Nudo - Straight From the Grove

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to own your own olive grove, whimsically or otherwise, this book gives you the inside scoop. The Dolce Vita Diaries charts the progress of Cathy Rogers and Jason Gibb as they set out on their dream to harvest their own olive oil from their very own olive grove. Between them the couple have notched up careers as TV producers, marine biologists, medics, touring musicians, lake monster hunters, diving instructors, TV presenters, and even church organists. Phew. Cathy Rogers is probably best known for her appearances as a presenter on Channel 4's Scrapheap Challenge but felt the earthier qualities of the olive grove calling. Just be warned – you might start craving good bread and even better olive oil as you read through the ups, downs and recipes the couple encounter with their Italian olive grove project.

This is one of those multipurpose books: it combines travel writing with a hint of cookery and a mere dash of jealousy – yours, I mean. Each chapter is punctuated with delicious, authentic Italian recipes, as the authors take you through the precarious adventure that is buying an olive grove and setting up a thriving business in Italy when you’re British and armed with just a dictionary and a baby. Be warned: by about two-thirds of your way through this luscious book – taken from a blog of the same name – you’ll be craving olives by the crate load and dreaming of adopting your very own olive tree.

The greatest escape since the Great Escape.

There's a real sense of fun to this book, and indeed the Brit authors positively brim with exuberance throughout. After trying out a multitude of careers, the couple left the rat race in 2005, seeking refuge in the Italian countryside. 'The Dolce Vita Diaries' charts Rogers' and Gibb's adventures in the world of olive oil, tracking their progress as they procure an olive grove, harvest the fruits of their labour and eventually build a successful business. The book's written with humour and vigour, rendering a potentially dry subject as vibrant as the oils they describe. Chapters are concluded with the recipes interwoven into the stories- a lovely touch- cooking them as you read submerges you totally in the authors' experience. Obscure tasting notes are dispensed with in favour of more accessible terminology- here we find, 'What a cacophany of flavours!' from the Moroccan oil, and learn that Californian oil is 'No-one's favourite'! It's hard to pigeonhole this wonderful book- indeed, why would you want to? Part memoir, part recipe book, even part business plan, 'The Dolce Vita Diaries' is seriously engrossing, with a huge personality. Cathy and Jason neatly coerced me into making the 'Strozaprezzi' pasta, telling me, 'Not only does it have a clever little twist in it that means sauces stick to it in gooey lumps, but best of all, its name means 'priest choker'!' That's the thing with this book- it really does feel like having a chat with your mates... Those ones who exhaust you with their sheer enthusiasm for life. If you're just after a rollicking adventure from a book, 'The Dolce Vita Diaries' will do nicely- but it's so much more. By the final pages, you'll be more knowledgeable about olive oil; longing for Italy; ravenously hungry and sorry to bid goodbye to two such big characters. Perfect summer reading.

My wife bought me this book after I had adopted one of the authors' olive trees. It's a great read. If you've ever wondered what the truth is behind those `place in the sun' style stories that always seem to be too good to be true then you should enjoy this. It's easy to warm to this couple, who had the courage to exchange their life of luxury in LA for a ramshackle pile in the back of Italian beyond, and the good humour to see the funny side of some pretty poor luck. The book is written in a breezy, easily readable style, with a fair number of hilariously long and ambitious to-do lists as they adapt to their new, rustic lifestyle. There are also recipes inspired by local characters. I cooked the Lemon Ravioli with Sage Butter which was straightforward, quick, and delicious.

"Generally, we led a pretty charmed, if rather shallow life", wrote Cathy Rogers at the beginning of the book, describing a career spent between London and LA working in television production. 319 pages later, Jason and Cathy have given up their jobs, had baby Rosie, and moved to an olive farm in Le Marche. They have renovated and rebuilt their farmhouse and dreamt up an intriguing wheeze whereby "investors" can adopt an olive tree and receive divvies in the form of its oil. Between each chapter Jason has inserted a chunk of delicious-sounding recipes, and my copy already has several Post-its marking the ones I want to cook first (top of the list is the tagliata steak on page 138). Photos abound, both colour and black and white, and a quote from that great cook Rose Prince adorns the cover. This is a popular genre, but Jason and Cathy's book makes a refreshing change from the run-of-the-mill. If you know someone who likes Italy, good food, olive oil....then this is for them.

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