Chocolate an italian passion. 100 years of stories and recipes

An easy and light book rich of charm, pleasant to leaf through, varied in colours, and with a selection of delicious and very personal recipes, all signed by Roberta Deiana: author, blogger, food stylist. The first part unravels a short but effective sequence about a century of this true collective passion for chocolate: a delicious food, that for a long time (during war, in the shortage of autarchy or during the Reconstruction era/period) was not affordable to the majority of people. The historic events (written by Giuseppe Lo Russo, gastronomist and historian of cooking) are divided into three short chapters, enriched by a beautiful selection of images: Dal salotto di Nonna Speranza ai telefoni bianchi (From Nonna Speranza's living room to white telephones); Dal surrogato al cioccolato della V Armata, al nuovo benessere (From Surrogate to the Chocolate of the Vth Army, to a new well being); Nuova società e nuovi consumi (New Society and new Consumption).
Through these chapters, Roberta Deiana notes down her thoughts and comments to a selection of pictures of those days. After a part dedicated to the recipes promoted on the historical packaging of Zaini (an italian brand that has been in business for more than a century), and after a reportage about the production of a high quality dark chocolate, the original recipe book begins. Thirty delicious recipes, taken by historical recipe books (with the convenient variations) or created by our author, are ordered in a sequence from the beginning of XX century up to our days: puddings, cakes, jam tarts, biscuits and some savoury dish... The Chocolate ice cream (1910) and the Africanetto (1920) come before the Chocolate Easter Nest and the Cake of the Marquees (1960). Further on, the Chocolate Cornucopia (1970), the Chocolate Spicy Mousse (1980) and the Chocolate and Chilli Cheesecake (2000) carry the sign of a national tradition opening to the influences from abroad. Some recipes are enriched by studio-made pictures, with a fresh and bright photographic language: the same that we find on Roberta Deiana's blog. Every now and then along with the recipes, some black&white shutters of the backstage, depict the author busy on the set.