If your mother had been brought up in an extended Italian family that was passionate about food, and gone on to run one of the country's most successful delicatessens, would you not want a record of all the knowledge and experience she had acquired? Dear Francesca provides just that, in a form that can be shaerd with other families and other cooks. Addressing her daughter Francesca, Mary Contini has written not only a wonderful cook book, but also a compelling and often moving account of her family history. She describes the life her grandparents led in a poor mountain village in Italy, their emigration to Scotland and the culinary traditions the extended family has kept alive in their adopted country. Informative, humorous and always passionate, this is a cookbook to read as well as to cook from day after day.