'Your great grandparents emigrated from poverty in Italy and worked long and hard to give you a better future. I have no material things left from them to give you . . . So, dear Francesca, here in these pages is that heritage of your family handed down by word of mouth, with humour and love. Treasure it - it's more precious than jewels . . .'
Having grown up in an extended Italian family who were passionate about food and married into another Italian family who translated their love of cooking into a successful business, Mary Contini inherited a unique gift to pass onto her daughter - the collected knowledge, life stories and recipes of several generations of devoted lovers of life and food.
Interwoven with stories of her family's rich and colourful past, from their life in a mountain village in southern Italy at the turn of the century to their emigration to Scotland where their traditions were kept alive around the dinner table, along with Francesca we learn how to make everything from her grandmother's best tomato sugo for pasta to family favourites like oven roast lamb with wine and herbs to healing chicken broth, the secrets of perfect risotto, gnocchi and "yum yum" pudding.
A deeply personal and moving family memoir crossed with a cookbook, 'Dear Francesca' is a loving tribute to a family's passion for food, love and life passed down from a mother to her daughter to be shared with future generations - and all lovers of good food and good company.
