The shelfie – Luigi Caricato

If a library is a mirror of a personality, then a photograph of a shelf is a sort of selfie.  In that spirit we bring you the shelfie: a series of self-portraits with books. 
Today we explore the library of  Luigi Caricato, author, journalist and creator of the cultural forum Olio Officina. A much sought after lecturer, he is also an organizer of various cultural events. Since 2012 he has been the guiding force behind Olio Officina Food Festival, billed as the world’s largest and most authorative event dedicated to condiments. In addition to several books, Luigi Caricato is the author of the blog “Olivo Matto” and director of the publications “Olio Officina Magazine” and, in the English language, “Olio Officina Globe”.

– How long have you been accumulating cook books? 
Books forever. As a child I tended to loot the library of an uncle who was a priest, but there were no cookbooks on those shelves.  Soon I was after fiction, poetry and philosophy. The cook books arrived much later, during my university years.

– How many books make up your personal gastronomical library?
I’ve stopped counting, though I believe that they number more than a thousand. I devour books, even though it’s impossible to read them all. In any case, just having them, being able to page through, them calms me. Even when I know that I won’t be able to read them entirely, there is the thought that they are always at my disposal for consultation.

– Do you collect books in more than one language?
Of course, even in impossible languages. I’ve Chinese editions of my favorite author, Mo Yan. With respect to gastronomical books, I don’t have many in other languages, though I’ve loads of non-Italian books dedicated to olive oil.

– Where do you keep your books and how are they organized?  Do you have a system for ferreting out the single tome quickly or does that tend to become a scavenger hunt? 
It’s a scavenger hunt, not because I’m so disorganized, but because I’m always consulting multiple volumes over time and these tend not to be reshelved right away. Books do turn up in impossible places; they’re everywhere.
There’s also the fact that I have books in several different houses: that of my parents, the house where I live and work, the house where I spend my vacation time. Despite the fact that the search for a particular volume may end up seeming like a treasure hunt, I always end up finding what I’m looking for. This “failure to reshelve is perhaps an involuntary mechanism for running into forgotten titles.

– Would  you define yourself as a serial accumulator or do you, from time to time, eliminate books of less interest to you? How do you imagine your library in 20 years from now?
I never eliminate and I never “gift” from my own library. I purchase new copies and give those. In twenty years time I’m convinced I’ll be looking for more space.

— Are you interested in culinary APPs and/or e-books? Do you think the time will come when you will abandon paper for digital media? ?
They interest me, but I’m not much of a user. I have a physical need to hold books, to underline the text. I do that to all of my books, even novels.

– Are you possessive about your books? Do you ever lend them?
I make gifts of books, but never lend them, or rather, I lend books only to those who live with me.

– Do you ever make gifts of cook books?
Yes, but never recipe books.  The market rarely offers them written the way I prefer. Those with a list of ingredients and a description of the execution don’t attract me: I want recipes that are narrated.

– Do you write in your books? Do you add notes to recipes you’ve tried, insert comments about the text or criticisms of the author?
My books are my “road companions”: repositories for all sorts of passing thoughts, telephone numbers and ideas not at all related to their subjects. I like books that show a little wear because they tell part of my own story. I love to use them. On the other hand, I’ve great respect for books that belong to others and very rarely ask to borrow them.

– Do cook books ever make it to your bedside table? Where do you prefer to read them? 
Essay collections do, but I prefer other contexts for cookery books.

– Is there a particular cookbook you would like to possess, but have never been able to find? 
I’m not a classic collector. It’s important that a book leaves me with something, some sort of enrichment. I accumulate for that reason: nutrition.

– In the case of a disaster in which you could only save five titles from your gastronomic library, what would you choose? Why? 
This is a question that’s impossible to answer. In all honesty, I would opt for other topics, but if confined to the gastronomic, I would choose three books by Piero Camporesi:  Il pane selvaggio; Il paese della fame; Il brodo indiano; and two books by Rosalia Cavalieri: Gusto. L’intelligenza del palato; and Il naso intelligente.