Photo by Laura Edwards
It is a particular pleasure for me to bring you a book by Anna del Conte today of all days. It is, you see, the day the Vintage Classic edition of How to Eat comes out, for when it was originally launched 20 years ago, it owed much to Anna. I still owe much, so much, to Anna. Her wonderful body of work has been a constant inspiration and guide. It wouldn’t be a home for me without her books on the shelves. And I am so very delighted to have a new one to add to them. And this is a special one, dedicated to vegetables (though not entirely vegetarian). Italian cooking has always placed enormous importance on how vegetables are cooked and eaten; they are never just an afterthought or side dish, to be thought of as secondary to the main course. And Anna del Conte shows us why on every page of this book: from A - Z (aglio to zucchina, that’s to say, garlic to courgette) Anna gives eat-me-now recipes for soups, pasta, salads, bakes and bowlfuls with her customary thoughtfulness and very Italian respect for simplicity and clarity.
Every page inspires, but the recipe I want to share with you here is a special favourite of mine, the Grilled Radicchio and Chicory.
From Anna Del Conte's Vegetables all'Italiana, published by Pavilion Books, 2018.
Photo by Laura Edwards.
Photo by Laura Edwards
