Italian Cookbooks – The Best Of

[MarkDM]

I'm a big fan of Arthur Schwartz' Naples at Table. Well written, great recipes, albeit from a regional standpoint.

[albiston]

Has anyone got any views on Artusi's "Science in the kitchen and the art of eating well"?

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Artusi's book is a milestone in the history of Italian cookbooks and a great hstoric document, something that should not be missing on the bookshelves of anyone interested in Italy's gastronomy, but not necessairly for its recipes. The myth painting it as the first real Italian cookbooks is largely an overestimation and inaccurate. It is a book strongly rooted in Central and Northern Italian cuisine, especially the ones from Tuscany and Emilia Romagna (respectively Artusi's region of residence and his place of origin). Southern Italian cuisine is underepressented to say the least. Also, if you look at Italian late Middle Age and Renaissance texts you can see how the cookbooks of the time were far more Italian than regional food cookbooks. Still it is fascinating to read it and see how much Italian cuisine has changed in just over a century.

For this reason, many recipes are quite fatty compared to today's standards and some of the ingredients Artusi used back then are not exactly the same as they are today. I usually take the recipes as a guideline and modify them slightly.

[Adam Balic]

I agree with Alberto's views entirely, I still love the book though. I love the fact that overtly it is about healthy eating, yet veg. are definately to be looked upon with suspicion....

The recipes are variable, but some of them really are quite amazingly good. The recipe for the rice fritters (no.1) is enough reason to purchase the book.

Edited April 14, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[albiston]

I agree with Alberto's views entirely,  I still love the book though. I love the fact that overtly it is about healthy eating, yet veg. are definately to be looked upon with suspicion...

The recipes are variable, but some of them really are quite amazingly good. The recipe for the rice fritters (no.1) is enough reason to purchase the book.

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Don't get me wrong, I just went a little hard on the book because I think that it is not the first name I would pick for the average cook today.

I love the book all the same, especially the health bits. If you read the intro to the broth recipes you notice how Artusi knows very well what medics thought of these (not much) yet decides to ignore, the "scientific evidence" and give his opinion, implying that he knew better .

All the fritters recipes are great; I use them every Carnevale to prepare cenci and co. Those just cannot get better.

[Adam Balic]

Don't get me wrong, I just went a little hard on the book because I think that it is not the first name I would pick for the average cook today.

I love the book all the same, especially the health bits. If you read the intro to the broth recipes you notice how Artusi knows very well what medics thought of these (not much) yet decides to ignore,  the "scientific evidence" and give his opinion, implying that he knew better  .

All the fritters recipes are great; I use them every Carnevale to prepare cenci and co. Those just cannot get better.

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Absolutely. Given the popularity of the book, I wonder how many of "grandma's secret recipes" are actually derived from this book?

I used Marcella Hazan's cook books for the first time recently. I thought that they were very good, but some for the recipes looked to have been parred down to the very basics, which is not a bad thing I guess.

Given the diversity of Italian food, I think that it is very difficult for one book to cover all regions equally well. Maybe a better idea is to choose a number of more regionally focused books.

Speaking of this, does anybody know of a good English language book on the foods of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and or other North Eastern regions?

[Kevin72]

I used Marcella Hazan's cook books for the first time recently. I thought that they were very good, but some for the recipes looked to have been parred down to the very basics, which is not a bad thing I guess.

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This goes in line with Alberto's comments on Hazan above. She's a great teacher and intro to Italian cooking, but is rooted in more Northern cuisines. It was a surprise to go from her to writers more knowledgeable of the Southern palate and flavor spectrum: she definitely pares recipes from this area back. She does seem to make amends for this oversight in Marcella Cucina, which features a number of recipes from Abruzzo and Puglia, but she still avoids for the most part Campania and Sicily.

Speaking of this, does anybody know of a good English language book on the foods of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and or other North Eastern regions?

