Books

Rain (AM and PM) 8° London Hi 10°C / Lo 3°C

Ebury £8.99 (334pp) (free p&p) from the Independent Bookshop: 0870 079 8897

Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons, By Matthew Fort

Reviewed by Christopher Hirst

In 1973, Fort ate a plate of sausages in Sicily. There were only two, but "they tasted more of sausage than any sausage I have ever eaten, firm, juicy, salty and sweet."

Then, 33 years later, he continued his southern snack by touring this well-baked island on a scooter.

The result is the finest book on this fascinating cuisine since Peter Robb's Midnight in Sicily. From pasta ("redder than a cardinal's hat, redder than poppies") to pudding (the creamy confection known as cannolo is "a tsunami of sweetness, sweetness piled on sweetness... hallucinatory, luxurious and heady)", Fort fills your mind with delicious images and your mouth with saliva.

Obligatory holiday reading for anyone heading for Sicily, this book's only flaw is the lack of an index. The omission is particularly annoying since Fort punctuates his book with recipes.

Post a Comment

Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.


Most popular

Article Archive

Day In a Page

Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat

Select date