What Living in Italy for 20 Years Taught This Cookbook Author About Food

Few people understand the power of a four-hour dinner. For most Americans, that probably sounds like a nightmare. But in Italy, it’s normal. Expected, even. You settle in. You open a bottle of wine. You talk, and eat, and talk some more. There’s no rush to clear the plates or get to dessert.

Growing up, I was lucky to be part of a family that liked to linger. We’d close restaurants, migrate from the dining room to the patio, and stay out so late the neighbors would gently remind us they had work in the morning. That way of eating—of being, really—has always felt more natural to me. And it’s exactly the kind of spirit cookbook author John Bersani captures in his new book, 20 Amici – 40 Ricette: Friends and Food from the Heart of Chianti.

The book is part memoir, part dinner party, and part love letter to Tuscany. Each recipe is tied to a friend, a meal, a memory. There’s tagliatelle with foraged porcini mushrooms, inspired by his pal Luciano. A fava bean salad with young pecorino and barely anything else. And, of course, stories—because in Italy, the food is never just about the food.

From Scottsdale to Chianti

Bersani moved to Italy from the U.S. in 2001, and never really left. He grew up in a tight-knit Italian American family in Syracuse, then spent years raising his three kids with his wife, Cyndy, in places like Boston, Aspen, and eventually Scottsdale. But it was Italy that really struck a chord with him. Twenty years later, the two still live in a small town in the Chianti region, where many of the book’s stories take place.

And while yes, it is in some ways another “I moved to Italy and everything tastes better” book—he jokes about that himself in an essay for Appetito magazine—it’s also more than that.

Rather than centering himself, Bersani centers his friends. The people who invited him into their kitchens. The ones who made the wine. Picked the herbs. Shared the dish that had been passed down for generations. This isn’t just a cookbook about Italian food. It’s a book about what makes Italian food culture so magnetic—and what we might learn from it.

As someone who’s endlessly fascinated by Italian cooking and culture, I knew I had to hear from John himself. Food52 had the chance to catch up with the author, and I found his stories as endearing as the recipes (this was my official recent cookbook gift pick, by the way). I also found his takeaways on food—and life—genuinely inspiring. Normally I’d be the first to trim a Q&A, but I hope you’ll read this one all the way through. We can all live a little vicariously through John, and maybe even change the way we approach our next meal.

Below, Bersani reflects on his favorite recipes, what Italians get right about eating, and how two decades in Tuscany have changed him for good.

These answers have been slightly edited and condensed for clarity.

What’s the biggest shift in how you think about food—and life—after 20 years in Italy?

In both cases—food and life—the common theme is simplicity. And honestly, it’s easier for me to apply that to cooking than to the day-to-day hustle of a busy life.

When it comes to food, I’ve learned that it’s much more about the ingredients you use than the technique. Yes, we all need some basic kitchen skills, but beyond that, I’d rather invest my time seeking out the best ingredients than perfecting an esoteric cooking method or experimenting with layer upon layer of complicated flavor combinations. In the end, it’s about putting something comforting, satisfying and delicious on the dinner table.

In Italy, the traditional dishes we love involve no more than 3-4 ingredients. Once you get to five, a Tuscan will look at you with dripping skepticism. I’ve learned to embrace that simplicity, and it always surprises me how delicious the final result can be.

Now the life aspect is much harder for me. I may have dual citizenship, and I may have adopted many aspects of Italian living into our life over the years, but I’m still a hard-wired American. I can be impatient. I can be demanding. As my wife likes to remind me: “Perfection is overrated”. But our Italian friends have shown me that life is much more enjoyable when you go with the flow and focus on what’s actually important—family, friends, community and the pleasures of everyday life. I try to do my best to remember that.

How did the idea for 20 Amici – 40 Ricette come together?

I’ve always enjoyed writing, and I had thought about a book for a long time. But Italian food, and the “I-moved-to-Italy-and-it’s-all-so-wonderful” terrain, have both been covered hundreds of times over. I didn’t want to write another repetitive, cliché-filled book that would add nothing to the conversation.

And then I landed on the idea of going beyond my personal thoughts about regional Italian cooking and life in Italy. Why not bring the reader into our circle of local friends? Why not tell the story of what real people are cooking and how they do it? The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that this could be a novel way of authentically presenting the special place that is Chianti.

Was there one dish in the book that really captures what Italian living has taught you?

Can I pick three!?
The fava bean and fresh pecorino salad is Tuscan simplicity at its best. Nothing more than fresh favas; young, semi-soft pecorino cheese; good olive oil, salt, and pepper. No cooking. Just a quick assembly. That dish will surprise you and brighten your day. We were first introduced to it by our friend, Saverio Monni, at Buca dell’Orafo in Florence.

A good braise requires patience. And it rewards patience—that long, slow, bubbling 4-hour alchemy—with a finished dish that is so much more than the sum of its parts. It’s what I want on a slow, lazy Sunday when it’s kind of cold outside. So I hope my readers will try the beef shoulder braised in Chianti wine inspired by my friend, Riccardo Porciatti.

As for pleasure, what could be better than a rich lasagna, sinfully layered with a hearty ragu and laced with creamy bechamel? Open up a bottle of your favorite Brunello di Montalcino and you’re hitting the pleasure zone at full force. You’d find that dish on Marcella Cortigiani’s holiday table.

What’s something Italians do around the table that you wish more people elsewhere embraced?

They take their time. They savor not just the food, but the company they are sharing it with. And, it always brings a smile to my face to listen to them at the table. What’s the number one topic? Food. The food in front of them—it’ll be politely critiqued, analyzed and compared with what they, or their mothers or grandmothers, would have done. And there’s talk about what they’ll eat tomorrow. You need to be planning ahead. I love that passion for the pleasures of the table.

Can you share a favorite memory behind one of the recipes in the book?

Our dear friend, Karly Siciliano, is the inspiration behind the duck confit recipe—something decidedly un-Tuscan, but so delicious. Karly is an American ex-pat and an accomplished professional chef who has cooked in some of Florence’s best kitchens. Cyndy and I spent a day with her a few years ago at her home in the Sant’ Ambrogio neighborhood, cooking some favorite recipes and drinking some great wine together.

I had to see her method for creating that duck confit. It’s actually pretty straightforward, but it is an investment of time. We prepped a fresh batch of duck legs that would dry brine overnight in our fridge, and then Karly slowly confited another batch in her oven that she’d started the day before. She includes lots of rosemary sprigs in her take on this French classic, and that kind of gives it a Tuscan flair. It’s a beautiful indulgence, and it’s a dish I hope everyone tackles at least once. Whenever we make it, we remember that day in Karly’s kitchen …

The Magic of Italian Food

There’s a reason people get hooked on this idea of living in Italy. The food is better. The pace is slower. And while you might not be biking through vineyards or sipping espresso on a cobblestone street, you can channel a little bit of that energy wherever you are.

Start with a long dinner. Invite some friends. Open a bottle of something good. Put your phone away. Serve a fava bean salad. Talk about what you’re eating. And then—talk about what you’ll cook tomorrow.

Where to Find the Book

If you’re as hooked as I was and already wondering how to recreate that duck confit or the Chianti-braised beef—20 Amici – 40 Ricette is officially out in the world. As of April, you can find it just about anywhere books are sold and on Simon & Schuster’s site.

You can learn more about John and follow along with his adventures here.