My Umbrian Kitchen

Book excerpt: Join Patrizia Simone, Umbrian-Australian chef and advocate of eating and living by the seasons, as she shares the time-honoured rituals, agricultural activities and treasured family recipes she brought with her to Bright in Victoria from her childhood in rural Umbria. More than just a cookbook, it is a guide to a way of life whose traditions and rituals we can learn from and keep alive today, wherever we are. From the celebrations and recipes integral to Easter in the Umbrian spring and preserving the bounty of the tomato vines in summer, to foraging for chestnuts and preserving the olive harvest in autumn and the traditions accompanying the salami and sausage-making event that is il maile, the preserving of all edible parts of a pig during winter, this book captures the essence of Umbria and its culinary traditions.