Lucio Galletto grew up on the Italian Riviera. He now runs the acclaimed Sydney restaurant Lucio's. David Dale is the author of The 100 Things Everyone Needs to Know about Italy, and Anatolia: Adventures in Turkish cooking.
"Chef Galletto and journalist Dale, co-authors previously of
Soffritto: A Return to Italy (2011) and other books, make
definitive choices in this seafood-glorifying cuisine collection,
selecting more than 100 favorite recipes from coastal cities in
France, Italy, and Spain. In essence, it's a pilgrimage from
Galletto's Ligurian home town to the Spanish port city of
Tarragona, proving Waverly Root's point in The Food of France
(1958) that separating European nations by preferred cooking fat
(butter, lard, olive oil) makes more sense than by national
boundaries. In what is ostensibly an introduction to the coastal
Mediterranean region's cuisine, both authors assume at least a
nodding acquaintance with ingredients and foundations such as basil
and aioli, bouillabaisse and salade nicoise, and give much
explanation about country variations and alternatives. Dishes tend
towards the familiar for most foodies: tapenade and potato
tortilla, seafood paella and focaccia. Sidebars often highlight
travel must-sees, such as the Med's mightiest mercat (in
Barcelona), Les Templiers Hotel (in Collioure), and basil madness
on the Mediterranean. This is both a photo book to drool over and a
collection to cook from, full of travel stories to amuse- and dream
about."
The latest collaboration from Ligurian chef Galletto and food
journalist Dale (Soffritto: A Delicious Ligurian Memoir) serves up
a sumptuous culinary tour through three Mediterranean cooking
cultures in what the authors call the Domain of Oil: Liguria,
Provence, and Catalunya (also known as Catalonia). Northwest Italy,
southern France, and northeast Spain, connected by a contiguous
coastline, share foodstuffs and foodways brought by Greeks, Romans,
and Arabs, such as olives, saffron, figs, chickpeas, and anchovies
as well as eggplant, rice, and pasta. The authors skillfully
present the culinary links, observing that Liguria's pesto alla
genovese is Catalunya's salsa verde and Provencal's pistou.
Fish-based fare abounds with stews such as Marseille-style
bouillabaisse and baccala (dried salt cod) recipes across the
cuisines. Quail and figs with farro is a mash-up of Provencal and
Ligurian classics. Regional salads, soups, breads, rice and pasta,
and dessert recipes are plentiful, using ingredients accessible to
American home cooks. Photographs showcase kindred plates and
sun-drenched Mediterranean landscapes. This cookbook-cum-travelogue
also highlights favorite taverns and restaurants along the culinary
corridor and the spectacular markets of Barcelona and Nice.
Galletto and Dale's culinary tour and definitive recipe collection
is at once personal, enlightening, and mouthwatering.
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