Tuesday 15 March 2016

17. Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson


BOOK REVIEW: Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson

Those foodies out there who love to read their favourite subject (well, food of course!) in the form of a novel as well as for those who would like a little pizzazz on food crashing with a little romance will find this book very much up your alley. The author has written a novel which portrays modern Italy as one comic bad dream so get ready to be in stitches as well as drool over the food descriptions and recipes thrown in for good effect.

Gerald Samper lives on a hilltop in Tuscany. An effete and snobbish Englishman working as a ghostwriter for celebrities, he would prefer to be remembered as a gourmet. His recipes include ‘Mussels in Chocolate’, ‘Garlic and Fernet Branca ice cream’ and a dish containing purèed prunes, rhubarb, and smoked cat (off the bone).

Reluctantly, Gerald shares his hillside with Marta. As far as he can see, she is a vulgar woman from a crime-ridden former Soviet republic. She is also a composer in the neo-folk style who is writing a score for a glamorous Italian film director – though Gerald can’t believe it.

The mutual misunderstandings of these two exiles, each in search of a crowning success in the sunlight of Tuscany, get ever more dangerous. To the music of black helicopters and bad opera, and oiled by large quantities of the bitter aperitif Fernet Branca – all that either of them ever seems to have around the house – the lives of these two unlikely neighbours gradually and disastrously intertwine.


Well-written, this enthralling read brings you into the lives of two unlikely characters who both share the same love of food and how opposites attract. Funny and at times tear-jerking, this is one book that you shouldn’t miss out on. 

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