Rating: 
Summary: Best Italian Cookbook in Years....
Review: After years of disappointing Italian cookbooks, this is the ultimate Italian cookbook to buy and use every time you want to cook a truly honest Italian meal without any fuss. The tomato sauces taste exactly like my Sicilian great-grandmother's. The book is clearly a beautiful work of love.
Rating:
Summary: The best Italian Cookbook I have read in years
Review: Family traditions translate to great foods! Do yourself a favour,read about the families,then the RECIPES. You can feel the culture as you prepare the totally honest recipes.This is a labor of love any cook can appreciate.You will also become a much better cook!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Family traditions translate to great foods! Do yourself a favour,read about the families,then the RECIPES. You can feel the culture as you prepare the totally honest recipes.This is a labor of love any cook can appreciate.You will also become a much better cook!
Rating:
Summary: The best Italian Cookbook I have read in years
Review: I grew up in an Italian community in Hartford much like the one the Tuccis describe. I was moved to buy this book after seeing Chef Scappin and the Tuccis on a cooking show. Their Manicotti recipe was the same as my grandmother's even though we are Sicilian and they come from Northern Italy!Dona Concetta made stuffed artichokes for me whenever she knew I was coming home and her recipe is remarkably similar to the one in the book. I couldn't put down the book. As well as being an excellent cookbook, it is a really interesting view of two fascinating families and their close knit community. The book made me long for the simpler days in my grandfather's garden eating fresh figs and picking tomatoes while the Zias sat and gossiped! Buy this book, you will love it, particularly if you are of Italian descent.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I made a the veggie tart from this and it was GREAT! I had some people over and they couldn't stop raving over it. They give you ideas on how to vary the filling and that's what I did...it's a great book!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful remembrance of family
Review: It was wonderful to read the stories of the Tropiano, Tucci and Scappin family and then to celebrate their history at my own dinner table. The recipes have the ring of authenticity -- simple, a minimum of ingredients and quick to make. Everything I have tried has turned out great, especially the Anise Biscotti. I will continue cooking through Cucina & Famiglia with great pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: Practical and delicious
Review: It's clear the recipes in "Cucina & Famiglia" have been handed down and refined within the family over the years because they all work very well. They're not complicated, but they are satisfying. A few are even inventive, like chicken lasagna that uses besciamella sauce in place of cheese, lentils with spaghetti (once you taste this you wonder why you hadn't tried it long ago) and of course, the timpano. I find myself returning to this book more than any other except perhaps "Vegetarin Cooking for Everyone".
Rating:
Summary: Practical and delicious
Review: It's clear the recipes in "Cucina & Famiglia" have been handed down and refined within the family over the years because they all work very well. They're not complicated, but they are satisfying. A few are even inventive, like chicken lasagna that uses besciamella sauce in place of cheese, lentils with spaghetti (once you taste this you wonder why you hadn't tried it long ago) and of course, the timpano. I find myself returning to this book more than any other except perhaps "Vegetarin Cooking for Everyone".
Rating:
Summary: Practical and delicious
Review: It's clear the recipes in "Cucina & Famiglia" have been handed down and refined within the family over the years because they all work very well. They're not complicated, but they are satisfying. A few are even inventive, like chicken lasagna that uses besciamella sauce in place of cheese, lentils with spaghetti (once you taste this you wonder why you hadn't tried it long ago) and of course, the timpano. I find myself returning to this book more than any other except perhaps "Vegetarin Cooking for Everyone".
Rating:
Summary: Not just about the Timpano...
Review: Many will buy this book for the Timpano recipe. I must say that there is just so much more to this book besides that. I've made close to 15 of the dishes in it and they are all gold so far. In particular, I must recommend the vegetable torte. The crust is absolutely fantastic and easy to make if you have a food processor. As for the Timpano itself, a friend and I made it and it was quite the event. It took about three days to make sure that we had all the things we needed (sauce and meat need to be made ahead of time, not to mention side dishes). One thing to consider before attempting it is the right basin. Enamel basins like the one in the movie are not made any more, so they are difficult to find. I actually was able to secure one from a company recommended by the book, but it took a few days to track down a retailer. I was also able to get one that looked exactly like the one in the movie, but it was used and I don't know what for, so for the sake of being sanitary I went with the one from the retailer. After it was all said and done, the Timpano was everything we expected and more. Follow the recipe exactly and don't skimp on any of the ingredients, it may seem like collosal ammounts of food, but I tell you that it is all accurate. Bottom line: fantastic cookbook with excellent recipies, comprehensive and easy instructions with preparations requirements that will appeal to everyone from the novice to the expert! Buy it now!
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