For some cooks, a decorated table is just as important as the feast that rests on top.
That is the case for Sunday Times’ food columnist and cookbook author, Skye McAlpine, whose latest cookbook was inspired by friendships and festive meals in Venice, Italy.
Next week, the cookbook, “A Table for Friends: The Art of Cooking for Two or Twenty,” will be released in the US after becoming one of the top sellers on Amazon UK.
Skye was born in London and raised in Venice from the age of six. Unlike her last book on Venetian cuisine, this one reflects the “higgledy-piggledy cultural make-up” of her heritage and covers elements beyond Northern Italian and Venetian food. In short, it’s about eating Italian-style, or in Skye’s words...
“That effortless, casual, seductive dolce vita-like quality that somehow imbues each and every meal in Italy, from a plain plate of pasta devoured at the kitchen table to the extra feast that is Christmas dinner.”
The emphasis on the table is one of the added bonuses of the book since Skye’s expertise goes beyond cooking. This month she launched a new line of home goods with Anthropologie.
“Laying the table, making it look plentiful and feel welcoming, is – for me at least – as important a part of any meal as the cooking itself. Arguably more important,” she said in her book. “If I don’t feel like cooking, I’ll order takeaway, but I’ll always take the time to lay the table properly.”
