BOOKS - Recommended Literature

Sumptuous
by Marlene van der Westhuizen

She enticed us with Delectable; now she captures us with Sumptuous. Marlene van der Westhuizen's exquisite cookbooks, documenting her dual life in Cape Town and Charroux, France, are filled with easy, mouth-watering recipes and complemented by personable text, and beautiful pictures. Each chapter begins with descriptions of elements of her life in France such as the markets, Bagatelle, sunflowers, statues and antiquing on a Sunday as well as her life in Cape Town such as the Food Studio and life amongst the vineyards.

Styled and photographed by the award-winning Gerda Genis, Sumptuous is a feast for the eyes too. Genis’s exceptional photographs provide the perfect visual accompaniment to van der Westhuizen’s descriptions of the food, places, people and values that are cherished.

The Food of Italy: A Journey for Food Lovers
By Kay Halsey

Starting in the kitchens of Sicily, The Food of Italy moves to the cheese-makers of Naples through Tuscany's vineyards and on to the restaurants of Bologna. Recipes include a simple seafood antipasto, rich polenta with wild mushrooms, and strawberries drizzled with balsamic. Each dish is photographed as it is made, accompanied by useful tips on preparation and ingredients. Other photographs bring to life the stunning countryside of Italy and the lives of its people richly celebrating their love of good food and good company.

Under the Olive Tree
By Manuela Darling-Gansser

Under the Olive Tree is a story of family life and food in Lugano, an elegant city clinging to the edges of a Swiss Lake near the northern Italian border, and the sapphire seas of the Costa Smeralda in Sardegna, Italy. Manuela Darling-Gansser, along with photographer Simon Griffiths, captures this inspirational journey as she revisits the memories, sights, smells and tastes of her home town and the summer holidays of her childhood. Eat salami and mountain cheeses with red wine in the tiny grotto restaurants in the remote valleys of southern Switzerland. Sample traditional Sardinian fare of Culligiones, large pasta cushions filled with potato and wild mint and Semifreddo Di Miele Amaro, a soft ice cream flavoured with the unique Sardegnan bitter honey in the picturesque harbours on the Mediterranean. Under the Olive Tree is a celebration of Mediterranean al fresco living at its best!

Olive+Oil
By Jo McCauley

Over 60 delicious sweet and savoury recipes, all incorporating the wonderful flavour of olives and olive oil.

From mouthwatering starters such as Charred Artichoke and Olive Parma Tartlets to sumptuous main meals, including Sweet Lamb Tagine with New Potatoes, Lemons and Olives, there is something here for every occasion. Includes an exciting selection of sauces and marinades to bring a Mediterranean feel to every aspect of your cooking.

The Olive Grove
By: Patrice Newell

When Patrice Newell left a highly charged urban life to live in the country, friends warned her she'd be bored in no time. Now she is doing more in a day than most of us do in a week. And Elmswood is no ordinary property, it's a biodynamic farm with beef cattle and olives.

The Olive Grove is a celebration of rural life, from the disastrous to the comic. It also has an eye on the bigger issues: localism versus globalism; natural farming versus the use of chemicals; the need to sustainability. And in a nation where city dwellers own shares in huge, anonymous agricorporations, there are welcome reminders of the value of personal involvement. Not to mention the odd cooking tip.
An intensely human story, The Olive Grove is instructive, insightful, inspiring - and full of commonsense. At Elmswood, where life is vigorous and never dull, Patrice Newell proves that growing food can be as creative an act as cooking it.

Journey to the South
By: Annie Hawes

In this travelogue, the sequel to "Extra Virgin", local culinary superstar, Ciccio, gradually takes over as Annie Hawes' constant companion. He is a man who first demonstrates his affection and esteem by inviting her into his vineyard to help him mix up cow manure, which she spends the afternoon slapping onto an old pizza oven. This is the story of Annie's true initiation into Ligurian culture, via her courtship with Ciccio (involving his entire family), and the prolonged saga of her collapsing roof (involving the entire community). From discovering a nearby village whose lands are jointly owned by a family of prostitutes and a bunch of priests to being besieged by goats belonging to an (alleged) ex-marijuana-grower turned organic salami producer, Annie begins to wonder: how long does she have to stay before it all becomes normal run-of-the-mill stuff and ceases to amaze her?
In this book Annie again portrays the locals as ordinary, but interesting people instead of curious and amusing foreigners, and she writes about her day-to-day adventures in the Italian hills with zest, fresh humour and genuine appreciation for her hosts. When she gets snagged on a cultural difference she is more likely to examine herself than to blame her new culture.

Also read the review for her first book Extra Virgin below. As if you are still longing for more stories about the wonderful characters, we have good news. Next month we will review her third book, Journey to the South.