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Fred Plotkin--La Terra Fortunata is the only one I know of. It's very good but I sort of wish he'd trade some of the bountiful history and background essays he fills the book with for more recipes.

[Catherine Nash]

I've heard (but cannot vouch for first hand) that Joyce Goldstein's Italian Slow and Savory is excellent. This from a full-time restaurant critic in the SF/Bay Area whose grandfather was Italian (Sicilian, I believe).

And it just got nominated for a James Beard award.

Anyone else tried it? I was thinking of buying Marcella Says but this recommendation might change my mind... Thanks.

[ludja]

Is anyone else a fan of Giuliano Bugialli's books?

They are the only "picture" books that I've really enjoyed--incredible photos, good historical and regional background and I've had very good luck with the recipes. They *seem* authentic in the ingredients and prep but I can't vouch for that; also very interesting classic recipes some which I haven't seen in other places. Two that I particularly like are his books on Tuscany and one on Sicily & Sardinia.

[Kevin72]

Anyone else tried it? I was thinking of buying Marcella Says but this recommendation might change my mind... Thanks.

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Well, if it was my comments, please don't let that dissuade you. She's an important voice in the field. I don't have Marcella Says yet but you should track down her earlier books if at all possible.

Ludja: I've got the Bugiali book on Tuscany (I think) and I just can't get through it. Not sure why, I know he's also well-thought of in the field, but it just leaves me cold.

[hathor]

Just my two cents: all Italians think regionally, so don't look for a bible to cover Italian cooking. You've got to look at individual regions. Unfortunately, most of my library is being built with books written in Italian, so I can only add that very small 2 cents. Mi dispicace.

P.S. Marcella is a good place to start to grasp regional Emilia Romagna cooking, although she represents herself as covering all of Italy, she has a very strong bias. That's not a bad thing, its just something to be aware of.

[tanabutler]

Lynn Rosetto Kasper's books.  The Splendid Table (the same as her radio show) and Itallian Country Table.  Both available through Amazon (link through egullet). 

  Excellent resources.

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I own and love The Italian Country Table.

Here is another thread about Italian cookbooks with a slightly different bent.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=54218

[Bill Klapp]

Plotkin's Recipes from Paradise is the definitive book on Ligurian cuisine, and also has the more recent volume on Friuli called La Terra Fortunata. I agree with the less-history, more recipes on the latter, but the former must have had a hundred different pesto recipes, or so it seemed! Biba Caggiano has several good cookbooks that I have used to great success which capture Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna. I heartily endorse Marcella, of course. She is the Julia Child of Italian cooking generally. And even though it is out of print, Matt Kramer's A Passion for Piedmont is the definitive English-language tome on Piemontese cooking (not to mention the fact that the photo on the front and back cover is the view of Neive I enjoy every morning out of my back door-see my avatar!). He lived there for a year, and returns often. He "gets" both the food and wine of the region.

[Carlovski]

For a book as enjoyable to read as to cook from, I recommend Dear Francesca by Mary Contini.

[Kevin72]

Bill, I agree that Recipes from Paradise is the better and more comprehensive of Plotkin's two books. In fact that was in part why I was frustrated a bit by Terra Fortunata because I felt he did a much better ratio of recipes to history in his previous book.

I like the direction this thread is taking by being able to ask if anyone knows of region-specific cookbooks.

So, here's regions I'm interested in researching more about (which may or may not have anything to do with my thread . . . )

Sicily

Umbria

Le Marche

Calabria

Any input on cookbooks covering those regions would be appreciated.

[chefworks91]

Hi everyone, I was looking to expand my Italian cookbook collection and was looking for some insight as to the best ones out there. I am looking for ones of specific regions ie. Umbria, Tuscany, Rome, ect,ect.

Thanks for the help.

[carswell]

Hi everyone, I was looking to expand my Italian cookbook collection and was looking for some insight as to the best ones out there. I am looking for ones of specific regions ie. Umbria, Tuscany, Rome, ect,ect.

Thanks for the help.

