BUCH WIEN
(VIENNA BOOK FAIR AND FESTIVAL)

Sunday, NOVEMBER 12, 10:30 a.m.
RONDO VENEZIANO
Reading and Discussion
Susanne Ayoub (Author) and Christoph Winder (Journalist from “Der Standard“)

At a Sunday morning reading, culinary arts come before crime fiction—at the suggestion of the moderator Christoph Winder. And so the author reads about three hungry ladies and their first meal in Venice. In a restaurant with a warning posted at the entrance: “No pizza! No lasagne! No menu turistico!”

“Are we the only customers?” Biggi peered through the window. She was looking into the kitchen, where two men were at work. Behind the bar, a third man was putting glasses away. Nothing else was stirring.
Chris read the menu. “I don’t know any of these dishes. Oh, wait, baccalà manticato. Baccalà is dried cod. Not something I eat.” Adele took out her reading glasses. “Astice means lobster. Canestrelli are little scallops. They’re very tasty.”
“But the prices!” Chris narrowed her eyes. “Huh, and that’s just the appetizers, the main courses are even more expensive.”
Adele was getting angry. Maybe the prices were a little high, but they’d be getting authentic Italian cuisine!
“I have no problem with a tourist menu,” Chris said. “It’s just that you can afford something else. You probably have more sophisticated tastes, too.”
Biggi quickly intervened: “Hey now, let’s not turn this into an ideological debate!”