Camdeboo Karoo Venison
By: Annatjie Reynolds, Lynne Minnaar and Albè Neetling

Writers Annatjie Reynolds, Lynne Minnaar and Albè Neetling all live in (and love!!) the Karoo. They compiled a 200-page, full colour complete guide to venison with photographs, anecdotes, historical facts and other information to make this more than just a recipe book, but also a souvenir for tourists and hunters and everyone that loves the Karoo. The recipes are from trendy (venison in the Weber!) to traditional and are all from the kitchens of local women like the Cape Boer horse champion. Other recipes are from a former concert pianist, a mayor, a meat packer – all beautifully photographed as they cooked their specialties. The book is also available in Afrikaans.

Ripe for the Picking
By: Annie Hawes

In this travelogue, the sequel to "Extra Virgin", local culinary superstar, Ciccio, gradually takes over as Annie Hawes' constant companion. He is a man who first demonstrates his affection and esteem by inviting her into his vineyard to help him mix up cow manure, which she spends the afternoon slapping onto an old pizza oven. This is the story of Annie's true initiation into Ligurian culture, via her courtship with Ciccio (involving his entire family), and the prolonged saga of her collapsing roof (involving the entire community). From discovering a nearby village whose lands are jointly owned by a family of prostitutes and a bunch of priests to being besieged by goats belonging to an (alleged) ex-marijuana-grower turned organic salami producer, Annie begins to wonder: how long does she have to stay before it all becomes normal run-of-the-mill stuff and ceases to amaze her?
In this book Annie again portrays the locals as ordinary, but interesting people instead of curious and amusing foreigners, and she writes about her day-to-day adventures in the Italian hills with zest, fresh humour and genuine appreciation for her hosts. When she gets snagged on a cultural difference she is more likely to examine herself than to blame her new culture.

Also read the review for her first book Extra Virgin below. As if you are still longing for more stories about the wonderful characters, we have good news. Next month we will review her third book, Journey to the South.

Extra Virgin
By: Annie Hawes

In the early 1980’s, Annie Hawes and her sister leave England for the sun-drenched olive groves of mountainous Diano San Pietro, a small Italian town in Liguria. They bluff their way into a summer job of grafting roses for ten weeks for a local businessman, board and lodging included. They have fantasies of themselves falling for local Romeos, but no intention to stay on.

When Annie and Lucy ramble around the Ligurian hills above San Pietro and stop to explore a tumbledown "rustico" high on the hillside, a neighbor sees a business opportunity. He steps in to help them to buy the decayed old house for a very small sum of money. Luckily the owner is willing to sell it to them for just £2000 although he is wary of the deal - there is, after all, no man involved...

They struggle with making the house habitable, but it does have an earth closet up the garden and an outdoor shower behind a large rock. So what if they have to haul every drop of water out of the well by bucket?

The village is mystified that the girls would want to live in such conditions and that they know so little about olives, wine, food and life. They do not know how to spot wild asparagus or tell good mushrooms from bad. They drink too much coffee before lunch, eat food in the wrong order (they should know first antipasto, then primo piatto and secondo), they chop salads incorrectly. And to go swimming in seawater outside the month of July or August is even worse for your health than drinking cappuccino after twelve noon!

This book carefully records the local habits, customs and remedies in a light-hearted, engaging manner (although most of the remedies seem to involve the miraculous cure-all, powdered lime!!) Annie Hawes retells the episodes of her own ignorance providing entertainment by her unique way of detailing life 'trying to become a native' amidst a group somewhat bemused 'natives.' It's a romantic novel, but the romance is with a country, a lifestyle, a place.
She also offers an insightful look into agricultural customs that have gone largely unrecorded in popular literature and covers the arduous process of gathering olives and processing their oil.

Extra Virgin is Annie Hawes’ first book. She is also the author of Ripe of the Picking and Journey to the South that follow on the first book.

The Angel Tree
By: Alex Dingwall-Main

The Angel tree – A gardening travelogue that tells the story of the quest for the world’s oldest olive tree.

Alex Dingwall-Main is an English landscape gardener living in Provence. When a rich, eccentric client asked him to find the oldest olive tree in existence and to move it to his garden in Provence, Alex embarks on a horticultural quest and extraordinary mission. His journey takes him through the South of France, Spain, Italy and Greece. He visits ancient olive groves, meets unscrupulous dealers and finds intrigue when he discovers a village that believes a drop of rain touched by the leaves of the ancient “Angel Tree” will cure anything.

The book gives an interesting insight on the Mediterranean olive culture and history. The Angel Tree is simply enchanting.