Aldo Dalla Vecchia's "Come ti cucino la tivù"

It’s a pity that Christmas has already passed, because Aldo Dalla Vecchia’s latest gem, Come ti cucino la tivù, would have made a perfect gift. A small hardback, glossy volume — defined by the author himself as “playful and light” — enhanced by beautiful photographs and excellent graphic design, it brings together cooking and television in a single, engaging text.

In the first part, Aldo Dalla Vecchia, a renowned television writer, offers an overview of seventy years of food-related TV programmes; in the second, he presents a selection of recipes contributed by friends — well-known figures from the Italian television scene — united by a shared sense of familiarity and conviviality with the author. Among the names featured are Duccio Forzano, Annamaria Bernardini De Pace, Tessa Gelisio and Enza Sampò, to name just a few.

The culinary history of television ranges from its early, didactic and pedagogical beginnings — when Mario Soldati travelled across Italy showcasing its regional food traditions — to today’s age of influencers, in which television is no longer limited to one, two or three generalist channels, nor even to the commercial networks of the second era. Instead, it has become an intersection of web, social media, pay TV, satellite channels and streaming platforms, resulting in an ever-expanding — yet, in my view, simultaneously shrinking — range of offerings.

The recipes are simple and flavourful, ideal for a dinner among friends — perhaps while gathering to watch L’Isola dei Famosi or the Sanremo Festival. Created by chef Fabrizio Damiano Casali, they are photographed and accompanied by short biographies of their contributors, as well as tasting notes that pair each dish with a specific television programme.

The volume concludes with a sugary poem by Countess Pinina Garavaglia.

As is always the case with Dalla Vecchia, his books strike a balance between precise information and private lightness, between historical documentation and bittersweet nostalgia, all the while maintaining a glamorous, sparkling tone that nonetheless feels classic and timeless. I have read all of them, one after another, leafing through their pages each time with interest and tenderness, knowing they would teach me something — but above all that they would find their way to where my most precious memories are kept.