An introduction to the online series Searching for the Talisman
It began with a cookbook.
When the 1957 gold edition of Ada Boni’s classic Italian cookbook once belonging to my mother and grandmother found its way to me, it seemed the most natural thing, as if for years I’d been waiting for its inspiration. From the moment I first opened Il Talismano della Felicità (The Talisman of Happiness), I was captivated. In addition to its clear culinary interest, there was a philosophical/historical intrigue (the volume was originally published in 1929), and a linguistic one. Here was an Italian different from the common conversations I’d been used to. Some of the passages were poetic; others were highly technical. Many were endearingly conspiratorial. All reinforced the intrinsic beauty of the language.
My mother and grandmother had turned these pages. As I read on, sampling the recipes, memories arose. And from these, reflections. I began writing them down. Paired with an introspective, modern look at the author’s advice to le donne della casa, they took on a larger meaning. A theme emerged: it had to do with happiness....
(From the introductory essay, Tap the Source)
Insaporire—one of the most poetic of Italian words, a verb which has no direct equivalent in English—is the process of allowing flavors to swell and flourish, in layers. Patiently, you must wait. There is a moment when everything turns, when the aromas join, the chemistry magically completes. At that moment you may continue adding ingredients—the next layer—but not before.
Insaporire. It is a way, also I find, to recollect the past, and from it, to build a story: beginning with a single memory, perhaps an aroma, then adding another, waiting as the image intensifies. Something else falls in; slowly the scene expands.
And so, I begin. My plan is to prepare some of the dishes while exploring a language I love, and to discover ... what, exactly? I’ve no idea. But this is part of the magic. Da cosa nasce cosa, as Italians say. One thing leads to [literally: births] another. With each recipe, with each page, something newly inspired.
