Cookbook or spellbook?
The “In Bocca” series is a rare, strange, & wonderful collection that was published by Il Vespro in Palermo, Italy, in 1976. The set consists of 20 corrugated cardboard bound books each celebrating a different region of Italy which each individual author’s recipes are fiercely loyal to. Filled with beautiful illustrations from local artists, historical woodcarvings, poetry, & history, they are more like encyclopedias than cookbooks. The recipes inside vary from well known classics to obscure, time forgotten, clandestine dishes & are written not only in Italian & English, but some in regional dialect which is all but lost in the modern age.
Want a deeper look into these magical, one of a kind cookbooks? Check out this little film we made about them:
It was simply impossible not to fall completely head over heels in love with these beautiful cookbooks. Not only are these recipes the real deal, passed down from one Nonna to another, they give off a magical aura with their grotesquely colorful images that set the mind on fire & playful, cryptic poetry that read out-loud conjures up ancient times of a land rife with mythology & spirits. Unlike any cookbook I’ve seen, other then possibly my mother’s hand written recipes, do I get a sense of home like I do with these funny little books.
and they are rare.
Very rare & seemingly by design. Complete sets if found can sell well into the thousands leading treasure hunters to scour the internet looking for cardboard gold & top chefs to covet them. Their DNA which is rough, unbleached oatmeal paper is perhaps the last material you would want to make a book out of that frequently finds itself in the company of wet kitchen sinks & grease splattered stoves. Perhaps that’s what makes them so special to us; that they are fragile & finite, like the history they contain.
Full resolution images can be found here for your pleasure.