A few questions to Nicky
Pellegrino
Do you have a favourite
Italian word or sentence? What does it mean?
Buonanotte e sogni d’oro – which literally means goodnight and
golden dreams and is what my father used to say to me every night before I went
to bed when I was a child. This would be followed up early the next morning
with a rousing cry of “sveglia” (wake-up)
Do you listen to Italian
songs/music?
I love the old-fashioned songs. I have a CD called Nostalgia
Italiana 1963 that’s full of singers like Rita Pavone, Gianni Morandi and
Edoardo Vianello. It was the music my parents listened to when they were young
and when I had a convertible I used to drive round Auckland blasting it out of
my stereo feeling like I cut a very retro stylish figure! I also enjoy opera
and have a soft spot for Neapolitan love songs and anything sung by Mario Lanza
whose time in Italy I fictionalised in my novel When In Rome.
Which Italian dish do you
cook more often? Any tips?
Pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans) because it’s simple, warming in
winter, cheap and delicious. I use lots of celery leaves in it which horrified
Auckland chef Gaetano Spinosa who tells me celery has no place in the dish.
It’s the way my family has always made it though so I’m not changing.
What is your favourite
Italian region and why?
I love the south…. particularly the Basilicata coastline and the
hilltop town of Maratea which appears in many of my stories in the guise of
Triento. I changed its name because I wanted to be free to rearrange it when
necessary but really it is very much how I describe it.
Is there a part of Italy
where you haven't been yet and you are keen to discover?
I’d love to go back to Sicily because I only visited a small part
of it when I was researching my book The Food Of Love Cookery School and feel
as if I barely scratched the surface. Also I’m desperate to go to the cave town
of Matera and stay in one of the flash grotto hotels.
Can you recommend our
readers one or two places to visit or itineraries in Italy?
Go to Venice but stay in Cannaregio or Santa Croce rather than the
very touristy bits around Piazza San Marco. And don’t go alone like I did when
I was researching One Summer In Venice because it’s not the best solo travel
destination. I’d also recommend a food holiday with Katia Amore of Love Sicily
in Modica. My week there was the best time I’ve ever had while researching a
novel. The food was so good and we never stopped eating. Sometimes I think about
the cannoli shop at the foot of the steps beside Katia’s house and regret not
being able to manage more of them.
Did you ever do a house
swap in Italy?
Not so far, but the house in Under Italian Skies, which I call
Villa Rosa, is based on a place on the coast of Basilicata which belongs to
some of my Italian family and we’ve been to stay there many times. It’s one of
my favourite spots in the world.
Nicky Pellegrino’s new
novel
After The Villa Girls
and Summer at the Villa Rosa Nicky Pellegrino is back with a
new novel, the third inspired by the beautiful pink villa in Maratea.
Under Italian Skies
Imagine swapping your house
for a stay in an Italian villa and falling in love with the owner’s life…Stella
has life under control and that’s the way she likes it.
For 25 years she’s been trusted assistant to a legendary fashion designer. But when her boss dies, suddenly everything she loves seems to vanish.
Stella is lost – until one day she comes across a house swap website and sees a beautiful old villa in a southern Italian village. Could she really exchange her poky London flat for that?
What was intended as just a
break becomes much more as Stella finds herself trying on a stranger’s life.
Available on bookshops on 12 April.
Meet the Author!
If you want to meet the
author personally come to our Colazione alla Dante on 30 April, 10 am -12pm,
Nicky will be our special guest!
Other opportunities will be:
Exclusive Italian Lunch
with Nicky Pellegrino
Date: Tuesday 12 April
Time: 12.15pm – 2pm
Location: The Esplanade
Hotel, Devonport
Tickets: $69 includes a two
course lunch, a glass of wine and a signed copy of Under Italian Skies,
available from eventfinda.co.nz
An Evening with Nicky
Pellegrino
Enjoy a glass of bubbles
and some food while you escape to Italy
Date: Thursday 28 April
Time: 5.30pm – 7pm
Location: Paper Plus
Newmarket
Free Entry, please RSVP numbers to newmarket@paperplus.co.nz
