Sceptical at first about this book, as i was looking for a real italian cookbook, i did not want another book on restaurant cooking at that time, especially one from a Michelin starred chef. I was after a book offering authentic italian food, with reference to the country's relation between food, people and culture!
Having passed this book on the shelves on more than one occasion, i thought i just as well have a look, well how wrong could i have been? Very wrong- a quick glance was enough for me to make for the counter, and part with £19.99. This book is a masterpiece of food writing, an italian cookbook through to the core, probably the mother of all italian cookbooks(coincidentally this book along with david thompsons thai, are probably my two all time favourite food related books, both very similar in composition, and focused purely on the country in question).
A nice thick book that delivers for your hard earned money, 615 pages not including some photos at the end, like most books on italian food it is broken down into chapters with an outstanding first chapter on antipasti, which runs to 128 pages, a small book in itself! Other chapters include zuppa(soup),pesci(fish),pasta,carne(meat) and dolci(sweet). A stand alone chapter devoted to rissotto, running at 72 pages is passionate, but you wouldn't expect any less from a northern italian. This chapter like the others is more than just rissotto, included within are pages on the foundation of all good rissotto's. Pages on stock, porcini and for the wealthy amongst us truffle! To see rissotto with it's very own chapter is special, normally rissotto is tagged onto the end of a chapter on pasta, which i find infuriating.
Amongst the individual chapters you will find random pages on produce, food stories from the authors childhood, and a real sense of seasonality that has founded italian cooking, of course there are references to the restaurant(locander locatelli), but these are welcome, a nice touch that allows the reader to put the dishes in perspective.
A wonderful read with only one gripe, it's a pain in the backside to read in bed! An easy way to counter this is to take the book into the kitchen, start cooking the recipes and enjoy. I have!
2 comments:
Love those big doorstop books, just because there's usually something new to find even after you've had them for years! Or maybe I'm just a slow reader! :)
They are great to read, often full of good information, but not meant for bedtime reading! lol :)
I have often wondered if i'm suppose to read from cover to cover, but the beauty of these doorstep books is that,they are timeless
reads :)
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