A September to Remember: Searching for Culinary Pleasures at the Italian Table by Carole Bumpus is a travelogue of the author and her husband’s month-long journey throughout Italy. This is the third book in the Savoring the Olde Ways series of the author.
(OVER) There is a tour wide giveaway for a one of three books – enter via the rafflecoper form at the end of the post
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I’m always interested in well written, insightful travelogues, include fancy food and you got me hooked. I didn’t read any of the author’s previous books, so I didn’t know what to expect.
A September to Remember: Searching for Culinary Pleasures at the Italian Table by Carole Bumpus is a bumpy ride. I felt the dialogue was clunky and forced when attempting to “organically” introduce a subject. I enjoyed the history described, experiences, as well as the author’s conversations with her friends.
The food doesn’t play as big a part in the book as one might think based on the title. There are only descriptions of the dishes the couple ate, no history or background. While it’s not as fancy as other books I read (such as Frances Mayes Always Italy by Frances Mayes & Ondine Cohane or Tasting Italy: A Culinary Journey by America’s Test Kitchen, Eugenia Bone and Julia Della Croce), this book certainly is much more of a charming of a personal nature.
There are recipes in at the end of the book – but beware. I cooked the chicken cacciatore, but the recipe seemed to be missing a few steps / ingredients. Luckily, I’ve cooked this dish before several times, from several countries, Italy included (Hunter Style chicken exists in almost every culture). So while they do give the reader a nice impression of what the author ate, the one I cooked wasn’t complete in ingredients or time.
Came out delicious though.
NOTE: The book I got was an advanced copy and the recipes weren’t finalized.
I do like that format, of descriptions of cuisine and recipes. The epilogue was, for me, the best part of the book and I wish more of the book could have been like it.
To the author’s credit, she doesn’t sugarcoat their trip – they traveled, after all, not just went places. The crowds, tight timetables of organized tours, the feeling of a walking ATM, and the language barrier were all included. Something every traveler is familiar with, some take it better than others but it’s part of those memorable moments which make a trip.
Buy A September to Remember from Amazon.com*
More Books by Carole Bumpus*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free from Premier Virtual Author Book Tours
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account
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Dear Man of la Book, Thank you for your kind review and for testing one of the recipes. As it turns out, the recipes were being tested for the final edition of this book at the same time you were reading the galley. Changes were made to that recipe as it needed more punch or spices (like adding in pepper, and red pepper flakes.).
Dear Mrs. Bumpus, thank you for letting me know, I will note accordingly.
Keep up writing wonderful books.
Thanks for your intriguing review of 'A September To Remember'.