This story is part of the October 20 edition of Sunday Life. See all 14 stories . I’ve known Italy my whole life and have loved it for just as long.
You could say it’s an obsession, which I’ve indulged by slowly eating my way through the entire country. My fourth book, Mangia, is the mouth-watering culmination of this journey, more than 40 years in the making. It’s a distillation of a lifetime’s worth of meals and conversations with chefs, vintners, olive growers, cheesemakers, caper farmers, fishermen, restaurateurs, culinary journalists and the many others who work with food, or who just love it.
The truth is, Italy doesn’t have a homogeneous menu or culture: both are regional and dynamic. Credit: Simone Anne / Stocksy United What better way to understand Italy than through its kitchens? “Mangia” means “eat”, and I guarantee that is exactly what you’ll want to do after diving into this book, which weaves a tale of Italy’s culinary heart. But while people from around the world might arrive here on an empty stomach, ready to overindulge in la cucina italiana , what if I told you an Italian cuisine doesn’t actually exist? That there’s no such thing? The truth is, Italy doesn’t have a homogeneous menu or culture: both are regional and dynamic.
In fact, you could almost describe Italy as 20 different countries in one, each with its own food, customs, dialect and geographic make-up. Their individual cuisines are guided by local seasons, produce, trad.
