Like clockwork, as fall gives way to the long grey stretch of winter, my mind starts to wander to far-off places. Tessa Kiros’ latest cookbook is the perfect aid for any armchair (or kitchen) travel you may be inclined to venture on. Venezia, with its gilded page edges, velvet ribbon bookmark and generous photography, is a sumptuous affair, and one that delivers on the subtitle’s promise of ‘food and dreams’.
Tessa Kiros lives in Italy, though not in Venice, so the same spirit of exploration that readers enjoyed in Postcards from Portugal is present in this book. For the well-traveled Tessa, food is the true passport to a place, and if anyone is going to get the golden key to the city, she will. In a preface called “Eating in Venice”, she patiently guides us through the elements of a proper Venetian meal, from cicchetti and antipasto, through primo, secondi, contorni, to dolci and finally caffè. The book is similarly divided; having examined the separate courses of the meal, she offers the best examples of each one. With sections on 'clams and carpaccio', 'zuppa and zattere', not to mention a chapter devoted entirely to risotto, fans of Italian food will not be disappointed – this cookbook is a love letter to the unique cuisine of the floating city.
Published by Whitecap, 2009.
