Q&A with Amber Guinness

If you're feeling the need for another summer holiday, we hope this Q&A with cookbook writer Amber Guinness helps create the feeling as she takes you along the west coast of Italy!

Photo credit: Robyn Lea

The one ritual I brought home from my summer/winter trip to Italy last December has been the Aperitivo hour. The thrill of ordering a drink and receiving a plate of delicious snacks while sitting and watching the world go by is a complete event in itself, so I was delighted to find a whole chapter dedicated to L’Aperitivo in Amber Guiness’s newly published cookbook Italian Coastal. Amber is an English cook and food writer who was raised in Tuscany and now lives in Florence.

Her latest book explores the cuisines of the islands and seaside towns of Italy’s west coast on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Fitting for us — always thinking about something to eat and something to read — the Tyrrhenian Sea is where Homer set The Odyssey. For more current ideas for things to eat and read, Amber has very kindly answered our questions with a range of fantastic reading recommendations and recipes that will probably make you want to jump on a plane … or read Italian Coastal!

I hope you enjoy the vicarious summer holiday feeling her answers provide.

Happy reading!

Germaine

What's the last book you read and LOVED? And why?