Exciting Food for Southern Types

Pellegrino Artusi is the original icon of Italian cookery, whose legendary 1891 book Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well defined its national cuisine and is still a bestseller today. He was also a passionate gastronome, renowned host and brilliant raconteur, who filled his books with tasty recipes and rambunctious anecdotes. From an unfortunate incident regarding Minestrone in Livorno and a proud defense of the humble meat loaf, to digressions on the unusual history of ice-cream, the side effects of cabbage and the Florentines' weak constitutions, these writings brim with gossip, good cheer and an inexhaustible zest for life.