Marlena de Blasi

Allen & Unwin 
RRP $24.99

This is a delicious “word of mouth” book!  

I was told about this book in mouth watering detail from my friend Joan who is a super cook. 

… “new wine, new oil, all those chestnuts, fat porcini smelling of loam and the ages, figs dripping honey, the leaves on the vines yellow as saffron…”

This is the story of a small group of Umbrian women who gather each week in an old stone house in the hills above Orvieto to cook, eat and drink. And equally important, to talk and laugh.

During these meals the women share memories and stories of their lives and families and these form the fundamental truths of this delightful book. 

Woven through their stories are the rudimentary recipes written as you tell a good friend how you made a particular dish. . . ingredients tossed together like the laughter and love of old friends. 

So it’s not a traditional cook book… but you want to rush to make some of the homely wonderful dishes they shared at the supper club. 

Marlena has written cookbooks, is a journalist, author and chef. She and her husband Fernando moved from Venice, then Tuscany and now live in Orvieto in the Umbrian hills of Italy.  

The Umbrian Supper Club takes you there, and takes you back to memories of meals and family…as only cooking and sharing food can.

It’s earthy, real, and simply delectable.

DM