Authentic Recipes From the Source with Lonely Planet

In its new series of recipe books, From the Source, global travel authority Lonely Planet presents the world’s most authentic dishes – direct from the kitchens where they were perfected.

From street-food vendors to top restaurants’ chefs, the best local cooks share their passion for food and their own family recipes.

The first two titles in the series are From the Source: Italy and From the Source: Thailand, both published this August.

Lonely Planet’s From the Source: Italy

Written by Sarah Barrell and photographed by Susan Wright

Lonely Planet has gathered 60 recipes from Italy’s top to toe, coast to coast: 60 dishes harvested from the very places in which they originated. As one of the book’s featured chefs from Genoa says: unlike French cuisine, Italian food came not from a tradition of great chefs but from mothers and grandmothers. And to cook food just like mama used to make it, you have to go to the source, to the very families who originated iconic dishes, or who inherited them and keep them alive. These are the people whose stories Lonely Planet tells in From the Source: Italy, through their recipes, their restaurants and their great love of the fertile terrain that surrounds them.

Author Sarah Barrell has contributed to Lonely Planet titles including You Only Live Once and Great Escapes. Formerly Travel Editor at the Independent on Sunday and acting Travel Editor of Olive food magazine, Sarah currently writes freelance for a number of UK publications including National Geographic Traveller, where she is Associate Editor. Visit www.sarahbarrell.com and @TravelBarrell.

Rome-based Australian photojournalist Susan Wright has spent the past decade travelling throughout Italy. Her images have graced the pages of such titles as Australian Gourmet Traveller, Lonely Planet Traveller, Travel + Leisure, Delicious, Vogue Paris, Saveur, Monocle and numerous inflight magazines. View Susan’s online portfolio and image archive at www.susanwrightphoto.com.

Lonely Planet’s From the Source: Thailand

Written and photographed by Austin Bush and Mark Wiens

The key to creating outstanding Thai food can be summed up in one word: balance. Whether it’s a creamy green curry, steaming soup neua or zingy som tam, all Thai dishes strive for that perfect balance of hot, sweet, sour and salty flavours, each one punchy without overpowering the others. But while this delicate interplay runs through the expansive range of the nation’s dishes, Thailand’s culinary heritage is remarkably localised. But what doesn’t vary, no matter which region you find yourself in, is the Thai people’s emotional connection to food. Wherever they’re found, the dishes shared in From the Source: Thailand signify history and heritage: a family recipe, created in the same way for generations, or a regional tradition, evolving with the twists and turns of geography and social history.

Austin Bush came to Thailand in 1999 as part of a language study programme hosted by Chiang Mai University. The lure of city life, employment and spicy food eventually led Austin to Bangkok, and has kept him there since. Austin is a writer and photographer who often covers food, and has contributed to more than 25 titles for Lonely Planet, as well as several other media outlets. Samples of Austin’s work can be seen at www.austinbushphotography.com.

Mark Wiens bought a one-way ticket to Thailand after graduating from college in the US, with nothing on his schedule other than a hunger to eat as much as he could. A short trip to Southeast Asia turned into years of eating, travelling and discovery. Mark blogs about Thai food at www.eatingthaifood.com and shares food adventures on www.migrationology.com.

LONELY PLANET’S FROM THE SOURCE: ITALY and FROM THE SOURCE: THAILAND
Published August 2015 / 280pp, 240mm x 185mm, full colour, hardcover / RRP: $34.99 ea.