Reading Recommendation: The Telling Room
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The first in our recommended reading list of books that will stoke your desire for Spain or food or just a cracking story well-told, is Michael Paterniti's THE TELLING ROOM. A work of literary non-fiction, it's a book about a cheese so spectacular it induces a state of reverie upon tasting it, yes. But, it's more a book about an impossible character, Ambrosio Molinos de Las Heras, the man responsible for recreating a long-lost family recipe for this cheese of dreams that brings "... a moment of pure, gustatory pleasure..."; the mystery of how it all goes wrong; and the power of stories.
The author himself becomes entangled in the tale, moving his young family to Ambrosio's tiny village of Guzmán, Spain in pursuit of a new, old-way of life and to uncover the truth of the treachery at the heart of the story.
But, the story is always changing.
The book's title comes from a cave carved into a hillside overlooking the town, where a timeworn door opens onto a small room containing only a wooden table and two benches. Here, in "the telling room", Ambrosio and his family convene in the evenings to sustain themselves with cheese, wine, and stories. Paterniti first encounters the enormous cheesemaker in this place where fact and fiction intertwine. Along with the extraordinary cheese he's treated to an hours-long history of love, betrayal, and revenge that inspires him to write the memoir, travelogue, mystery, adventure that is this enthralling book.
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One afternoon not that long ago, A.J. Weiss was sitting in a cafe, tapping his pen on an empty note pad, and staring out the window. The prior accumulated years of adventure, heartbreak, and common drudgery had all amounted to this, a particular moment, for reasons both unknown and fairly straightforward. The most straightforward being that he worked at Blue Planet Foods, Ltd., importer of high-quality food products and ingredients, and that he had set forth to complete the task of conjuring a suitable name for the company's new Spanish specialty food brand. After a certain amount of consideration and voluminous list-making, Donostia Foods came to be.
What was the inspiration for this (superb) brand name? Donostia-San Sebastián, a small coastal city in Basque Country in northern Spain, renowned for its restaurants, gastronomic societies, and culinary traditions. A place where locals and visitors alike wander the cobblestones of the old town in the warm evening light, drifting amongst the pintxo bars to sample unparalleled small-bites accompanied by the effervescent local wine, txakoli, and sharing in the laughter that becomes the fondest of memories; a place that exudes good food, good drinks, and a general sense of revelry. All of which is quite enjoyable.
With Donostia Foods we hope to introduce more people in the United States to the gastronomic pleasures of Donostia-San Sebastián and Spain as a whole, with a continually expanding product line of the best examples of the best products we can find and with the conviviality of the place itself.
Thank you for your interest in Donostia Foods, and if there's anything we can do for you, please contact us.
A.J. Weiss in the village of Espelette in Basque Country.
