The Food Taster
4 journalers for this copy...
When the starving peasant, Ugo DiFonte and his eleven-year-old daughter Miranda are snatched from their farm by the despot Duke Federico Basillione DiVincelli, Ugo thinks life can't get any worse. He is sadly mistaken. The Duke orders Ugo to be his new foodtaster, a hazardous job made even more so by the Duke's many enemies.
Ugo quickly acquaints himself with the tools of his profession: poisons, antidotes, and every type of cuisine. Thus equipped, and with his own much needed wit, imagination, and, most of all, coraggio (guts), he attempts to survive a series of deadly intrigues, all the while trying to protect his strong-willed daughter from her own adolescent desires and the lustful cravings of powerful and dangerous men.
Veering from sumptuous descriptions of the food Ugo must taste but cannot enjoy, to lavish portraits of the court and its residents, Ugo's first person narrative gives us a finely detailed account of the High Renaissance from a peasant's perspective. He also shows us the little seen underbelly where poverty, disease, and cruelty are the order of the day.
Filled with moments of tenderness, unexpected humor, and painful candor, The Foodtaster is the story of a man rising to the occasion, and in doing so, finds his true purpose in life.
Ugo quickly acquaints himself with the tools of his profession: poisons, antidotes, and every type of cuisine. Thus equipped, and with his own much needed wit, imagination, and, most of all, coraggio (guts), he attempts to survive a series of deadly intrigues, all the while trying to protect his strong-willed daughter from her own adolescent desires and the lustful cravings of powerful and dangerous men.
Veering from sumptuous descriptions of the food Ugo must taste but cannot enjoy, to lavish portraits of the court and its residents, Ugo's first person narrative gives us a finely detailed account of the High Renaissance from a peasant's perspective. He also shows us the little seen underbelly where poverty, disease, and cruelty are the order of the day.
Filled with moments of tenderness, unexpected humor, and painful candor, The Foodtaster is the story of a man rising to the occasion, and in doing so, finds his true purpose in life.
Sent today to bemaia, who won it in the Historical Fiction Swap at Bookobsessed.
I've just received this book from Xeyra. I think I'll have good fun reading this book. It's going to take some time for me to read it, however, because I'm currently reading two books: People of the books and a technical book: Information Architecture for the World Wild Web.
I finally read the book. Ugo Difonte, the food taster, tells his history in first person. He had a long journey before he became famous for being, as he described himself, the best food taster in Italy. As a food taster he developed a highly accurate sense of taste, and was capable of describing every ingredient of a dish. While he was proud of being the food taster of an important Italian duke, he also knew that his life could be terminated at any moment when he had bitten into a piece of poisoned food. Ugo had to be aware of people who surrounded him, not only to preserve his own life but also that of his daughter.
It's a good story, well worth reading, although it's a bit predictable and has some historical mistakes. Of course it's fiction, but a well-based story is more believable. Don't expect too much from it or you might be disappointed.
I finally read the book. Ugo Difonte, the food taster, tells his history in first person. He had a long journey before he became famous for being, as he described himself, the best food taster in Italy. As a food taster he developed a highly accurate sense of taste, and was capable of describing every ingredient of a dish. While he was proud of being the food taster of an important Italian duke, he also knew that his life could be terminated at any moment when he had bitten into a piece of poisoned food. Ugo had to be aware of people who surrounded him, not only to preserve his own life but also that of his daughter.
It's a good story, well worth reading, although it's a bit predictable and has some historical mistakes. Of course it's fiction, but a well-based story is more believable. Don't expect too much from it or you might be disappointed.
Hardcover with dust jacket: arrived today in a big box of books from Supertalya. I'll have to register most of them, but this was one of the ones with a BCID.(Larger photo here.)
