100 per cent mierda di bufala-free, Al Dente is a must for anyone with an interest in Italy or its food. It will probably make you want to book a holiday and it will certainly make you laugh.