Matthew Fort - Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons

I have never struggled with a book in my life apart from maybe when I was a kid and picked up a difficult book I didn't fully understand, which is normal when you're like 7 or something, but recently, I found myself struggling with this book, Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons, a book I bought out of curiosity and desire to travel to Italy.

Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons: Travels in Sicily on a Vespa is the sequel to Fort's Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa focussing Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean sea and off the coast of Italy.  Fort is a food writer and critic, having worked for The Guardian as well as writing for other media outlets.  As well as writing for newspapers and magazines, Fort has also written other book, one already mentioned, recounting Fort's travels from the south of Italy to the north, and another focussing on an English chef as well as English food and cooking.

Rating: 1

Recommended To: People interested in just the Italian food not the place

Favourite Part: 'We may take their food,' he went on, 'but all the foreigners who come to govern Sicily end up by becoming Sicilians - Greeks, Romans, Arabs, French, Germans, Spanish.  Even you English.  There is something about this island. - Page 21

Good Points: The concept and format; the descriptions of the food

Bad Points: Not enough photos; very Southern in his way of thinking; lack of details other than food; dude needs to learn his UK geography again

Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons recounts Fort's two trips to Sicily back in 2006, once in the spring, travelling from the west coast to the east across the middle of the island from Marsala to Cantania then again in late September around the circumference of Sicily, starting and finishing in Catania.  As with British food, some of the Sicilian food would be seasonal due to the vegetables and fruits they grow so Fort can gain a better perspective on Sicilian food.  Fort has already travelled around Sicily as a young man with his brother and now wants to see how this new perspective compares to the past having become older and a little wiser.

I loved the concept behind this book, travelling around Sicily, sampling food and meeting new people while also collecting certain recipes that he eats or at least some variation.  The idea of travelling around Sicily appeals to me because it's a place that fascinates me as I don't see anything about it very often and despite being an army brat, moving about and living in different countries, I have never been to Italy and would love to when I have the chance to.  The recipes were a great addition in my opinion because it allowed anyone to bring a little bit of Sicily to their own home in Britain; at the moment, I haven't tried any of the recipes because the ingredients aren't common in my kitchen but if I do decide to make something, I will update my blog if anyone is interested.

The way in which Fort described every bit of food he had, from the smell, the taste, and the texture, made me very hungry and very frustrated because I couldn't try any of them.  I loved this fact about the book, the way in which Fort described the food, as it really immersed me in this part of Sicilian culture made me more aware of their flavour palette, something that interests me because I like to cook.  Fort used great language for these parts and I can fully understand why he is a food writer and has worked for a number of media outlets.

While Fort did include small photographs at the beginning of each chapter which were to do with each one relatively, I think that there could have been more photographs, showing the scenery or the food he was eating would have improved the book for me.  It may seem childish but photographs could have shown greater detail of what Fort was describing and they be admired greatly; granted, you can imagine what he's describing because he does it well but a photograph could aid this further as someone might not know what something actually looks like or if they happen to go to Sicily, they can find something similar so they can sample the local food or go to a certain place.

Personally, I find Fort's way of seeing the world strange, almost a southern or traditional English way of seeing the world as he seems to have a belief that the English are prim and conservative while Sicilians are open and friendly.  This was too weird for me as my entire family, particularly my mum's side, are extremely friendly and welcoming much like the Sicilians Fort observed along the way.  Maybe it's because I grew up in the north and I'm not generalising the south of England as I am sure they are all lovely but everyone I grew up around were just like the Sicilians and I therefore didn't understand why Fort was so stunned or amazed by these people.  Another theory is that it's just because of the way he was raised in comparison to me or the fact that I might be part of the audience that Fort tends to write for.

I fully understand that Fort is a food writer but the premise of this book was to travel around Sicily and I was quite excited about that but as I got further and further into the book, there wasn't a great amount of detail actually about Sicily apart from the food.  Fort could have included more detailed descriptions about his interactions with the Sicilians in general - about their lives, what they were like etc. - rather than just describing them making food or eating food with Fort.  This could have improved the book for me greatly as it would be interesting to learn about the people or the landscape, not just the food.

Another part I found annoying was his lack of UK geography knowledge; I know he wasn't speaking about anywhere in the UK really apart from where he lived or where someone else that he met lived but it just tells me that neither him nor his editor checked that his facts were right and I therefore don't find his writing reliable enough to trust him.  This is a very small, and probably petty point, that really annoyed me about this book but the guy doesn't even know where Scunthorpe is, he literally mentions it in a sentence but it really annoyed me; it's a very childish thing but for God's sake, Scunthorpe is in North Lincolnshire where granted, borders Yorkshire but it's a different county.  This may be because I am from Lincolnshire/North Lincolnshire that this offends me so much as I am just a stone's throw away from Scunthorpe.  Maybe this is silly but I think if you're going to write about anywhere, even if it's for a second, know where you are talking about, especially if it's your own country as it just makes you seem ignorant. 

'We may take their food,' he went on, 'but all the foreigners who come to govern Sicily end up by becoming Sicilians - Greeks, Romans, Arabs, French, Germans, Spanish.  Even you English.  There is something about this island. - Page 21

I loved this part because I found it amusing, it was just such a wonderful line as it showed this love that this particular Sicilian has in his homeland.  I would love to meet his man because you don't meet a lot of people in England who love their homeland so much unless it has something to do with sports in some way.  This intrigues me because I want to see if there are actually people like that in Sicily and further inspires me to travel to Sicily when I can.

Sadly after reading Fort's writing, I no longer wish to Sicily any time soon as it doesn't seem as appealing to those that want to explore somewhere for the whole culture experience, his focus was too much on the food and not enough on the place or the people.  I'll give him credit, he described the food really well to the point where I was starving all the way through but he's a food writer and admits he explores through food rather than monuments, I would expect nothing different, but it would have been nice to have something else of substance to add to this book and therefore, I might have given him a higher rating.  I am not rushing out to get another book from this author though I am open to reading more about Sicily from another author who isn't so focussed on food.