A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany: Exploring & Eating Off the Beaten Track

I am very excited to visit some of the places mentioned in this book, and the recipes look wonderful.

Beth Elton's title isn't just a cookbook - it takes a culinary tour of Tuscany into regions largely uncovered in other titles - and surveys the special kitchens and products of over fifty restaurants whose cooks produce original recipes revealed just for this title. All dishes have been adapted for home cooks but retain the authenticity of generations of development, so cooks seeking a blend of travelogue and new dishes to try will find delightful the blend of travel insights and easy dishes. No photos, but the simple instructions don't need them. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

A fabulous travel guide, which my wife and I used extensively on our recent visit to Tuscany. The author provides details of wonderful restaurants, spectacular settings and hidden gems in small towns and villages throughout the region! If you are planning a visit to Tuscany, don't leave home without this book. If you are over 50 and look forward to a good meal at the end of a well-travelled day, this book is a must-read. Mike and Michal New York City

This book is what so many books claim to be but aren't -- an off-the-beaten-track gem. For any visitor to Tuscany with the time or inclination to go beyond the usual Florence-Lucca-Pisa-San Gimignano-Siena type of itinerary (to name just one), the book offers a wonderfully imaginative alternative: plan your days -- or the entire trip -- around the best restaurants to be found in the little towns that most tourists never visit. The author gives tantalizing descriptions of both the towns and restaurants (with maps and itineraries), and supplies plenty of recipes to boot. So the book will function in the kitchen just as well as on the road -- it is essentially half cookbook and half guidebook. But for me (not being much of a cook, and planning a trip to Italy) it was the places the author describes that were the most delectable of all. The book is a great idea, beautifully executed and beautifully written.

Beth Elon's descriptions and recommendations are spot-on. I got this book just in time for a trip to Tuscany and found it extraordinarily useful. We loved visiting the places she mentioned and found her recipes and description of local specialties a great help in making fantastic menu selections. Back home, the recipes are like having Tuscany in our kitchen. It's now my favorite book to give to food- and travel-loving friends.