Interview with
Elle Newmark
1. Why did you choose Venice in the 16th century for the setting of your novel? Do you have a special emotional connection to Venice?
I have an emotional connection to Italy as the land of my ancestors. But I think Venice is the perfect setting for secrets, intrigue, and seduction. Who can visit Venice without sensing her mysterious charm? Also, it’s easy to get lost in Venice, much as Luciano got lost in his desires, and others got lost in assorted lusts and plots. Venice is rich, dark, and unusual, all characteristics that I wanted to have in my tale of unholy mischief.
2. What is so interesting about the period of the Renaissance in Italy that you wanted to write a book about this time? Why do you think this period is one of the most fascinating for readers of historical novels?
The early Renaissance was the beginning of the enlightenment, the dawn of humanism, and the time when people began asking philosophical questions as well as making artistic and intellectual strides. That zeitgeist coincided with the invention of the printing press, which allowed the dissemination of ideas on a broad scale for the first time in human history. If ever there was a time when the flowering of knowledge clashed with the suppression of knowledge, it was the early Renaissance.
3. How did you create Luciano’s character and what is so special about him? Why is he chosen to get advised in the art of cooking and to learn so much more from his Maestro Ferrero?
The character of Luciano was inspired by my father, who was a chef’s apprentice in northern Italy at the age of thirteen. To hear him speak of his experience has always struck me as a Dickensian story with an Italian twist. My father’s professional path mirrored his personal growth from a poor boy to a successful man, much like Luciano.
The chef chose Luciano ostensibly because the birthmark made him think the boy might be his son. But Chef Ferrero, having suffered a disadvantaged childhood, saw something of himself in Luciano. In the end, Luciano became the chef’s immortality in a more significant way than biological fatherhood would have done. Luciano carried more than the chef’s bloodline; he carried the chef’s values.
4. Can you describe the special relationship of Luciano and Ferrero? What is it that connects them?
The chef and Luciano are connected by an innate sense of decency and a wish to transcend their humble beginnings. The chef had these qualities and he saw the same thing in Luciano. It was this, as much as Luciano’s suspicious birthmark, that made the chef want to believe Luciano was his son. Luciano saw integrity and strength in the chef, traits he wanted to develop in himself, which is why he was drawn to the chef as a father figure.
Many people have asked whether the chef was, in fact, Luciano’s father. To answer that question, I think we would have to define “father.“ We don’t know whether they shared DNA, but Luciano describes that facet of a relationship as “soft fruit and turning meat.“ Luciano and the chef were bonded as a father and son in a more meaningful sense; they shared a spiritual and moral connection.
5. Do you have a special preference for cooking and old recipes? Do you like cooking by yourself? Where did you get information about the ancient dishes served in Italy many hundred years ago?
I love to cook! When I lived in Germany I collected recipes from all over Europe and wrote a cookbook. (mmm, kaiserschmarm). I see cooking as a meditative art, and it seems to me that the skillful combination of inventive ingredients is similar to combining the right words in a sentence, or the right colors in a painting. Of course, being able to share food with people adds a social, sensual, and even spiritual dimension that I find quite satisfying.
As for the dishes mentioned in the book, most of them are fictional, invented to serve as metaphors in the story. Some dishes, like gnocchi and tomato soup, were probably not yet available in Europe in the early Renaissance, as potatoes and tomatoes were discovered in the New World. But many improbable things happened in Chef Ferrero’s marvelous kitchen, and I hope my readers will allow me that bit of artistic license.
6. Another important issue in your novel is the old book that holds the secrets of mankind. Why is this book so fascinating?
At one point in my book, the chef says, “Civilizations are built on the bones of the dead.“ Through the dark, medieval times when the life of the mind was controlled by the church and other heads of state, someone had to keep the creative flame alive. Someone had to protect ideas and pass them on so that humanity would be ready to build on them when the time was right. The mythical book was nothing less than the accumulated knowledge of humanity, waiting for the time when it could be brought into the light. I think the forward march of humanity is the most interesting story anyone can tell. What could be more fascinating than the way human beings went from squatting in caves to sending e-mail? And if we can do that, what’s next?