I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti

I usually love books that have recipes in them…though I must confess that the ‘love’ stems from only the very few I’ve actually read.
Giulia Melucci’s I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti. was however a disappointment as far as good story go, though it fares as a fantastic source of recipes….

Daughter of Italian immigrants , Giulia is a journalist who has had her heart broken umpteen times but never had an empty stomach (”I can count on my breasts the number of times I have missed a meal”) She strongly believes that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach but in her case it never proves true.
The book is basically about her numerous failed romances and how her boyfriends lead her not to the altar but to the kitchen.
If you are looking for a strong storyline dont bother reading the book…. Melucci , towards the end comes across as so desperate ..I mean I couldnt even relate to her. She was ready to date ANYONE young and old alike…drunks, druggies, cartoonists, writers.she loves and loses them all…Can one really get so desperate….she really lost me there….Also she clearly has food-emotion issues.She seduces men one meal at a time.

But here’s what I did like..it seemed brutally honest..a very brave book for her. There are also some nostalgic parts about her family and past which I thought were well written. But the best part about the book are the recipes(although most are ‘adapted’ from various sources.Yet all simple no-frill recipes originally written.

Parts of the book are originally funny …especially the titles of the recipes such as No Nookie Gnocchi”, “Pear Cake For Friends With Benefits,“Ineffectual Eggplant Parmigiana” (“Serves the two of you plus the three people you wish were there to keep the conversation going”)and the F***You Cakes -they totally cracked me up:)

Read it for the recipes , if not for much else!

Posted by s on November 20, 2010

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