Pomp and Sustenance

This gem is more than just a cookbook. Walk through history with Pomp and Sustenance author Mary Taylor Simeti as she shares the secrets and eccentricities of Sicilian cuisine. Straddling the East and West, Christian and Muslim, land and sea, this Mediterranean island is a place of unique convergence. Nowhere is cultural convergence more evident than in Sicily's regional culinary traditions and food culture. Simeti narrates this centuries-long journey, with wit and humor, making this historical cookbook a joy to own and use.

More than just history, Pomp and Sustenance is filled with wonderful recipes. Impressive in their style, scope, and authenticity. There are chapters dedicated to street food, convent food, and the peasant's food, giving the reader a taste of the diversity of ingredients and cooking methods found on the Island. Sure to be a favorite for anyone who truly savors Sicilian food, culture, and history.

The celebrated cookbook is a wonderful combination of history and recipes. Sicily is rich not only in fresh produce, meats, and seafood, but also in culinary tradition and history; its story goes back to the days of the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Norman invaders. Fascinating narrative and delicious recipes wrapped into one truly special book.

"In the noble traditions of food writing established by Elizabeth David combining an accurate understanding of history, a deep sensitivity to foreign cultures, and an unerring and almost instinctive sense of what makes good food and what makes good food and what makes food good." -The New York Times

"An enchantingly erudite gastronomical explanation of Sicily's fraught history . . . Simeti will not only give you food for thought but will tell you how to make it . . . . She is a very natural writer and an indefatigable history busybody with a spectacular eye for revelatory and confirmative quotations . . . . A wonderful book. -Gourmet Magazine

"There are recipes here at all levels of culinary commitment, from a quick, summary pasta with swordfish and mint to an elaborate Sicilian lasagna. -Newsday