A Thousand Days In Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure

By Marlena de Blasi

Book Overview

American chef Marlena de Blasi and her Venetian husband, Fernando, married rather late in life. In search of the rhythms of country living, the couple moves to a barely renovated former stable in Tuscany with no phone, no central heating, and something resembling a playhouse kitchen. They dwell among two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves, and hot Etruscan springs. In this patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio collide, there is much to feed de Blasi's two passions--food and love. We accompany the couple as they harvest grapes, gather chestnuts, forage for wild mushrooms, and climb trees in the cold of December to pick olives, one by one. Their routines are not that different from those of villagers centuries earlier. They are befriended by the mesmeric Barlozzo, a self-styled village chieftain. His fascinating stories lead de Blasi more deeply inside the soul of Tuscany. Together they visit sacred festivals and taste just-pressed olive oil, drizzled over roasted country bread, and squash blossoms, battered and deep-fried and sprayed with sea-salted water. In a cauldron set over a wood fire, they braise beans in red wine, and a stew of wild boar simmers overnight in the ashes of their hearth. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of Italian farming traditions, ancient health potions, and artisanal 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. Like the pleasurable tastes and textures of a fine meal, "A Thousand Days in Tuscany" is as satisfying as it is enticing. The author's own recipes are included.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565123921
• ISBN13: 9781565123922
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 325 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 1.3" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

A foodie memoir/travelogue

This is a mouth-watering book for those who enjoy really good foodwriting. de Blasi is a food writer and critic who moved to Italy and has set up her own food business there with her husband. This book was originally titled Dolce e Salata - sweet and salty - which i thought was a much more suitable title. It is both about her experiences in this amazing region and the food she tasted and shares with us. 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. 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. 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. This combines Marlena's own enticing recipes with her travels and makes a very satisfying story

A Feast for the Heart and the Soul.........

Do yourself a favor and read de Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Venice" before embarking on the sequel "A Thousand Days in Tuscany". It is not required reading, but you would be missing out on a delightful and unusual love story which sets up this book so perfectly. Do not mistake this book for a cook book. It is so much more. De Blasi's writing is a feast of sumptuous descriptions of not only food, but life in Tuscany and the joy of knowing she is living her life exactly as she wants to. After reading the book, I was taken aback to find how strongly I wanted to meet this person and be a part of her circle of friends. She is as warm and senuous as the olive oil drizzled on the crusty, roasted, tuscan breads. This book could have been filled with photographs, but they weren't necessary. De Blasi's descriptions will fill your mind's eye with amazing visuals of life in rural Tuscany. I hope when you finish the book(s) you will feel, like I do, that your heart and soul have been amptly nourished .... and your taste-buds truly inspired!

A Thousand Days in Tuscany is wonderful

By the time I was halfway through A Thousand Days in Tuscany by Marlena de Blasi, I wanted to get up at six each morning and bake the day's bread with rosemary and olive oil. I wanted to walk up a hill and go to breakfast at a local bar and chat with the duke, a local man who took Marlena and her husband under his wing and showed them what life in the Tuscan village where they settled for a thousand days was really like. Reading this book was a wonderful experience for me as I followed this couple through their days of integrating into the life, lives and especially the foods, wines and cooking of this area of Italy. Harvesting grapes for wine, picking olives and chestnuts are all part of a way of life that hasn't changed for centuries in this part of the world, and de Blasi does an excellent job of taking us in our armchairs into that world. The natural romance of the area just adds to the romantic relationship that de Blasi and her husband have, and as the reader I experienced every lovely minute of their time in Tuscany. The only thing I would have liked in addition to de Blasi's lyrical writing was a collection of photos from her time there, but maybe the imagination does a better job.