Da Vinci's Kitchen, by Dave Dewitt
When I was younger, I idolized two famous people: they weren't pop stars or actors or the author of the Babysitter's Club. I was obsessed with William Shakespeare and Leonardo Da Vinci. I loved Shakespeare for it's sophistication, the complex language that no one understood, the poetic flow of the lines, and of course the story-lines and plot twists. Da Vinci was adored because of his flexibility: he seemed to be good at everything, study everything, know everything. I wanted to be a Renaissance Woman.
Now, although I still have a penchant for being knowledgeable in many subjects, my true love is food. So imagine my delight when I came across the book Da Vinci's Kitchen, by Dave Dewitt. My favorite role model of all time, related directly to my favorite subject? Naturally, I bought it on the spot. However, it has taken me months to finally finish it, which is simply disgraceful to my dedication to reading (in my meager defense, there was a state-to-state move and a trip to the west coast that delayed things), but due in part to the book itself.
As a whole, I did not really enjoy reading Da Vinci's Kitchen. Perhaps I've already read too much on the history of Italian cuisine, what with the book Delizia! (by John Dickie), and my travels and studies in Italy itself, but overall Dewitt's book just seemed like a regurgitation of facts from other sources. It read more like a college research paper, the kind where you're required to have X number of sources (where X= a ridiculously high number, normally ≥ 2/ paragraph). Admittedly, there was a lot of good information to be found, and many useful sources to look into, but I found none of the promised "secrets" (the subtitle of the book is A Secret History of Italian Cuisine) amidst the pages. Also, Da Vinci himself made only brief appearances here and there, in tenuous relations to the real main characters of the book, and left me with the impression that Da Vinci was too busy doing other spectacular thing to bother using his kitchen at all (maybe that was the secret?).
Despite my disappointment in the book, I decided to finish it, but treated it merely as a review of information, sort of a refresher course in the culinary history I'd learned in Italy. Even as a review, it is a difficult book to really delve in to: Dewitt rarely offers first-hand research or any personal thoughts or outlook, and there are so many quotes from other authors and experts on the subject, there were many moments that I completely lost track of who's words I was actually reading. Why would an author so specialized in one subject (just Google Dave Dewitt to see what I mean) veer off and try to write a book on something completely out of his area of expertise? Perhaps he just woke up one day, and realized he was bored of hot peppers?
Now, although I still have a penchant for being knowledgeable in many subjects, my true love is food. So imagine my delight when I came across the book Da Vinci's Kitchen, by Dave Dewitt. My favorite role model of all time, related directly to my favorite subject? Naturally, I bought it on the spot. However, it has taken me months to finally finish it, which is simply disgraceful to my dedication to reading (in my meager defense, there was a state-to-state move and a trip to the west coast that delayed things), but due in part to the book itself.
As a whole, I did not really enjoy reading Da Vinci's Kitchen. Perhaps I've already read too much on the history of Italian cuisine, what with the book Delizia! (by John Dickie), and my travels and studies in Italy itself, but overall Dewitt's book just seemed like a regurgitation of facts from other sources. It read more like a college research paper, the kind where you're required to have X number of sources (where X= a ridiculously high number, normally ≥ 2/ paragraph). Admittedly, there was a lot of good information to be found, and many useful sources to look into, but I found none of the promised "secrets" (the subtitle of the book is A Secret History of Italian Cuisine) amidst the pages. Also, Da Vinci himself made only brief appearances here and there, in tenuous relations to the real main characters of the book, and left me with the impression that Da Vinci was too busy doing other spectacular thing to bother using his kitchen at all (maybe that was the secret?).
Despite my disappointment in the book, I decided to finish it, but treated it merely as a review of information, sort of a refresher course in the culinary history I'd learned in Italy. Even as a review, it is a difficult book to really delve in to: Dewitt rarely offers first-hand research or any personal thoughts or outlook, and there are so many quotes from other authors and experts on the subject, there were many moments that I completely lost track of who's words I was actually reading. Why would an author so specialized in one subject (just Google Dave Dewitt to see what I mean) veer off and try to write a book on something completely out of his area of expertise? Perhaps he just woke up one day, and realized he was bored of hot peppers?
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