Welcome to Notes from Emiko’s Kitchen!
I am an Australian-Japanese cookbook author, photographer and food/travel writer based in Tuscany for the past 20 years. I went to art school before turning to food writing and I have since written and photographed six cookbooks; Gohan, a cookbook of the Japanese home cooking I grew up with, is my most recent (October 2023) and it swept up the Best Cookery Book award at the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards in London. Together with my husband, Marco Lami, who is a Tuscan sommelier, we run a natural wine bar and cooking school in our little town of San Miniato — Enoteca Marilu.
Here, I share my food and travel recommendations around Italy (or even Japan), such as this piece on how overtourism is killing Florence’s dining scene, snippets of family life in Tuscany, seasonal eating, historical recipes like Antifascist pasta, cookbook chat, discussions on things that are meaningful to me, such as how to untangle yourself from diet culture, sustainability in food and why finding joy (not fear) in food is so important.
Similar to what I share on my blog and on Instagram, but full of extra insights, deep dives (like this one on the myth of sugar), links and ramblings that don’t fit on either the blog or Instagram, this newsletter is also the first place I announce news such as workshops at our new enoteca and culinary space, Enoteca Marilu, and other things you may want to be first to hear about.
If you enjoy my content, I hope you may consider being a supporter of my writing for 5 euro a month (50 euro annually), it’s the price of a glass of prosecco at our favourite wine bar in Florence, which I hope one day we could even do in person. This support helps me continue bringing you recipes, images and thoughts from Italy, and just being a food writer in general (because to be perfectly honest writing cookbooks does not adequately do that) while juggling a young family. Thank you for being here.
If you have subscribed but have changed your mind, check Substack’s directions on how to unsubscribe from your paid subscription here. (I get it).
I’m very excited about this newsletter and I hope you will be too, I have so much more to share with you, so please stay tuned.
“Two reasons why I love Emiko Davies’ cookbooks above all others: First, the recipes convey an immediate doability – you have all or most ingredients on hand, and the spirit of the dish is communicated in such an easy, intimate manner that you waste no time deciphering or adapting, you just dive in. But the second reason is even better: such good, satisfying, literary writing! Yes, many cookbooks come with sprightly notes and meditative essays tucked between the recipes, but this is writing that could function on its own, if it wanted to. The cookbooks are books in their own right, they are complete immersive experiences. You are transported with all of your senses. In times like these, that makes all the difference.”
— Deborah Feldman, author
Looking forward to writing for you from my kitchen in Tuscany.
Emiko x
