Under the Olive Tree Italian Summer Food

A celebration of the Mediterranean summer - tantalisingly simple food set against a backdrop of relaxed living and glorious landscapes. It is also a story of family life and food in the elegant city of Lugano, on the shores of a Swiss lake near the northern Italian border, and Sardegna, in the emerald seas of the Italian Costa Smeralda. Manuela Darling-Gansser, with photographer Simon Griffiths, captures her inspirational journey that revists the memories, sights, smells and tastes of the endless summer holidays of her childhood.

Refresh your tastebuds in the remote valleys of Southern Switzerland with Zuppa alle Ortiche, a subtle nutty-flavoured nettle soup, and Sorbetto di Pompelmo Rosa con Campari, a marvellously bitter, brilliantly coloured pink grapefruit and Campari sorbet. In the picturesque harbours along the Italian coast, sample the traditional Culligioni, large pasta cushions filled with potato and wild mint, and Semifreddo Di Miele Amaro, a soft ice-cream flavoured with the unique bitter honey native to Sardegna.

Under the Olive Tree: Italian Summer Food is a rich evocation of Mediterranean al fresco living at its best..

Manuela Darling-Gansser has cooking in her blood. Her great-grandfather founded a restaurant in Lugano, Switzerland, 120 years ago and his son, her grandfather, made it famous. She is the perfect guide on a Mediterranean summer journey, intimately translating the food and flavours of her heritage. An inveterate traveller, Manuela continues her Italian story in 'Autumn in Piemonte: Food and Travels in Italy's Northwest.

Photographs by Simon Griffiths

Hardie Grant Books
Author: Manuela Darling-Gansser
ISBN: 174066468
RRP $39.95


Review: Inspirational cooking. Great meals are not always labourous, they are made from passion, Under the Olive Tree puts the joy back into cooking.