The book-signing tour for the new book “An Italian Palate” is in fourth gear and we won’t be downshifting anytime soon.
Between this writing and mid December Wyatt Waters and I are traveling to 30 bookstores, libraries, museums and shops to give gallery talks and sign the new book. A couple of fingers on our right hands are numb, but it’s a good feeling because the book has taken off.
Our first collaboration “A Southern Palate” was a crazy, fluke, sales monster that hit bookstores with a 10,000-copy first run that sold out in three weeks. Those were a crazy 21 days as Waters and I crisscrossed the state attending book-signing events that were so crowded that the bookstores had already run out of books when we arrived. We brought more cases with us and sold those before we left.
That was a once-in-a-lifetime event, or so we thought.
One week into the release of this new book I have had to order a second printing of “An Italian Palate.” The 10,000-book run of the first edition is about to sell out and we have had to limit case-amount orders to retailers. That might sound like good news, but it’s not.
Luckily the second edition of “An Italian Palate” will arrive in mid December and we will be able to fill all of the orders before Christmas.
Before the tour started, I told myself that I was going to enjoy the process this time. I have looked forward to meeting people along the way and discussing their trips to Italy and the Italian foods that they enjoy cooking. So far it’s been a blast.
I usually recommend a few dishes from each book as I’m visiting with people. My go-to dish in “An Italian Palate” is Eggplant Parmesan. It’s perfect— not fried, easy to make, very light and healthful, and most of all it tastes great. At a book signing last week a woman who purchased the book the previous day had gone home that night, made the Eggplant Parmesan recipe, and came back the next day and excitedly told us how great it was and how everyone in her family had loved it. As she was describing her meal, the people in line began picking up even more books.
My other go to recipes are the soups— Minestrone, White Bean Stufato, and Roasted Tomato Soup— and a pasta recipe I call Penne Norcia that was taught to me by my friend, David Trigiani, and is my go-to dish when I have people over for dinner at my house.
Out of the thousands of people I have visited with so far, I’m delighted to discover how many of them have travelled Italy and gone to many of the same places that are in the book. I have also solicited recommendations for my future trips from people who have been to cities and towns I have yet to discover. Many are planning upcoming trips to Italy and I have offered advice to hundreds of them for small, out-of-the-way locals-only trattorias, osterias, and villas.
Even more satisfying is hearing from you, the column reader, who followed along with us on that six-month adventure in 2011. Two years ago, around this time, we were on the Amalfi Coast and Sicily. Wyatt was in a zone and painting the most beautiful work of his career and I was eating my way through the tip of the boot learning everything I could about the region, their foodways, and their culture.
So many people have talked about how they followed us via newsprint as we forged ahead on that journey. It’s something I hadn’t really thought of, maybe because I was in the middle of a hectic travel schedule halfway across the planet and not seeing daily newspapers, but people seem to have bought in to the trip on a personal level and— as I learned from visiting with them— even felt like they had a personal stake in the outcome. That was surprising, humbling, and heartwarming all at once.
It is only now, with the benefit of two years of space and a book to stand as a reminder and record of the journey that I look back and take inventory of how special that time was— to be traveling with my wife, two children and my best friends through a magical country.
I know that two years from know I will look back on this time— these days of book tours, signing, and lectures— with a fondness that I will carry in my memory banks forever. For that I am truly grateful. Thank you.
Roasted Tomato Soup
Perfect on a cold day with a soft-cheese Panini.
10 lbs. Roma tomatoes
¼ c. Bacon fat
3 c. Onion, diced
¼ c. Minced garlic
1 TB Dried basil
1 TB Dried oregano
1 TB Kosher salt
2 tsp Fresh ground black pepper
1 ea 6 oz. can tomato paste
4 c. Chicken stock
1 ea. Bay leaf
1 c. Heavy cream
1 TB Sherry vinegar
Preheat oven to 400.
Lightly coat the tomatoes with vegetable oil and place on a baking sheet in the oven for 30-45 minutes, turning them every 10 minutes. Remove from oven when the skin begins to crack and the tomatoes are soft. Allow to cool just enough to handle and remove and discard the skins.
In a stockpot, sauté onions in the bacon fat for 8-10 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Add garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and continue stirring for another 4-5 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir constantly for 5-6 minutes until caramelized, being careful not to burn.
Add Chicken stock, roasted tomatoes and bay leaf and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and add cream and sherry vinegar and simmer for 10 more minutes.
Puree until smooth using an immersion blender or in small batches in a countertop blender.
Yield: 1 gallon
Remaining Book Signing Schedule
November 6-9 Mistletoe Marketplace 7am-9pm Jackson, MS
November 11 Main Street Books 5pm Hattiesburg, MS
November 12 Lemuria Books 1:00pm Jackson, MS
November 13 Reed’s Books Noon-2pm Tupelo, MS
November 14 Indianola Country Club 1:30pm-3pm Indianola, MS
November 14 Turnrow Books 5pm-7pm Greenwood, MS
November 15 Square Books 5pm Oxford, MS
November 17 Christmas at Book Mart 11pm-12pm Starkville, MS
November 17 Forest Community Arts 2pm- 4pm Forest, MS
November 19 Clinton Library 6:30pm Clinton, MS
November 20 Turning Pages Books Noon-2pm Natchez, MS
November 21 Lauren Rogers Museum 10am-12pm Laurel, MS
November 22 Caters Market 11am-1pm Meridian, MS
November 24 Village Peddler 1pm-5pm Fairhope, AL
November 25 Pass Christian Books 6pm-7:30pm Pass Christian, MS
November 30 Wyatt Waters Gallery 3pm-4pm Clinton, MS
December 1 Loreli Books 1:00pm Vicksburg, MS
December 2 Main Street Books 4pm Hattiesburg, MS
December 5 Martin Miazza 11:30am Gulfport, MS
December 7 An Italian Palate Dual Demo 4pm Booneville, MS
December 8 Winston County Library 2pm Louisville, MS
December 11 Cotton Row Books 1:00 pm Cleveland, MS
December 11 A Trip to Italy-MMA 7pm Jackson, MS
December 12 Private Event 6pm Biloxi
December 15 Purple Parrot Cafe 3pm Hattiesburg, MS
December 14 Persnickety 11am Madison, MS
January 9 A Trip to Italy- MMA evening Jackson, MS
January 23 Kings Daughter Foundation 7pm Brookhaven, MS
March 28 Oxford Conference For the Book 1:30pm Oxford, MS
