Well, this morning I “googled” myself and what pops up? a New York Times “Diner’s Journal” entry dated April 2012 calling my post, An Unordinary Cooking Lesson, “The ultimate in literary food porn”! I’m flattered, I guess! If you missed that one, read it HERE. The ultimate in literary food porn: photos of a day spent cooking with the Duchess of Palma in her Sicilian palazzo. Click to find the connection to “Il Gattopardo,” the great novel of the end of European aristocracy. — Julia Moskin
On a recent morning in Palermo, I found myself a guest at the historic Lanza Tomasi palazzo, where Nicoletta Polo, the Duchess of Palma, was planning a cooking lesson for American students who would arrive after breakfast. I first met Nicoletta some twenty years ago when she was living in New York City. Originally from Venice and an excellent cook, she versed me on the food of the Veneto for research on a book I was writing then, which includes some of her recipes. Today the Duchess lives in the ancestral palace that her husband, Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, has restored. […more…]