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Fred Plotkin's La Terra Fortunata : The Splendid Food and Wine of Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a model of its kind. And his Recipes from Paradise : Life and Food on the Italian Riviera is nearly as good.

Clifford Wright's Cucina Paradiso : The Heavenly Food of Sicily, currently being discussed on the Middle East/Africa forum (?!), is full of insight and interesting recipes.

Matt Kramer's A Passion for Piedmont is the best work about that region's wines and foods that I've seen in English.

Looking forward to others' replies.

My question along these lines: Is there an Italian encyclopedia of cooking, an equivalent to the Larousse gastronomique? And if not, why not? I've often found myself wishing I could pull down my Larousse gastronomico. And while we're at it, why not a Larousse indien and a Larousse chinois?

[moosnsqrl]

massively nerdy

Check "My Massively Nerdy New Year's Resolution" on the General thread. He's doing monthly regional and has cited sources for many menus.

Agree about the Larousse Italienne, though. Maybe their editors are monitoring egullet...I would be if I published cookbooks!

[elephantstone]

David Downie's Cooking The Roman Way is the best on Rome, in my opinion.

[Kevin72]

I'm interested in a cookbook on Umbria as well. And I'm going to look into the Sicily cookbook now since that's another region I want a cookbook on!

[weinoo]

I'm interested in a cookbook on Umbria as well.  And I'm going to look into the Sicily cookbook now since that's another region I want a cookbook on!

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I quite like Julia Della Croce's Umbria - Regional Recipes From the Heartland of Italy.

And Sicilian Home Cooking - Family Recipes From Gangivecchio by Wanda and Giovanna Tornabene is a keeper as well.

[Kevin72]

I quite like Julia Della Croce's Umbria - Regional Recipes From the Heartland of Italy.

Walked right past this on the Barnes & Noble Clearance Rack for $5.98 this weekend. >yoink!<

Also recently grabbed her Veneto book which I mentioned on my cooking thread when I did that region.

[rgruby]

I saw a book that covered all the regions in Italy - and divided Emilia and Romagna into two distinct sections as well. I'm pretty sure I saw it in the "mall" in the centre of Pesaro. I also remember that it was published quite recently - 2002 or 2003 probably. I decided not to purchase it at the time as I didn't want to lug it all over the country - oh, I'll pick it up in Rome on my way home. Needless to say, I couldn't find it again and wish I had picked it up.

I'm sorry to say that I can't remember much more about it. It may have had a yellow cover? It may have been called something along the lines of An Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking. But, to be honest, I can't really remember. It did look like a decent overview of the different regions, and covered them all, region by region.

If any of the folks based in Italy can figure out what I'm talking about, please let me/ us know. I'd still like to pick it up if I can find it!

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

[Kevin72]

Marlena di Blasi--Regional Foods of Northern Italy?

She does divide Emilia and Romagna into two sections. Also she leaves out Liguria ("too Southern") and Alto Adige ("too Austrian/Germanic"). She also has a similarly titled book on Southern Italy. The book on the Southern regions is better, IMO.

She's a strongly mixed bag. Her recipes are really great, unqiue, and quite evocative of their respective region. On the other hand she has a pretty "distinct" prose that gets a little thick at times, and she has alot of idiosyncracies that can be frustrating. In addition to the regional discriminations above, she concludes the Southern book with a litany of recipes she could have included but basically decided not too(?!!!).

Edit: It looks like you saw this in Italy, though. Everything else, including the yellow cover, meets your description, though.

Edited May 2, 2005 by Kevin72 (log)

[vogelap]

In my ITALIAN CUISINE class, we're using Classical and Contemporary Italian Cookery for Professionals by Bruno H. Ellmer.

It's a thick book, full of recipes. It seems to be a very good collection on Italian food. The recipes aren't quite as well written as, say, Gisslen's, but they're more than passable if you read them a time or two before digging in to your mise.

[mrsadm]

My favorite is "The Soprano's Cookbook".