This is not a simple cookery book, but a collection of advice on what makes a dish really special, calling all senses to appreciate that unique composition of ingredients. The book is accompanied by splendid, refined illustrations.

Luciana Di Loreto with her young daughter Elena was driving 1 km from Civitella Alfedena, when suddenly a deer jumped on her car, then went away unhurt. The car was almost destroyed. In our region deer inhabit leech woods and move to warmer areas in winter. The largest herbivores in Italian wildlife, deer weigh 100 - 200 kg and they have become a common presence even around urban centres.

A wedding dinner, with 100 guests, 13 million lire. Offer to the church: a half million. FLowers 800,000 lire. Invitations 500,000 lire. Bomboniere (gifts to guests) 3 million, then another 2 million for the groom's suit, 4 million at least for the bride's dress, hairdresser and makeup 600,000 Lire, photos 2 and a half million, music 500,000 lire. And the honeymoon trip.