Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Book Review: I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti



I was in the library browsing through the cookbooks and came across this booked titled: I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci. I did a little chuckle and thought, "Wow, I could've wrote a book like this". After all, which of us hasn't loved, lost and made spaghetti? Although this book was written mostly for a female audience, there are elements of it that we can all relate to.


The author, Giulia Melucci, was born and raised in Brooklyn, and describes her mother as an excellent Italian cook. She is an educated and accomplished woman who was previously the VP of PR for Harper's Magazine.

This book is a memoir highlighting twenty years of dating in New York City. Along the way, Giulia addresses her love of food and how she relies on food to help her seduce men, smooth over the rocky patches in relationships, and comfort herself during heartbreak. The men are fleeting, but the food is constant.

Poor Giulia is rather unlucky in love. She dates almost every type of man along the way: artist, lawyer, banker, and writer, kind and unkind, ready to commit and afraid of commitment. Along the way, Giulia finds culinary inspiration in each new relationship, cooking to express her love.

I thought I would be able to relate to the author about love and loss, but found that I had a hard time doing so. At times, she comes across as desperate and willing to put up with all sorts of shenanigans (alcoholic boyfriends, men with one thing on their mind, and downright mooches). At other times, she seems blinded by love. Poor Giulia gets her heart broken over and over again. Some of the heartbreak is a little difficult to read about.

What I did relate to was her love of cooking. Giulia's book helped me to realize why I've come to love cooking so much. Cooking is the one constant in Giulia's life, just as it is in all of our lives. We cook with love in our hearts, both because we love to cook and we love those we cook for. Our passion for cooking guides us through all our ups and downs and is there for us no matter what, pushing us in new directions and taking us on new adventures. Cooking is a way for us to feel close to others who are no longer with us, just as it is a way for us to bond and make new relationships. You can be young or old, wealthy or poor, intelligent or not; none of this matters because cooking comes from the heart. We all have the same freedom in the kitchen. Cooking is what gives us peace, it is where we feel comfortable, it is what calms us, but mostly it is a way of sharing our heart.

There are many recipes peppered throughout the book, mostly Italian-inspired. I chose the First-Date Butterflies because I thought the name was extremely clever. Giulia whips up a batch of these First-Date Butterflies to bring herself back to earth after a particularly steamy first date.



First-Date Butterflies
*Adapted from I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci*
Serves 2 or 1, with enough for lunch the next day
Salt
2 cups (4 ounces) farfalle
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
pinch red hot pepper flakes
1 (6 ounce) can tuna packed in olive oil (essential) - I subbed chicken
1 tablespoon capers
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons dry white wine
splash olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
Freshly ground pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. This sauce is so quick and easy, you can make it while the pasta is cooking. When the water is boiling rapidly, add a large dose of salt and the pasta, then cover the pot until the water is boiling rapidly again. Uncover the pot and give it a few good stirs.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, add the onion and hot pepper, and saute until translucent, about 2 minutes. Open the can of tuna and drain as much of the oil as possible (I do this by pressing the disengaged top of the can against the tuna over the sink with as much force as I can muster). Add the tuna(or chicken) to the onions, then the capers, the salt and the wine. Lower the heat and cook until the pasta is ready.
Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet with the tuna(or chicken), add a splash of olive oil, the chopped parsley, and a few grindings of black pepper.



Notes/Results: Giulia ate very well for a single girl! This pasta was nothing like the ramen noodles that graced my stove as a young single girl. The sauce was delicious and delicate with a salty bite from the capers which I really enjoyed. I would make this again, especially since all the ingredients can be pulled from the pantry.

"There is logic and order to cooking. What you put into it has everything to do with what you get out of it. With love, it's not so cut-and-dried." - Giulia Melucci

28 comments:

  1. Hmmm Giulia sounds kind of like me. Hopefully not quite as melodramatic. But I have certainly been through my fair share of ridiculous NYC men. And have ate my way through it all!

    Her pasta dish sounds great! I can definitely see why it was a constant in her life. The Regional Recipes round-up is up by the way!

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  2. Oh that is such a great pasta recipe! I love sauceless pasta recipes like this one. I haven't tried pasta with canned tuna or chicken so I'm excited to try it. Thanks, Kim!

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  3. I love it! I have had my eye on that book too - and didn't even realize that it had recipes. What a cute bowl too! Thanks for the review.

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  4. I really wanna check this book out...thanks :)

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  5. What a delightfull little post and yummy looking spaghetti...makes my day n more......

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  6. Beautiful post...beautiful dish! Love that the little bow pastas are called butterflies. Too cute!

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  7. Oh my gosh, that looks really good!

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  8. Sounds like a really cool book :) but i have to say, its a sad idea that pasta lasts longer then men. Well... maybe on the hips ;)
    *kisses* HH

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  9. Sounds like quite a book! I love cookbooks that offer more than just recipe after recipe. I want to read the personal stories behind them too. And the recipe title is perfect.

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  10. That's pretty much the same review I gave it. I just kept wanting to sit her down and have a talking to!

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  11. What a great post! Excellent review of the cookbook and I will check it out! Your pasta looks delicious!

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  12. I love tuna can!I always have some at home! This kind of dishes are great for lunch.

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  13. Of course I lovemedling cooking with - anything - including love. I've seen the book and now I think I must pick it up. Always grand to see anothers take on cooking and how their style evolved.

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  14. I enjoyed your honest review of this book as I had picked it up and nearly bought it but I am not one for too much drama so I am happy I didn't buy it. I do love this recipe and the title is perfect.

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  15. I like the recipe but your review was cracking me up in a few spots.

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  16. i so want to read this book! have you read julie and julia? it makes for a good movie, but i liked the book a lot too, because they dive into the food a lot more! i love books about food! this dish looks so awesome, and yes, a much better eater than i was when i was single! my roomate and i survived soley on pastaroni meals. gah!

    are you a big reader? if so, you should check out goodreads.com. it's a great way to keep track and review the books you've read, as well as reading other reviews. it's fun! if you get on, look for me, teresa green!

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  17. I really liked your book review. I actually have this book on my TBR shelf and now it'll get moved up to the nightstand. Whoa!

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  18. I have heard of the book but have not read it yet. Great review and I love the pasta--capers you know! ;-) Love the heart bowl too!

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  19. Good review! This pasta looks SO good! Love the bowl too. Very pretty : )

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  20. The notion that a man can be seduced by food, is absurd. How shallow do women believe us men to be. lol.

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  21. I have seen that book many times and often wondered if I would enjoy reading it. Like you, I would enjoy the food parts the most.

    Good book review. The soup name is clever.

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  22. The pasta looks excellent! She did eat well as a young single. What a great review - the book sounds interesting - love her name for the dish.

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  23. You found and transformed your love into a dish of (great) pasta!

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  24. I always love to read books that have some type of foodie flare to them! And I love romance ones too, so this sounds like it'd be one I'd like to look into getting for summer reading since I don't read much for pleasure during the school semesters! Awesome review! :-)

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  25. Sounds like an interesting book...I will have to check for it at my library.

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  26. Enjoyed your review; I am not sure I would have the patience of reading the book (I have had my share with girlfriends sharing their obsessive stories!) but at least you plucked a good recipe out of it!

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  27. Woot, I love the sound of this book. I hard of it at a giveaway somw while ago, and am glad you enjoyed it. Giulia writes from her heart I am told!

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  28. I love farfalle pasta, it makes for such a fun dish. Cute sounding cookbook too!

    Reminds me of the Nora Ephron's "Heartburn" which was made into the movie starring Streep and Nicholson. She also wrote the screenplay for "Julie and Julia" amongst many others.

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