W rites
Shakespeare in A
illidS11111mer Night's
Dream: "Feed him
with apricocks and dewberries,
With purple grapes, green figs, and
mulberries."
Gardens and orchards of ripe,
juicy fruit are synonymous with
earthly paradise, or Eden. In fact,
fresh fruit provides us with one of life's great sen-
sual pleasures. These are the words Lorenza
de'Medici uses to describe the bounty of fresh
fruit about which she writes in A Passion for Fruit
(Abbeville Press, $35 ).
De'Medici has been teaching cookery for
many years at her family-run school, located in an
11th-century monastery in Tuscany. She is the
author of several books on Italian cooking,
including Lorenza's Pasta.
A Passion for Fruit, with its painterly collection
of still-life photographs by Mike Newton,
inspired by the court miniaturist to the famous
Medici family, celebrates the rewards of lovingly'
tended orchards. The delicious images reflect the
succulence of all kinds of fruit, from sun-warmed
figs and velvety peaches to exotic guavas and
unusual gooseberries.
De'Medici complements the photographs with
her elegant prose and more than 100 recipes.
— Linda Bachrack
1-1/4 lb. cranberries
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 cups water
2 cups red wine
1 Tbsp. sugar
Grated zest of one orange
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
6 slices coarse country bread
Put the cranberries into a saucepan, sprinkle with the cornstarch, and
cook over low heat for a couple of minutes, stirring with a wooden
spoon. Pour in the water and wine, add the sugar and orange zest,
then continue to cook for 30 minutes. Heat the butter in a large frying
pan, put in the bread, and cook for about 5 minutes on each side,
until golden. Place a slice of bread in each serving bowl, pour the
cranberry soup over it, and serve immediately. Six servings.
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