30 Comments

Not sure where to start but wow your dressing looks really really good!! It’s so creamy! I adore old cookbooks, love reading them so much and I could really dive into this one. I love the extracts. And I think that if I ever get my French cookbook with the history of dishes published I want a super long descriptive title like the old cookbooks. This is such a wonderful post, Domenica, and I love how you wrote it and really captured his spirit.

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Sep 12Liked by Domenica Marchetti

I’ve just ordered Giacomo Castelvetro’s book based on your recommendation!! I am so happy I found your substack - so so much culinary inspiration, it’s 10pm right now but you’ve got me wanting to go out to my garden to pick leaves for a midnight salad! Haha

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I loved this post. Thanks, Domenica! I also love the little poem on how to dress the salad. My late husband was from Brooklyn, NY. He grew up on Avenue U in an Italian neighborhood in the 1930's. His father was from Naples and had many sayings, some a bit "salty" and this poem reminded me of them. About a person who was a busybody: "Prudizine in omni minestra!" The parsley in every soup!

Not sure I got the spelling right. Neopolitan dialect is hard to spell.

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I swore I would not buy anymore cookbooks, (my books shelves are overflowing) but this one sounds like a must have! Love reading your posts!

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One of my favourite books!

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May 1Liked by Domenica Marchetti

I'm planting my summer garden soon....will look for salad burnet seeds! We have tons of borage flowers I think the leaves are kind of scratchy...

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May 1Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Thank you for the history lesson and for sharing the gorgeous illustrations along with your own recreations of the recipe. A good read!

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May 1Liked by Domenica Marchetti

This has inspired me to mix up my usual dressing on olive oil & lemon & salt! It’s a classic, but the capers and mustard have my attention big time !!

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Apr 30Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Brilliant! So inspiring - I have to write up a salad recipe I’ve been working on tomorrow and this has boosted my mojo. It’s also reminded me to use the rosemary flowers and borage flowers blooming in my unkempt garden at the moment. Another fab read xxx

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So true -- Alice Waters could’ve written it! Beautiful post as always, Domenica and another charming illustration as well. ✨

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I loved this post! I have the same book looking at me from my bookshelf, something I bought and never considered too much. Shame on me! As soon as I am back from Lecce I’ll give it a proper reading! Love the idea of this carefully put together salad, and also the caper dressing!

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Apr 30Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Swine cress! Eating hops! There is so much to mine here. Speaking of so much-- that's the amount of borage flowering in Chinon right now and I dare not pick it, in case it belongs to someone.

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Another delightful read—over-dressed (drenched) salad makers, listen up! I'm looking at my sage flowers like I never have before. My arugula has flowered also...hmmm, what do you think? I love the photos and the text you selected and your comments - I love it all. My best Sunday morning read.

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Apr 30Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Beautiful salad Domenica!

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Apr 30Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Loved this post, Domenica! The philosophy is remarkably contemporary! I guess because simplicity is timeless.

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