Regional Italian Cuisine: Typical Recipes and Culinary Impressions from All Regions

Rating:
Summary: Pin stars on your fridge with this one
Review:
I first used this book in its original German edition. Every recipe I cooked was superb. I rushed to buy the English edition. There are slight variations (the editors short changed American food markets a little I think)and I am disappointed that the very handy "metric" measure was changed to English measures. The editors could have at least included both, in the manner of Lorenza di Medici's books. Still, with this book, its very orderly instructions and gorgeously elegant illustrations, you can begin your mastery of fine Italian cuisine from your very own stovetop.

Buy this one.

Rating:
Summary: Pin stars on your fridge with this one
Review:
I first used this book in its original German edition. Every recipe I cooked was superb. I rushed to buy the English edition. There are slight variations (the editors short changed American food markets a little I think)and I am disappointed that the very handy "metric" measure was changed to English measures. The editors could have at least included both, in the manner of Lorenza di Medici's books. Still, with this book, its very orderly instructions and gorgeously elegant illustrations, you can begin your mastery of fine Italian cuisine from your very own stovetop.

Buy this one.

Rating:
Summary: Nearly as good as traveling through the country!
Review: I adore this coobook because it appeals to so many levels of cook. Just when you think you have a handle on Italian cuisine, this book reveals little known facts about each region that will surprise even the most experienced cook. Consequently, it provide the "best of the region" recipes that are not as intimidating as you might think (if the recipe won't get you to try them, the photgraphs will!). It really opens up culinary doors by exposing the novice cook to Italian cuisine beyond pizza and spaghetti by giving the reader a hand-held walk through every region.

I consider myself a knowledgeable cook, but by no means a chef, and nearly every recipe screams "Make me!!!". I particularly enjoy the comprehensive approach to revealing the culture behind the cuisine of each reason.

Rating:
Summary: Authentic, but flawed...
Review: The recipes in this book were authentic but all of the ones I tried seemed somehow flawed, even though I followed them to a "t" on the first try and then tried to fix the problems on successive attempts. For example, the arancini di riso was very authentic in taste - I've tasted the same thing in Sicily many times, however when I tried this recipe, the arancini kept falling apart and wouldn't stay in the ball shape... I chopped it all up and served it that way (everyone loved it & no one knew the difference, but it was still disappointing). Another example is the Cassata. This was authentic looking (not frozen, thank goodness!) however when I first made it the filling called for a sugar syrup (!!) instead of dry ingredients (sugar without water) to sweeten the ricotta & when I added it, the filling was too loose & watery to stay in the cake. (And yes, I used imported dry ricotta, not the watery American kind). My cassata became a puddingy trifle which again everyone loved but still was disappointing to me, even if no one knew what the dish was supposed to be like! I then altered the recipe to use drier ingredients for the filling and it came out... well ok... but not great either - I have a better cassata siciliana recipe from my grandmother, so I'm sticking to that...
Finally the last complaint I have about this book, which may sound insignificant until you try a recipe, is that the order of the ingredients listed is not the same as the order in which you use them. This caused me to read directions such as "add sugar and flour" and then have to go back to the list of ingredients to find out how much of each to add and when I did I would find sugar in the middle of the list & flour near the bottom - the order was completely random and it was frustrating to have to search for *every single item* because they were not listed in the order that they were supposed to be used! I know, I know, this sounds small and petty, but it really was incredibly annoying & time-consuming. I sold this book to someone else (with a warning) because it was just too irritating to cook from because of this seemingly tiny organizational problem. Would not recommend this book at all (even if the pictures were gorgeous) but if it comes out in a 2nd edition that fixes the problems I'll try it again...Hope this helps other cooks out there! Ciao!

Rating:
Summary: Authentic, but flawed...
Review: The recipes in this book were authentic but all of the ones I tried seemed somehow flawed, even though I followed them to a "t" on the first try and then tried to fix the problems on successive attempts. For example, the arancini di riso was very authentic in taste - I've tasted the same thing in Sicily many times, however when I tried this recipe, the arancini kept falling apart and wouldn't stay in the ball shape... I chopped it all up and served it that way (everyone loved it & no one knew the difference, but it was still disappointing). Another example is the Cassata. This was authentic looking (not frozen, thank goodness!) however when I first made it the filling called for a sugar syrup (!!) instead of dry ingredients (sugar without water) to sweeten the ricotta & when I added it, the filling was too loose & watery to stay in the cake. (And yes, I used imported dry ricotta, not the watery American kind). My cassata became a puddingy trifle which again everyone loved but still was disappointing to me, even if no one knew what the dish was supposed to be like! I then altered the recipe to use drier ingredients for the filling and it came out... well ok... but not great either - I have a better cassata siciliana recipe from my grandmother, so I'm sticking to that...
Finally the last complaint I have about this book, which may sound insignificant until you try a recipe, is that the order of the ingredients listed is not the same as the order in which you use them. This caused me to read directions such as "add sugar and flour" and then have to go back to the list of ingredients to find out how much of each to add and when I did I would find sugar in the middle of the list & flour near the bottom - the order was completely random and it was frustrating to have to search for *every single item* because they were not listed in the order that they were supposed to be used! I know, I know, this sounds small and petty, but it really was incredibly annoying & time-consuming. I sold this book to someone else (with a warning) because it was just too irritating to cook from because of this seemingly tiny organizational problem. Would not recommend this book at all (even if the pictures were gorgeous) but if it comes out in a 2nd edition that fixes the problems I'll try it again...Hope this helps other cooks out there! Ciao!

