Have you ever looked at a book and fallen in love? Do you believe in book love at first sight? When this book came in the mail, I knew the meaning of loving cultures and loving food and loving creativity, and it was all wrapped up in this gorgeous book called Tasting Rome by Katie Parla and Kristina Gill.
If you never make a single recipe in this book, it is still worth having in your collection. It just so happened that when it arrived, I was actually talking about Rome-- ancient, middle ages and present-- with my daughter, but I had not anticipated this book becoming part of our learning adventure. You see, when I take my daughter on these "trips" around the world, I love the learning that I myself do in the process, and with a book like this, we could not only do both but also talk about another aspect-- how our taste buds affect our learning and our culture.
Its something we both were very familiar with. We've tried Thai, Indian, Japanese, Brazilian and American food together before. I think we're getting a good sense of what it means to have access to foods from around the world as well a understanding how the food speaks to our culture's values and how it forms our own opinions of other cultures. However, this book makes the experience come to life. For lack of the thousands of dollars a trip to Italy might cost us, this book is filled with food as an experience. It is not merely a recipe book, but is filled with history, vivid travel photography, quaint stories of the people and what the dishes mean in the Roman context. It fills and satisfies all our senses and lacks only a good soundtrack to listen to as we voyage the streets of Rome from the comfort of our homes. I am hoping to piece together a blog entry on our Homeschooling page in the coming year as we start over again with the beginning of history, and to use this book to bring Ancient Rome and present-day Rome to life, so if you follow me there, expect this book to pop up once again as I gather resources and experiences for the adventure.
Finally, as we look through the recipes, we find authentic dishes placed in their traditional contexts and often with a twist here and there. When possible, I hope to find the squash blossoms and attempt to take myself back to my time in Positano when I first discovered them as a delicious appetizer. My daughter is looking forward to making... you guessed it... pizza! However, it is worth noting that this is not your standard 10 easy dishes in 20 minutes cookbook. Ingredients must be hunted down (and in KC, I don't see this as much of an issue) and the food will take the time it takes to prepare a hearty meal with love. As with any cultural interaction, there will be foods that sound good and others that don't sound as good. This is also a cookbook that has a few "kid-friendly" recipes, but is not primarily for this purpose. You may have some adventurous kids out there, but few kids (or parents) would be so open to a butter and anchovy crostini, tripe, beef tongue, alcoholic beverages or a shaved artichoke salad. But I bet you'll love the bread and sweets chapters in particular with a variety of ways to make pizzas, fried dough balls, or Zabaione Gelato drenched in Coffee (Audrey's Brazilian-- they put coffee on a steady drip from the moment their born).
With pictures galore for the staring, stories and history, whether you plan on making the recipes or not, it's a treasure for my book shelf that I hope will be there for a long time. Will you make a mess? Probably. But if you venture into making these recipes, it's guaranteed you will also make some lasting and delicious memories that won't soon be forgotten, as Rome itself has not forgotten its culinary roots.
Disclosure: I recieved this book from Blogging for Blooks. This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a percentage of each sale when you make a purchase using these links or that I received this product in return for the ; however, I fully support and recommend each of these products. You can view my full disclosure policy here.