Marlena de Blasi Books in Order

Marlena de Blasi explores northern Italy through regional cooking, personal encounters and culinary memories. Nearly two hundred recipes accompany stories of local traditions, taking readers from Venetian tables to rural feasts and the ingredients that give each place its character.

Divorced American chef Marlena de Blasi unexpectedly falls in love with a Venetian man despite their language barrier. Leaving her established life behind, she moves to Venice, where romance, food and the challenges of starting again shape her memoir.

Marlena de Blasi and her Venetian husband leave city life for a converted stable in rural Tuscany. Through harvests, village meals and an enigmatic local guide, she explores traditional food, friendship and the pleasures and difficulties of belonging somewhere new.

Combining travel stories with recipes, Marlena de Blasi explores the cooking traditions of southern Italy’s villages, islands and cities. Her encounters with local cooks connect dishes, ingredients and techniques to the daily life and culture of the region.

Searching for a home in Orvieto, Marlena de Blasi and her husband take on a dilapidated palazzo’s former ballroom. As they navigate restoration and local life, cooking helps her forge friendships and understand the rhythms of their Umbrian community.

Traveling through Sicily with her husband, Marlena de Blasi encounters Tosca, the woman presiding over a remote castle. Tosca recounts her lifelong love for a prince, revealing a history shaped by poverty, privilege, the Mafia and a community of widows.

Abandoned at a French convent after her aristocratic grandmother conceals her birth, Amandine grows up questioning her identity. With war approaching and convent life increasingly hostile, her devoted governess takes her on a dangerous journey through occupied France.

Seeking quiet to finish a book, Marlena de Blasi retreats to a Tuscan cottage and meets formidable matriarch Antonia. Initial hostility develops into friendship through walks and shared meals, allowing Antonia to reveal the painful history behind her family’s life.

Four rural Italian women gather each Thursday in a stone house above Orvieto to cook and eat with Marlena de Blasi. Over local wine and family recipes, their conversations reveal personal histories, friendships and traditions passed through generations.