The Risotto Guru: Adventures in Eating Italian
By Laura Fraser
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About this ebook
Laura Fraser
Laura Fraser is a San Francisco–based journalist and writing mentor whose latest travel memoir, All Over the Map, is a sequel to her 2001 New York Times best seller, An Italian Affair. She was the cofounder and editorial director of Shebooks.
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The Risotto Guru - Laura Fraser
Italy in 17 Courses
Aperitivi
Stuzzichini, olive
It is August in Sardinia, where Italian vacationers sleep late, down an espresso, and then take to the beaches, packing themselves together like slippery fish in a tin. Historically, Sardinians—invaded frequently and from all sides—cozied into the interior; beach property was considered so worthless that only the women inherited the spectacular cliffs and wide expanses of sand. Today, like everyone else, I’m splashing around and getting abbronzata at the beach.
In the evening, the beachgoers gather at bars, laughing and teasing each other as only Sards can, with increasing drunkenness and daring, until nearly dawn. I’m visiting my friend Beppe, who brings me along to meet his friends, which means almost everyone between the ages of 18 and 50 from Sassari and Sorso. He introduces me to Giovanna and Giuliano and tells me they are getting married on Saturday. They kiss me on the cheeks and ask where I’m from. I say San Francisco, where Beppe is currently living, where friends called me in a panic several years ago because they needed someone to come speak Italian to this guy who had arrived to stay on their couch and cook seafood pasta. Beppe explains we became friends even though I am the most napoletano American he’s ever met, by which he means conniving and ball-busting, but which I explain is because I make such good pizza.
Giovanna and Giuliano invite me to their wedding.
I’m startled: at home in the United States, people agonize over the guest list, counting every head at $120, cutting cousins and former colleagues, wondering who will be insulted and who will send a present anyway. They meet weeks in advance with caterers who will dole out four ounces of salmon for every guest next to three baby rosemary potatoes, a dollop of spinach, and one white roll. There is no inviting of strangers to a wedding at the last minute. Brides, paying parents, wedding planners, place card letterers: everyone would freak out.
It would be a pleasure,
says Giovanna, with a smile that says she means it and would even be sad if I were still in the country and not attending on Saturday.
"Un gran piacere," I say, not only because they are such a charming couple but because (being a little napoletana) I know a wedding meal in Sardinia—perhaps my favorite destination among hundreds of beloved food destinations in Italy—will be the ultimate culinary pleasure.
The day of the wedding, I shop, because the only nice dress I brought is purple, and Beppe’s mother informs me that purple brings bad luck to a wedding, and under no circumstances may I wear that dress. I wander around the streets of Alghero, a little piece of Spain in Sardinia, until I find a shop with a