Maria Callas - La Divina in Cucina

by Bruno Tosi

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Ansie de Swardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting take on the life of La Divina, still greatly beloved diva Maria Callas, based on her relationship with food. She was quite chubby until the famous director Visconti offered her the role of Violetta, but only if she lost 30kg. Violetta dies of consumption after all. Callas went on a drastic diet and lost 40kg, and the elegant, svelte diva that we know emerged from the process. She could never indulge her love of food again though, and basically ate rare steak and salad for the rest of her life. She continued to collect recipes from her favourite chefs to ask her house keeper to prepare them and serve to her guests however. Bruno Tosi has created a charming book. The recipes are grouped to reflect Maria's life in a way: classic veronese recipes from when she lived in Verona, ditto from Paris, Greek recipes, favourite chefs. The book is interspersed with interesting stories from her life, comments from friends, a timeline of her life, photos, and a lovely CD. A great pity that it was only translated into German from the Italian.