Pasta Pane Vino

Matt Goulding, Hardie Grant Publishing, £16.99 (hardback)

Not just another foodie odyssey through the gastronomic culture of Italy, this book travels far deeper into the traditions and aspirations of Italian cuisine. Its credentials are established from the outset, with a foreword by the late Anthony Bourdain and dedicated to the Italian nonne “who have taught the world so much about eating”. It is they and their resourcefulness in times gone by who have created and consolidated iconic recipes and shaped the outsider’s perception of Italian food culture. In feast and famine they would always find ways to feed their families, seasonally and well, establishing rituals and recipes handed down through the generations. Exhorted by Anthony Bourdain to keep this in mind as he goes around the country, Matt Goulding, chief editor of Roads & Kingdoms, travels the length and breadth of Italy to discover more about these food traditions and meet the people who are driving this culinary reputation today. He discovers they are not so much the celebrity chefs as the everyday cooks, fishermen, farmers – and not forgetting the nonnas, of course.