The University of Wisconsin Press


Cooking & Italy / Folklore



Festa
Recipes and Recollections of Italian Holidays
Helen Barolini



"An enchanting guide though the calendar of Italian holidays. . . . A cookbook that offers more than just good food."
Booklist

Born of Italian-American parents, Helen Barolini rediscovered her culinary heritage when she married Italian writer Antonio Barolini and lived for some years in Italy. Festa is a year-long feast of memories and delicious, traditional Italian dishes—from St. Nicholas sweetmeats in December and perciatelli with sardines and fennel for March's St. Joseph's Day, to figs with prosciutto for summer's Ferragosto and pumpkin gnocchi for an American Thanksgiving in Italy.

"Anyone who has even a touch of Italian in them—by heritage, proximity, or choice—should run, not walk, to the nearest bookstore to get a copy of Festa. It is, indeed, a 'feast,' from the author's very personal sharing of stories, traditions, and feelings to the very practical journey she takes you on, giving you a taste of the holidays celebrated by Italians, along with their origins, observances, and foods."—Antoinette Bosco, Litchfield County Times

"Barolini's book is a journey of discovery . . . the personal memoir of a sensitive woman [that is] filled with the sights, sounds, and joys of a host of characters shopping, sharing recipes, cooking, and eating."—Gerald Etter, Philadelphia Inquirer

Helen Barolini is the author of seven books, including Chiaroscuro: Essays of Identity, also published by the University of Wisconsin Press. She has received an American Book Award for The Dream Book: An Anthropology of Writings by Italian American Women, and her essay "How I Learned to Speak Italian" was selected for The Best American Essays, 1998.

Helen Barolini received the DiDonato and Fante Literary Award from the Order Sons of Italy in America to honor her work on Italian Americans.

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September 2002
LC: 2002018051 TX
384 pp.   6 x 9

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Paper $24.95 t
ISBN 978-0-299-17984-7
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"This book is useful to all who cook, all who eat, all who like to reminisce. To cook is to give pleasure and unite the family. Enjoy!"
—Blossom S. Kirschenbaum, Galleria

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