Pasta, Pane, Vino is the latest edition of the genre-bending Roads & Kingdoms style pioneered under Anthony Bourdain's imprint in Rice, Noodle, Fish ( 2016 Travel Book of the Year, Society of American Travel Writers ) and Grape, Olive, Pig ( 2017 IACP Award, Literary Food Writing). This is something more: a travelogue, a patient investigation of Italy's cuisine, a loving profile of the everyday heroes who bring Italy to the table. 'Goulding is pioneering a new type of writing about food.' -Financial Times Matt Goulding expertly navigates it's wonders and eccentricities with wisdom and great passion.' -Anthony Bourdain Agent: Kim Witherspoon, Inkwell.'Italy is a beautiful but complicated place, not so much a country as a collection of cultures and cuisines.

For travelers and Italophiles, this is a wonderful culinary guide. Using fascinating historical material, interviews with Italian food professionals, and his own experiences, Goulding presents a rich, vibrant food culture that “is not frozen in time,” but is open to “a new wave of cooks, farmers, bakers, shepherds, young and old, trying to negotiate the weight of the past with the possibilities of the future.” In one chapter, he shadows a family of cheese makers who continue to make mozzarella cheese as their family has done for four generations, while experimenting with artisanal cheeses like “whiskey-soaked blue cheese.” Goulding records his discoveries-as well as travel advice (he explains the difference between a ristorante, trattoria, osteria, and enoteca), restaurant recommendations, and tips for eating like a native (“Enthusiastic eating is an easy way to both show and gain respect”)-in delightful, funny prose (“Italians are genius shoppers, who believe it’s their God-given duty to return from the market with the best meat, fish, and produce possible”).

From the islands of Sicily and Sardinia to the northern tips of Piedmont and Lake Como, Goulding explores how Italian staples, such as pizza, pasta, cheese, bread, and wine not only vary from region to region, but from street to street of any village. Goulding adds a delightful third entry to his Roads & Kingdoms series (after Grape, Olive, Pig) by chronicling his culinary travels throughout Italy.

Pasta pane vino by matt goulding