Dear Francesca [Hardcover]

'part cookery, part storytelling - and wholly beguiling...don't miss it: there won't be a better cookbook published this decade', Elisabeth Luard, Daily Mail .'a charming story...she unravels the family history like a precious thread...Contini's writing has a naturalness and honesty about it that brings a lump to the throat on occasion. It is full of warmth, love and respect for traditional Italian attitudes to food as the cornerstone of a nurturing family life. A lovely unmissable book.', Sunday Herald .'a really heartwarming book of recollections and recipes, recounted with love and gusto', Sainsbury's Magazine .'a remarkable book...a pleasure to read as well as to cook from', Homes & Gardens .'From the barren mountains of Southern Italy to the chilly streets of Edinburgh, this is a joy - both in and out of the kitchen', Choice Magazine --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"a remarkable book...a pleasure to read as well as to cook from" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"a really heartwarming book of recollections and recipes, recounted with love and gusto" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

A charming story, warmly and sensuously told, of an Italian family's emigration to Scotland, and the respect for Italian attitudes and passion for food that formed the cornerstone of their family life --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

If your mother had been brought up in an extended Italian family that was passionate about food, and gone on to run one of the country's most successful delicatessens, would you not want a record of all the knowledge and experience she had acquired? Dear Francesca provides just that, in a form that can be shaerd with other families and other cooks. Addressing her daughter Francesca, Mary Contini has written not only a wonderful cook book, but also a compelling and often moving account of her family history. She describes the life her grandparents led in a poor mountain village in Italy, their emigration to Scotland and the culinary traditions the extended family has kept alive in their adopted country. Informative, humorous and always passionate, this is a cookbook to read as well as to cook from day after day.

An unusual, deeply personal family cookbook, written to be passed on to future generations, by the bestselling author of the Easy Peasy series.

Mary Contini is a partner in the famous Italian delicatessen, Valvona and Crolla, in Edinburgh. She also writes a column for The Scotsman and has presented Scotland's Larder on television.

Dear Francesca

When I was young I felt I had no heritage. Our family had no roots. As the daughter of an Italian immigrant living in a small Scottish community, I was different from my friends. As a child you felt the same. When asked at the tender age of six if you were Italian or Scottish you said with huge insight. ‘I feel Italian when I am in Scotland and Scottish when I am in Italy.’ The truth is, Francesca, you have truly honourable roots. Your great-grandparents emigrated from poverty and squalor and worked hard and long to give you a better future. I have no material things left from them to give you. No furniture, no jewellery or paintings handed down from generation to generation. They came to Scotland with no more than they could carry.

What they have left you is an instinct to live healthily and eat well and, most precious of all, a strong respect for God, family and your neighbour. So, dear Francesca, here in these pages is that heritage of your family that was handed down to me by word of mouth, with humour and love.

Treasure it; it’s more precious than jewels.

All my love, Mummy --This text refers to the Paperback edition.