Rating:
Summary: BRAVO
Review: This book is an excellent way to learn about the regions of Italy and the styles of cooking done in those regions. There are maps, essays, recipes and pictures to teach you about the cuisines from the various regions. The author divides Italy not by political boundaries, but more by culture and geography. For instance several political regions (Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna) are covered in the section on cuisine from the Po River valley. Though Lombardy appears again in the section on the Mountain region (Lombardy, Piedmont, Trentino, etc.) cuisine. Though a bit "contrived," this scheme divides cuisine styles into cohesive groups. A map shows the authors "regions" overlaid onto the map of the political regions.

There are not as many recipes as in some other Italian cookbooks (Hazan, Bugialli, etc.), but the ones that are present are fairly representative of the region being covered. And there are color photos of every recipe! Most of the recipes give you a sense of the essence of that "region's" cuisine. Plus each "region" has an introductory essay describing its chief culinary products and styles.

It has taken me years to get a clue about the essences of cooking from various regions of Italy. I have gained bits here and there from cookbooks, articles, maps, travel guides, etc. (And I have collected a lot of material over the years.) This book confirmed much that I had already learned "the hard way," and it taught me more. Granted all of the information about Italy and the over 60 Italian cookbooks I own cannot be distilled into one volume, but this book does an excellent job of introducing you to the complex and somewhat confusing array of "Italian" cooking. If you are new to Italian cooking this is a great book to help you understand that there is no national "Italian" cooking style, but a variety of regional styles.

Most of the recipes will be relatively easy for the USA cook, though there are a few with ingredients that will require a visit to a specialty store or butcher. Many traditional techniques are simplified to make the recipe easier without sacrificing much in the way of authentic taste.

You will need to know some general cooking techniques that are not completely explained in this book. However, most recipes are fairly straight-forward.

This is THE BEST intro to Italian cooking I know of. When you graduate from here you will have a good foundation of understanding to take you on to Hazan, Bugialli, Bastianich, etc. If you DON'T care about understanding the regions and their cuisine styles, then skip this book.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful introduction to Italian cuisine
Review: This book is an excellent way to learn about the regions of Italy and the styles of cooking done in those regions. There are maps, essays, recipes and pictures to teach you about the cuisines from the various regions. The author divides Italy not by political boundaries, but more by culture and geography. For instance several political regions (Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna) are covered in the section on cuisine from the Po River valley. Though Lombardy appears again in the section on the Mountain region (Lombardy, Piedmont, Trentino, etc.) cuisine. Though a bit "contrived," this scheme divides cuisine styles into cohesive groups. A map shows the authors "regions" overlaid onto the map of the political regions.

There are not as many recipes as in some other Italian cookbooks (Hazan, Bugialli, etc.), but the ones that are present are fairly representative of the region being covered. And there are color photos of every recipe! Most of the recipes give you a sense of the essence of that "region's" cuisine. Plus each "region" has an introductory essay describing its chief culinary products and styles.

It has taken me years to get a clue about the essences of cooking from various regions of Italy. I have gained bits here and there from cookbooks, articles, maps, travel guides, etc. (And I have collected a lot of material over the years.) This book confirmed much that I had already learned "the hard way," and it taught me more. Granted all of the information about Italy and the over 60 Italian cookbooks I own cannot be distilled into one volume, but this book does an excellent job of introducing you to the complex and somewhat confusing array of "Italian" cooking. If you are new to Italian cooking this is a great book to help you understand that there is no national "Italian" cooking style, but a variety of regional styles.

Most of the recipes will be relatively easy for the USA cook, though there are a few with ingredients that will require a visit to a specialty store or butcher. Many traditional techniques are simplified to make the recipe easier without sacrificing much in the way of authentic taste.

You will need to know some general cooking techniques that are not completely explained in this book. However, most recipes are fairly straight-forward.

This is THE BEST intro to Italian cooking I know of. When you graduate from here you will have a good foundation of understanding to take you on to Hazan, Bugialli, Bastianich, etc. If you DON'T care about understanding the regions and their cuisine styles, then skip this book.

Rating:
Summary: BRAVO
Review: this cookbook is by far my favorite in my collection, from di medici to hazan and all in between. i love it.tho i love their recipies too. i am so pleased with this book. try the osso bucco,mmmmm! even the biscotti was great.now i am italian so i always add my "extra" stuff but you do not have to.when people say "i wish there were more picture's in my cookbook" well there all here! and pics of italy as well of coarse.buy it ,try it,and enjoy it.it will be your main reference cookbook!