Filled with delicious and authentic recipes designed with an American kitchen in mind, this reader-friendly cookbook will easily make the transition from the kitchen to the couch, to settle the reader down to savor the sights, sounds, and tastes of regional Italian food. A wonderful book of food and people, of recipes and tales, filled with accurate historical and gustatorial information. Index. Illustrations.
Read More
Filled with delicious and authentic recipes designed with an American kitchen in mind, this reader-friendly cookbook will easily make the transition from the kitchen to the couch, to settle the reader down to savor the sights, sounds, and tastes of regional Italian food. A wonderful book of food and people, of recipes and tales, filled with accurate historical and gustatorial information. Index. Illustrations.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
I found this cookbook to incorporate two things I love: wonderful food and a good read. If you like travel, history, folklore, and authentic regional Italian food, Marlena de Blasi's first Italian cookbook is it. I know little about the cuisine of northern Italy, but found this cookbook to provide excellent recipes, written in a sensuous, personal style that kept me reading on. The ingredients called for are, for the most part, available to the home cook. If not, there is a mail-order resource section at the back of the book. Or one may substitute without fear of spoiling the dish: for the 5-day beef marinated in Amarone, I substituted another wine (a dry homebrewed raisin wine) and the result was delicious. One thing I disagree with the author about is the overly-generous use of rosemary in cooking; it is an herb to be used sparingly lest it overpower the other flavors of a dish. The recipes are laid out by region, with an introduction incorporating travel notes and personal memories before each section - great reading for the armchair traveler. There is a good balance of meat-based and vegetable-based recipes, with excellent recipes for the pasta and risotto dishes one expects from a book of Italian cookery. I miss the recipe grouping found in traditional cookbooks like "The Joy of Cooking", which is convenient, but you can always look up ingredients and recipes in the index. There is a list of regional Italian wines, with notes on how to educate one's palate. Very interesting also is the list, by region, of the author's favorite northern Italian eateries. The glossary is useful, and includes the definition of the expression "gilding," which seems to be the author's idiosyncratic way of saying "browning meat" or "carmelizing onions". Another oft-repeated expresssion is the "innocence" of a dish, to the point where I would like to say, "Yes, I get it, pure flavors." Still, the style is warm, personal, and ever intelligently sensuous. I love cooking out of the book, and enjoy just reading it for relaxation.
