limoncello & linen water – Tessa Kiros

 

I was lucky enough to receive this utterly beautiful book for my birthday recently. We already have a couple of Tessa Kiros’s other books – Falling Cloudberries, and Twelve: A Tuscan Cookbook – which I love, but this has to be my absolute favourite.

As with all her books, Tessa draws you into her world. Born in London to a Finnish mother and a Greek Cypriot father, she married an Italian, and has moved around the world and cooked in myriad places. She has now settled in Tuscany with her husband and their two daughters.

This book is a tribute to her mother-in-law, Wilma, as well as many of the other matriarchs that have entered into her life. It is full of their snippets of wisdom, their tips on how to maintain an orderly household, and of course, recipes, passed on through generations. The photographs are something else – richly textured, filled with the treasures collected over time – heirloom silver, beautiful china, embroidered linens, trinkets, old photographs and pretty boxes to keep them in. It is a book full of love and beauty.

I haven’t had a chance to try many of the recipes yet (as I write this I am looking at a large hole in my bench and awaiting the installation of a brand new oven!), and unfortunately, some of the ingredients sound a bit exotic – I’d reckon I’d be hard-pressed to find them in Wagga. Some of the recipes certainly don’t entice me either (celery marmalade anyone? to have with a cheese platter, of course) – but there are some that look and sound divine. Pass me that Torta Tartufata (chocolate truffle cake) now.

Published by Murdoch Books, ISBN 978-1742668789.