"This is a book about the food grown and prepared by a family who live in a green and secret valley joining Umbria and Tuscany, two of the most historic and beautiful areas of Italy. It is also about this family's everyday life and the culture of their region, for Tuscan cuisine is inextricably bound to the culture and personality of Tuscany and its people.... Those who dwell here live in mediaeval houses, pray before altarpieces painted by Renaissance masters and prepare their food with the grace and balance instilled into them by hundreds of years of measured civilization." from the Introduction

Month by month, Elizabeth Romer chronicles each season's activities: curing prosciutto and making salame in January, planting and cheesemaking in March, harvesting and threshing corn in July, hunting for wild mushrooms in Septem- ber, and grape crushing in October. Scattered throughout this lovely calendar are recipes, informally and simply explained-fresh bread and olive oil, grilled mushrooms, broad beans with ham, trout with fresh tomatoes and basil, chicken grilled with fresh sage and garlic, and apples baked with butter, sugar, and lemon peel. Alive with the rhythms of country tradition, THE TUSCAN YEAR is a treasure for the armchair traveler as well as the cook.

"Many lavish, painstaking works on Italian food have appeared in the last few years, but none convey the sense and spirit of a regional idiom as richly. A gem."

Kirkus

ELIZABETH ROMER studied textile design at the Royal College of Art, London. In addition to practicing and teaching in that field, she worked for many years for the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo. She lives in Tuscany with her husband.

North Point books have sewn bindings and are printed on acid-free paper.

NORTH POINT PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

Cover painting: The Gerotti Fattoria, by Charlotte Wesse