Venice: Four Seasons of Home Cooking
Russell Norman, Fig Tree, £26 (hardback)
Instantly accessible, with its homecooked recipes celebrating authentic flavours and culinary traditions, made with love from seasonal produce sourced locally (including a greengrocer trading from a floating barge), this book reads as much like a diary of the author’s year (and a bit) in the Giardini quarter of Venice as it does a domestic recipe collection: and it does both so successfully. You’ll track the author’s progress through the seasons as he buys, prepares, cooks and eats in real time in a real Venetian kitchen. It’s a diverting read and you’ll learn much along the way. The recipes are simple with few ingredients, which means you’ll want to head to your kitchen and start cooking at the earliest opportunity. There’s so much more to say, but why not let Russell’s recipes speak for themselves? Just turn to p60…