“The idea of a book devoted to a proverb may seem eccentric. But the eye of the historian – an eye attentive to reading what is no longer read and what is hidden – proves just how instructive and engaging a similar enterprise can be.” Carlo Petrini, Slow Food

“Putting together cheese and pears means redeeming other cheeses from their humble background and transforming them into food worthy of a nobleman’s table. In order for the game to work, we must not tell the peasants. This is the origin of a proverb that pretends to be about popular wisdom but once unmasked reveals its ferociously class-based mentality.”
Alessandro Barbero, Il Sole 24 Ore