Dolce e Salata

From the author of the bestselling A Thousand Days in Venice, these are the further adventures of Marlena and Fernando and their experiences as they move to a small village in Tuscany. Another delicious combination of authentic Italian life, food, recipes, love and memoir. ; ; In San Casciano dei Bagni, a small Tuscan village of 200 people, Marlena and her Italian husband, Fernando, rent a barely renovated former stable with no telephone, no heating and something resembling a toy kitchen. They live among ancient olive groves and hot Etruscan springs in this patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio rub shoulders. Fascinated by the rural tradition, Marlena finds her muse in Barlozzo, a gruff but charming Tuscan who has lived in San Casciano all of his life. He guides Marlena and Fernando in exploring the old rhythms of country life that are linked to the growing seasons. Barlozzo's fascinating stories lead Marlena and Fernando to the regional sacred festivals, to taste just-pressed olive oil drizzled over roasted country bread, and zucchini blossoms, battered and deep fried and sprayed with sea-salted water. They braise beans in red wine in a cauldron set over a wood fire and a stew of wild boar simmers overnight in the ashes of their hearth. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of farming traditions, ancient health potions and artisan food makers but he has secrets he doesn't share, and one of them concerns the beautiful Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that happiness is truly a choice. Beautifully combining Marlena's passions for food and love, Dolce e Salata weaves Marlena's own enticing recipes into this very satisfying story.