100 Books Like Delizia!

I could almost immediately smell the gorgeous scent of citrus wafting from the pages of this beautiful book through the magic of Helena Atlee’s precisely detailed writing.

Who would have thought that the story of Italy’s varied and numerous citrus plantations would take me on a journey all across the country, from Sicily’s west coast to the fragrant lemon gardens of Lake Garda, and in time from when the Arabs introduced bitter oranges up to the workings of the citrus industry today.

I love this book because it simply tells the fragrant story of how fruit, in various manifestations, has come to be cultivated all around the country and to represent something of the soul and the spirit of the Italian people.

Salt, neither you nor I would be alive without this mundane, everyday product that we scarcely give a second thought to. Salt is essential for human life, explains Mark Kurlansky, and the ingenious ways in which it is harvested and utilised all around the world, from antiquity to now, is the subject of this fascinating book.

I traveled in this book from China to western Sicily, from the North Atlantic, where fishermen preserved their catch of cod in salt, to the Indian sub-continent, where salt marches were eventually to lead to the emancipation of a nation. The Chinese wrote about gathering salt 8000 years ago; methods were perfected by the Phoenicians and the Romans, and salt is still evaporated by the sun and wind alone, hand-harvested through evaporation with hand tools as it has been for millennia.

The story of salt is the story of human civilisation.

I love cheese, and I love how British cheeses have reinvented themselves as dairy farmers have been forced to diversify in order to keep in business.

This fascinating book has taken me on a journey around the British Isles and in time and place from the Stone Age and the Roman era, the influence of Monasteries, the post-war industrial boom, to right now, and the renaissance of traditional farmhouse artisan cheesemaking.

I love this book because it does not just outline British cheeses; it is also the human story of the people who handcrafted them. Best of all, I can actually find and purchase some of these cheeses to enjoy while reading the book!

I love travel, wine, and learning more about the people who create wine. This book ticks all these boxes.

It takes me all across Sicily, one of Italy’s most exciting and dynamic wine regions. In the course of these travels, I get to meet the people who have transformed Sicilian wine from pedestrian to world-class.

Camuto is a masterful storyteller. His descriptions of encounters with winemakers, what they look like, and the meals they share together are as interesting as the up-to-the-minute information he imparts about the wines they are now bringing to the world. This is a must-read for lovers of Sicily and all lovers of Italian wine.

If you diligently work your way down this list, you’ll travel to Sicily, Venice, Florence, and Naples. But none of these cities beat Rome. I’m biased, of course. My wife and I lived in Rome when we were first married. When I close my eyes, I swear I see Caravaggios and I can still smell the woodsmoke and simmering pasta sauce that perfume Rome’s air. All of which brings me to Hewson’s Nic Costa novels. I don’t think anyone nails Rome’s sinister criminal quality the way Hewson does, but he still manages to capture the Eternal City’s beauty, food, and art. (Hewson’s a Brit who travels to Italy often; it's totally worth checking out his Instagram account.) Currently 10 books in the series. If you like them, investigate his standalone novels, some of which are also set in Italy.

My grandparents were from southern Italy. Over the years, I had always wanted to learn about the area, its history, and culture. Even in the Italian language, there is a lack of any quality publications dealing with the south.

Finally, a book was published in 2005 filling this gap—Astarita’s book is praiseworthy for its in-depth coverage of south Italy. Rather than scavenging together hundreds of books and articles for information, there came this main reference work.

Written by Astarita, a professor at Georgetown University, it is a scholarly work. It doesn’t read like a novel, but the thoroughness brings out the character of the people and their contributions to Italian and world culture. I praise the author for bringing this important topic out of obscurity to world attention.

Who could resist this first line? “I slept with my French husband halfway through our first date.”  Not me!  Elizabeth Bard, in Paris for the weekend, sits down to lunch with a handsome Frenchman and falls in love.  

Bard reveals how, despite her dreams of success, she was able to reinvent herself after marrying a Frenchman and moving to France. The included recipes run the gamut from what he cooked for her after they first made love to French dinner party food and traditional favorites from her American-Jewish family. 

This memoir of finding a new life in the City of Lights is well-written, humorous, and personal. If you, like me, have ever fantasized that Paris could change your life, this book is a must-read.

The family stories in this book bring history to life on a personal level. The five families are connected by their immigrant experience, but they approached food in different ways, from family-oriented German biergartens to kosher delis to imported olive oil. Each new wave of immigrants brought their own unique traditions to America, and the neighborhood evolved as each successive group brought something new to the metaphorical table.

I find the tension between maintaining food traditions and adapting them to a new nation fascinating. It also made me think about how much each group contributed to the American diet. 

This isn’t just a book—it’s a feat of cultural anthropology, an ark of the world’s wondrous and unique food cultures on the brink of erasure due to the encroachment of industrial food and globalization. The photos are mesmerizing, and the accounts of the families are both fascinating and heartrending.

I keep this book on my desk and open it anytime I have a little downtime. I can disappear into the world of, say, subsistence farmers in Bhutan or marvel over the mouthwatering array of dishes a Turkish mom churns out for her family of six from a one-bedroom apartment in Istanbul. I never cease to be amazed—or hungry.

I like this book because it adapts Eric Schlosser’s best-selling Fast Food Nation for young adult readers. It is a superb and readable overview of the fast-food industry, from its history to its deceptive advertising, to its mistreatment of workers in its factory farms, slaughterhouses, and restaurants, to the harm it does to the environment, animals, and our health.

But it doesn’t just decry the industry’s many problems. It also describes restaurant chains that are offering healthy alternatives and what young and old alike can do to improve our food choices and influence government policies that have benefited the rise of fast food and its exploitation of workers and eaters alike.