--- title: The Chef's Secret Companion Digital Cookbook description: Try the recipes from Crystal King's THE CHEF'S SECRET, about the mysterious, delicious life of Renaissance celebrity chef, Bartolomeo Scappi. image: https://www.crystalking.com/hubfs/ChefSecretCookbookCover.jpg --- # The Chef's Secret - A Companion Cookbook ![ChefSecretCookbookCover](https://www.crystalking.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ChefSecretCookbookCover.jpg?width=621&name=ChefSecretCookbookCover.jpg) ## Discover recipes for Renaissance Roman food you will love.  This FREE digital cookbook (in .pdf form) contains 27 delicious recipes by Crystal King and by renowned chefs, food historians and food book bloggers including: - Beth Fish, [Beth Fish Reads](https://www.bethfishreads.com/) - Vanessa Baca, [Food in Books](https://foodinbooks.com/) - Chefs Jenna and Joseph Cuccia, [17 Summer, Lodi, NJ](http://www.17summerrestaurant.com/) - Daniela Storoni, food historian and owner [La Tavola Rinasciamento](http://www.rinascimentoatavola.it/) - Chefs Kevin O'Donnell and Michael Lombardi, [SRV, Boston](http://www.srvboston.com/) - Chef Joshua Lewin, [Juliet, Somerville MA](http://www.julietsomerville.com/) - Kate Quinn, [author](http://www.katequinnauthor.com/)  - [Michael Pagliarini](http://www.bostonchefs.com/restaurant/giulia/chef/mike-pagliarini/), Chef and owner of [Giulia](http://www.giuliarestaurant.com/) and [Benedetto](http://www.benedettocambridge.com/), Cambridge, MA - [Francine Segan](http://www.francinesegan.com/),[ Food historian and cookbook author](http://www.francinesegan.com/) - Hannah Spiegelman, [A Sweet History](http://asweethistory.com/) - Camilla M. Mann, [Culinary Adventures with Camilla](http://culinary-adventures-with-cam.blogspot.com/) - Chef Louise Miller, [author ](http://louisemillerauthor.tumblr.com/) - [Ken Albala](http://www.pacific.edu/Academics/Schools-and-Colleges/College-of-the-Pacific/Academics/Departments-and-Programs/History/Our-Faculty/Directory/Ken-Albala.html), [Professor of History, Chair of Food Studies,](https://www.pacific.edu/academics/schools-and-colleges/college-of-the-pacific/academics/departments-and-programs/history/faculty-directory/ken-albala.html) University of the Pacific ### Fill out the form to get your free copy! #### MORE ABOUT CRYSTAL'S BOOKS   | #### About Feast of Sorrow Set amongst the scandal, wealth, and upstairs-downstairs politics of a Roman family, Crystal King’s seminal debut features the man who inspired the world’s oldest cookbook and the ambition that led to his destruction. On a blistering day in the twenty-sixth year of Augustus Caesar’s reign, a young chef, Thrasius, is acquired for the exorbitant price of twenty thousand denarii. His purchaser is the infamous gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius, wealthy beyond measure, obsessed with a taste for fine meals from exotic places, and a singular ambition: to serve as culinary advisor to Caesar, an honor that will cement his legacy as Rome's leading epicure. [Buy Feast of Sorrow Now](http://geni.us/FeastOfSorrow) |   | **About The Chef's Secret **A captivating novel of Renaissance Italy detailing the mysterious life of Bartolomeo Scappi, the legendary chef to several popes and author of one of the bestselling cookbooks of all time, and the nephew who sets out to discover his late uncle’s secrets—including the identity of the noblewoman Bartolomeo loved until he died. When Bartolomeo Scappi dies in 1577, he leaves his vast estate—properties, money, and his position—to his nephew and apprentice Giovanni. He also gives Giovanni the keys to two strongboxes and strict instructions to burn their contents. Despite Scappi’s dire warning that the information concealed in those boxes could put Giovanni’s life and others at risk, Giovanni is compelled to learn his uncle’s secrets. He undertakes the arduous task of decoding Scappi’s journals and uncovers a history of deception, betrayal, and murder—all to protect an illicit love affair. [Buy The Chef's Secret now](https://geni.us/TheChefsSecret) |   | **About In the Garden of Monsters ** ** **Italy, 1948. Julia Lombardi has no memory of her past, yet when eccentric artist Salvador Dalí invites her to the eerie Sacro Bosco — the Garden of Monsters — she feels compelled to accept. The garden, filled with giant statues that seem alive, hides more than just secrets. Julia is inexplicably drawn to their enigmatic host, Ignazio, who seems to know her. Between Dalí’s strange behavior, Ignazio’s uncanny familiarity, and the agonizing whispered warnings that echo through the garden, Julia is soon on the verge of unraveling. And she begins to wonder if she’s truly the mythical queen of the Underworld… [Buy In the Garden of Monsters now](https://geni.us/InTheGardenOfMonsters) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |   [![Crystal King, Author](https://www.crystalking.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Crystal%20King.png?width=80&height=80&name=Crystal%20King.png "Crystal King, Author")](https://www.crystalking.com?hsLang=en-us) Copyright 2026 [**](https://www.crystalking.com/chefs-secret-companion-cookbook#) ![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1481231558851356&ev=PageView&noscript=1)