La Dolce Vita

by Isabel Coe

Isabel Coe’s La Dolce Vita is a rich and engaging narrative, the story of a family expressed through their shared and continuing love of chocolate. Often remarkable anecdotes are intertwined with sumptuous chocolate recipes passed down through four generations of women. Whether it’s her great grandmother Omama’s nutty Weinacht Guezi or her grandmother Nonna’s Crema di Castagne, her mother’s rich, rum-laced Chocolate Mousse or Isabel’s own extravagant Saffron-infused Mendiants with Crushed Pepper and Edible Gold Leaf, there is something in the alchemy of grating, melting, and mixing chocolate that sets it apart from all other forms of cooking. An unrivaled pleasure, La Dolce Vita is the perfect book to give as a gift or to keep for oneself.

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Kerryn Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grabbed this as a book swap in a caravan park I was staying in. I’m a sucker for chocolate so thought I’d give it a go. I enjoyed the interspersing of recipes amongst the family stories of her parents, grandparents and great grandparents. I loved reading about how food is such a joyful and communal part of the authors heritage.

[Larry Wentzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A loving family history of four generations of women, their lives, their travels, and the role that good food - particularly chocolate - played in all of that.

It's a breezy narrative, generally following the progression from great grandmother to the author. The story is suffused with love and admiration for the author's family, the times they spent together in Switzerland, Italy, England, and Australia. It's lovely to read about their lives, families, residences, and meals in the light, casual manner. The other thing that becomes obvious is that her family regards nuts as a crucial ingredient in most recipes, which leaves me uninterested.

If I have any criticisms, it's the fact that certain recipes appear in the very back of the book, while other recipes are integrated into the text. Also, with all of the different oven settings, degrees Fahrenheit are omitted (I presume this was written primarily for an Australian/European/British audience). Of those recipes that I have an interest, I'll work out the conversion from C to F so I can make them.

[Rebecca Edmonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I savoured this book like a good piece of chocolate and have read it slowly over the last few months. An interesting account of a few generations of the author's family dotted with mouth watering recipes. Very pleasurable to read.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the recipes had European measurements and odd ingredients.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

a must read for chocoholics!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The font and colour of the paper made it physically hard to read...but the stories and recipes were nice

[Rachael Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic - it's all about chocolate.

[Diane in Australia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars = Okay. I liked the book. It was worth reading.