Product Description

With 12 pages of color photographs

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90428 in Books
• Published on: 1995-10-03
• Released on: 1995-10-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

From the Inside Flap
With 12 pages of color photographs

Customer Reviews

Great Italina cookbook with substance
This is an excellent and wonderful book! While other Italian cookbooks tend toward fanfare and no substance this book is full of great recipes (I have tried about 20 of them and recipes were easy to follow and dishes are full of flavor. Each name of the recipe is listed in Italian and a American name is given (e.g. Fileto col Pamigiano, Tenderloine Fillet with Parmesan Cheese, hot red pepper and parsley). If you are looking for a good Italian cookbook easy follow with great recipes this is it. I have 60 cookbooks and this is one of my best.

Definitely a keeper - Nice mix easy/hard recipes - all good
This cookbook is one of the 3 or 4 (of my two dozen or so) cookbooks that I keep out on the counter and keep going back to. It has an excellent variety of recipes, from simple ones with on-hand ingredients for every day to more complex, involved ones for something special.

One of the things I like best is Marcella's very precise instructions - she tells you how high to turn up the heat and for how long, how thinly to slice the garlic, etc. and she does so in a way that is very sensual and appealing to the smells and feels of the food. I also like her descriptions of the recipe and how it came to be...

for example, in her intro to the recipe for Fricasseed Chicken with Black Olives (a favorite), she talks about how her son invented it one night after seeing what was on hand, said "now all I need is a chicken" and how it reflects a young man's penchant for bold, strong flavors (black olives, vinegar, lemon).

Other favorites include simple tomato sauce, penne with mushrooms, and her tortas.

In summary, I have not had a bad meal from this cookbook!!

Good section on ingredients and methods
It has excellent, very detailed section on ingredients and general rules of Italian cooking methods. I wish this section had been included in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking to make the book more detailed reference. My suggestion is to buy Essential (probably you already have one if you are reading this comment) and read Kitchen at your local bookstore.