The Vinegar of Spilamberto: And Other Italian Adventures with Food, Places, and People

First introduced to the delights of the Italy during her husband's year of Fulbright scholarship in Rome, Muscatine chronicles life as a young mother and self-professed ""foodie"" in the golden post-war years of the Eternal City. Not intending her book to be read on an empty stomach, the author ably describes the culinary delights she encountered in her travels, including one memorable meal of ""bucatini all'amatriciana, 'macaroni' with a sauce of smoky Italian-style bacon, tomatoes, and cheese; and gnocchi di patate, little potato dumplings bubbling with butter and grated pecorino."" Exploring bucolic Tuscan venues, celebrity-sprigged locales like Positano and Capri, the lesser-traveled concorsi of Sardinia and the fishy delights of Venice, the couples' travails are predictably and relentlessly delightful. Describing the eponymous vinegar, Muscatine explains that it begins ""with the must of gently pressed grapes and skins, most usually made from overripe white Trebbiano grapes...boiled slowly until it becomes concentrated into saba, which ... lends the finished vinegar its sweetness."" Muscatine's insatiable curiosity about the Italian culinary practices she witnesses first-hand are infectious, and it's easy to see why the enthusiastic couple forged lifelong friendships during their travels. With each turn of the page, Muscatine establishes herself as a gracious guide through her colorfully written, gilt-edged memories.