mark leslie

Mark Leslie, a self-proclaimed “foodie” who loves to cook for anyone with an appetite, works across the country in professional theatre as a stage manager. Every year he vacations in Italy and lives to eat his way through every plate of pasta and cone of gelato placed before him. He shares those Italian experiences on his popular blog at www.beyondthepasta.com. A Chicago-area native and “Yankee” by birth, Mark has lived in Alabama for over 23 years, and celebrates the fact that he started life eating farina, progressed to grits, and finally arrived at polenta. Buonissima!

- My new book "Beyond The Pasta; Recipes, Language and Life with an Italian Family" - a food memoir/cookbook tells of the month I lived in Italy with an Italian family, while taking cooking classes from the grandmother and language lessons from her daughter.

It is a warm, heartfelt, witty and humorous story...a delicious one, too, since it includes 29 authentic Italian recipes Nonna (the grandmother) shared with me. The book delves into food memoir subject matter not typically found in a cookbook ... It was the day-to-day living, befuddled social interactions, laughing and shopping with Nonna, exploring the countryside and le gelaterie, where I truly developed my language skills, and a new, more joyful and uniquely Italian way of looking at the world.

If you have ever wondered about traveling to a foreign country and living there - this book tells of what a life altering experience it can be. And it will make you hungry, too!

Buon Appetito e Ciao~
Mark

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