In the smoky taverns of Seville, a chance encounter with a visionary dreamer named Christopher Columbus plants a seed in Baldo’s mind. Driven by the crushing weight of his family's debt, Baldo and his fellow Genoese sailors travel to the hostile port of Palos. There, amidst angry crowds and royal decrees, a mad voyage beyond the edge of the world begins to take shape. Will Baldo risk everything on a ship that doesn't yet exist?

The Admiral's Cook

Genoa, 1487. Plague closes the mountain passes, and Baldo Pastorino, the son of a village merchant, is left with three younger siblings, a family farm to save, and a debt of twenty gold ducats owed to two ruthless relatives. To pay it, he becomes a cook, first in a mountain inn, then in Seville. In 1492 he sails aboard the Santa María as the personal cook of Christopher Columbus, a man convinced he can reach China by sailing west. At sea, Baldo cooks for the Admiral, keeps his secrets, and learns that not everyone on board wants the voyage to succeed.

A historical novel by Samuele Della Gatta, told in episodes.