All about the "In Bocca" Cookbook Series.
I got a nice email from Gabrielle B. about how many In Bocca cookbooks are there actually…
When I was maybe 12 or 13, I randomly bought Umbria in Bocca when I was in Italy and wasn’t until I saw an article on your incredible project that I realized what I have! Is there a complete list of the entire series? I was curious if all regions were covered, because I didn’t see a Basilicata one, and what cities? Thanks so much for your help, this is fantastic and now I have something to collect!
Gabriella
We too first fell in love with these books on sight, mainly because their covers are so wild and funky that they are hard to turn away from. Only from deep diving into the series did we realize what they actually were; a sort of magical guide book beyond culinary wonderment, a peering into a countries history, its culture, and its soul.
We really dig these books.
Anywhoo … to answer your question Gabrielle, there are 20. Or 23. We’re not exactly sure. You bring up a very good point though … where is Basilicata?
All 20 regional Italy in Bocca Cardboard cookbook series.
The original release had 20, cardboard covered cookbooks representing the 20 regions of Italy:
Abruzzi
Aosta
Apulia
Bolzano (Trentino)
Calabria
Emilia
Friuli & Trieste
Liguria
Marche
Milano (Lombardi)
Napoli (Campania)
Piemonte
Roma (Lazio)
Romagna
Sardegna
Sicilia & Isole
Toscana
Trento
Umbria
Veneto
From what I can understand (and man would I love to talk to the original publisher), they combined some regions, and separated others, depending on if there was enough material to require a whole new volume. For instance, Basilicata and Molise are both missing, but Emilia and Romagna have two separate volumes despite being only one region (one with perhaps the “most” Italian food, so, well deserved. Sure I’ll get some hate mail from that). The other regions that are missing are Trentino, Lombardi, Campania, and Lazio, but they are represented by their main city as far as I can tell. We must keep in mind … these are Italian cookbooks, and like most things Italian they are … aproximate;)
What’s cool about this type of breakdown is that while the regions act a bit like “states” here in the U.S. they date back to when Italy had Kingdoms, and are fiercely unique because of it. To us that is the secret power behind this collection of cookbooks, they focus solely on one region of a time, even writing the recipes in the local regional dialect, which, you can imagine, can be indistinguishable from “proper” Italian as we know it. So combining some regions into others makes a modicum of sense if you look at a culinary and cultural standpoint.
Either way … good eye Gabrielle;)
Now I did say 20 or 23 right … right. Here’s the rub …
The extra 3 books were discovered by Peter during a very deep dive online … we never heard of them, never read anything about them, and for the most part they are an anomaly and extremely rare by all accounts. That said, Peter found a copy of each, which puts him on the same level as that guy that found that million dollar treasure as far as I’m concerned.
The are Erbi, Zuppe and Locali (herbs, soups, and places) and seem to all be about the Sicily region only. Erbi is more about remedies, Zuppe is broths and stews, and Locali is markets and restaurants. Again though they weren’t produced by Il Vespro so I wouldn’t consider them part of the series, more like a spin-off.
While books in the “In Bocca” series are not the easiest to find, they are still available if you do your homework. They are the “right amount of rare” that make them fun to collect for us, and beside being beautiful and useful, they can only increase in value, not only because they will only become more rare, but because if you take the time to read them you’ll find how enriching they are.
I have to say Gabrielle what struck me the most is how young you were when you bought a copy. I can imagine being 12/13 and seeing it and somehow being drawn to its wild appearance, but you had the foresight and interest to not only pick it up, but keep it all these years. That’s really cool and brings a huge smile to my face. I wonder where you were in Italy where you found it, was it a bookshop? A little street market? If you’ve seen our film about it you’ll know that the power of these books lies in the adventures they hold.
Here are our first with yours;)
Thanks for reading and sharing Gabrielle, it was a great story, and at the heart of what this whole project is about. Send us a pic if you got one! We’d love to share!
Rs
PS! I just had someone send this “Sardegna a Tavola” cookbook, which is strangely similar to the In Bocca series … both cardboard printed, handwritten, and with “similar” illustrations, but inferior if you ask me. This is kinda like the Gucci bag you buy in Chinatown where one of the “c”s are missing. Pubished 1985 by R. Balzano-Olbia.
