Cooking with Fernet Branca (2004) by James Hamilton-Paterson

 

🍷 Imagine reading a P.D. Wodehouse, but move the setting to Tuscany, then reduce the usual slapstick moments - just a tiny bit, and add a lot of cooking and unusual recipes - there, you'll get Cooking with Fernet Branca. The story revolve around two foreign neighbors in a secluded hilltop cottages in Tuscany. Both the rather snobbish English man Gerald Samper, and the Voynovian (a crime-riddled ex-Soviet Republic country) Marta, had bought their cottages from the same agent, who promised them both that they could live peacefully. A promise, which, with time, proved to be broken. Through a series of misunderstandings and, a Wodehousian miss-timing, the two neighbors found themselves struggled to maintain harmony.

🍷 Gerald "Gerry" Samper is a ghostwriter in need of a secluded place to write about the lives of celebrities - from sportsman to boyband singer. When he's in a foul mood, Samper turns to experimental cooking - creating eccentric dishes - with questionable delectability - with unusual ingredient-pairings. Indeed, one time, when he heard someone said "cats among the pigeons", Samper literally thought of cooking with cat's and pigeon's meat. Ugh! He even "shares" some of his recipes in the book. One particular ingredient that later on becomes his staple is Fernet Branca, a distinctive liquor first introduced by his new neighbor, Marta. Marta is a songwriter, who is currently hired by a famous Italian movie director named Pacini. When the unlikely neighbors first met, both thought the other ridiculous persons who's bragging about his/her profession. And these 'misunderstandings' continually formed hilarious moments throughout the book.

🍷 What makes this book more distinctive, is the structure. The story is told from both Gerald and Marta's point of view. They told it alternately, describing most of the scenes from their perspectives. While Gerald's parts are mostly read like a diary with additional cooking recipes, Marta's contains of diary and letters to her sister. From these, we gather little by little of her social and familial background, which spices up the story a bit. I won't describe the plot in details, for not spoiling it for you, because the comedic quality of this book depends on the plot and timing. In short, it's a delightful and hilarious book, with quirky characters, more quirky dishes, and with the rural Tuscany summer vibes - sprinkled with tiny glimpses of the glamourous world of celebrities, movie making, and helicopters.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2