Around the Tuscan Table: Food, Family, and Gender in Twentieth Century Florence

by Carole Counihan

In this delicious book, noted food scholar Carole M. Counihan presents a compelling and artfully told narrative about family and food in late 20th-century Florence. Based on solid research, Counihan examines how family, and especially gender have changed in Florence since the end of World War II to the present, giving us a portrait of the changing nature of modern life as exemplified through food and foodways.

Genres: Nonfiction, Anthropology, Academic, Food

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 2, 2004

Reviews

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for class. The content and stories were very interesting, but omfg it was a challenging read, only around 200 pages, and it took me weeks to finish.

[Alain Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what it's like to enjoy a family dinner in Tuscany? I've found a special book that will take you there in a heartbeat.

Around the Tuscan Table: Food, Family and Gender in Twentieh-Century Florence is a non-fiction book written by American food anthropologist Carole Counihan. The author spent more than two decades experiencing life in Florence and the nearby island of Sardinia.

The book is based on recorded interviews Counihan conducted with the extended family of her long-term boyfriend (and later husband), all of whom were settled in Florence.

Around The Tuscan Table is divided into 10 chapters that explore the roots of Florentine cuisine, the sense of community created by diet and culture, and the role of women in this dynamic, among other things.

Counihan offers a fascinating look at life in Florence, a place that was ravaged during World War II but has grown to have world-renown cuisine.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my Anthropology of Food class, and really enjoyed it. I must say, having Carole for one of the professors made reading the book even more exciting because we got to ask her questions in person! If you have ever wanted to know an entire families history of food than read this book. The gender roles, the economics and the planning involved with the choosing and preparing of food is so intricate and unique to each family, and the way Carole tells this families story is remarkable. The interviews are charming and she includes recipes if you get a hankering to cook an authentic Italian dinner.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Counihan, you suck as a reflexive anthropologist. For her attention on gender inequality in Italy, she never expands on her own role as (1) the girlfriend and later wife of one of the members of the family she's studying and (2) her role as a woman in a patriarchal society. She could have at least included in her preface some of her own experiences. Still, an interesting ethnography.