Frances Mayes – författare

“Tuscan food tastes like itself. Ingredients are left to shine. . . . So, if on your visit, I hand you an apron, your work will be easy. We’ll start with primo ingredients, a little flurry of activity, perhaps a glass of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and soon we’ll be carrying platters out the door. We’ll have as much fun setting the table as we have in the kitchen. Four double doors along the front of the house open to the outside—so handy for serving at a long table under the stars (or for cooling a scorched pan on the stone wall). Italian Philosophy 101: la casa aperta, the open house.” —from the Introduction   In all of Frances Mayes’s bestselling memoirs about Tuscany, food plays a starring role. This cuisine transports, comforts, entices, and speaks to the friendly, genuine, and improvisational spirit of Tuscan life. Both cooking and eating in Tuscany are natural pleasures. In her first-ever cookbook, Frances and her husband, Ed, share recipes that they have enjoyed over the years as honorary Tuscans: dishes prepared in a simple, traditional kitchen using robust, honest ingredients.             A toast to the experiences they’ve had over two decades at Bramasole, their home in Cortona, Italy, this cookbook evokes days spent roaming the countryside for chestnuts, green almonds, blackberries, and porcini; dinner parties stretching into the wee hours,  and garden baskets tumbling over with bright red tomatoes.             Lose yourself in the transporting photography of the food, the people, and the place, as Frances’s lyrical introductions and headnotes put you by her side in the kitchen and raising a glass at the table. From Antipasti (starters) to Dolci (desserts), this cookbook is organized like a traditional Italian dinner.             The more than 150 tempting recipes include: ·         Fried Zucchini Flowers ·         Red Peppers Melted with Balsamic Vinegar ·         Potato Ravioli with Zucchini, Speck, and Pecorino ·         Risotto Primavera ·         Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Sausage ·         Cannellini Bean Soup with Pancetta ·         Little Veal Meatballs with Artichokes and Cherry Tomatoes ·         Chicken Under a Brick ·         Short Ribs, Tuscan-Style ·         Domenica’s Rosemary Potatoes ·         Folded Fruit Tart with Mascarpone ·         Strawberry Semifreddo ·         Steamed Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Sauce   Frances and Ed also share their tips on stocking your pantry, pairing wines with dishes, and choosing the best olive oil. Learn their time-tested methods for hand rolling pasta and techniques for coaxing the best out of seasonal ingredients with little effort.             Throw on another handful of pasta, pull up a chair, and languish in the rustic Italian way of life.

Continuing Frances Mayes's account of her love affair with Italy, Bella Tuscany presents the author now truly at home there, meeting the challenges of learning a new language and touring regions outside Tuscany, including castle towns, fishing villages, and islands. With fresh adventures and updates on the characters introduced in Under the Tuscan Sun, Mayes also explores new themes in this wondrous corner of the world, delving into gardening, wine-making, and the experience of primavera - a season of renewed possibility. And Mayes reveals more simple pleasures from her Tuscan kitchen in a section devoted to recipes. In the sensuous, vivid prose that has become her hallmark, Bella Tuscany celebrates Mayes's deepening connection to the land and her flourishing friendships in a newfound haven of idyllic living.

Discover the New York Times bestseller that inspired the film. The perfect read for anyone seeking an escape to the Italian countryside.When Frances Mayes – poet, gourmet cook and travel writer – buys an abandoned villa in Tuscany, she has no idea of the scale of the project she is embarking on.In this enchanting memoir she takes the reader on a journey to restore a crumbling villa and build a new life in the Italian countryside, navigating hilarious cultural misunderstandings, legal frustrations and the challenges of renovating a house that seems determined to remain a ruin. Filled with evocative landscapes, delicious recipes and colourful characters, Under the Tuscan Sun is a book to savour. It’s a love letter to Tuscany, good food, and the joys of starting over. "What makes it special is the sustained note of joy in it; joy in the beauty of the Tuscan countryside, the sights and sounds of daily life, the physical labour involved in the restoration of this 200-year-old villa and the five acres of land that go with it" SUNDAY TIMES