This small, handsomely photographed book produced by the Belmond Hotel Group is more evocative than comprehensive, offering color-saturated photographs of coastline, street scenes, and food along with slightly more than twenty recipes.

The food is largely traditional, with an occasional flourish from one of the local chefs. Among the recipes:

Vesuvius frittata, which instead of being fiery, emphasizes vegetables from the volcanically-enriched soil near the mountain

Spaghetti with lemon and capers Caprese salad, employing buffalo mozzarella Caruso gimlet, made with Amalfi lemons rather than limes

Seven Italian food writers have contributed essays on Campania’s culinary character and the book concludes with a foreigner’s appreciation: an essay by Ireland’s own Darina Allen.