Product Description

Never is the generosity and spirit of the Italian table more evident than at the holidays, when great food and good times are on the menu in every household. In his new book, Mario Batali captures all the flavors of this festive season with enticing recipes that showcase the brilliance of simple Italian food at its best.

Four complete menus offer abundant meals for the holidays, starting with the seafood extravaganza known as the Feast of Seven Fishes, traditionally served on Christmas Eve. Mario's rendition includes almost a dozen delectable fish and seafood dishes, from delicate sea bass ravioli to the indispensable baccalà, here served in the Vesuvian style. A magnificent boned and rolled turkey breast stuffed with roasted chestnuts is the centerpiece of a lavish Christmas Day's menu, while an assortment of alluring finger foods and a showstopping ziti-and-meatball-filled pasta dome set the tone for a lively New Year's Eve celebration. For the relaxed entertaining of New Year's Day, Mario suggests a procession of marinated salads, pastas, and stuffed vegetables, all served at room temperature, capped off with fresh homemade sausage with sweet peppers.

One of the great pleasures of cooking at this time of the year is baking, and Mario Batali Holiday Food includes recipes for a dozen irresistible holiday cookies, some authentically Italian and others family favorites Mario has relished since childhood. You'll also find a host of delectable tortes, custards, cakes, and confections as well as wine suggestions and a refreshing aperitivo to round out each holiday menu.

Whether you're creating a full-blown Italian spread or simply adding a touch of Italy to your own family traditions, Mario Batali Holiday Food will make your holiday gatherings memorably delicious.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #254442 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-10
• Released on: 2000-10-10
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Amazon.com
With the infectious enthusiasm of a kid on Christmas morning, Mario Batali--who presides over a culinary empire that includes the popular Food Network television show Molto Mario, four acclaimed New York restaurants, and a wine store--presents four complete menus for the holidays and captures all the fun and festivity that epitomize Italian celebrations. True to the commitment to simple cooking evident in his first book, Simple Italian Food, the dishes here deliver maximum flavor and enjoyment without being overly complicated.

Batali's version of the famous Italian seafood extravaganza traditionally served on Christmas Eve--known as the Feast of Seven Fishes--includes no fewer than 15 enticing dishes. Marinated Fresh Anchovies are both surprisingly delectable and delightful in their simplicity. Salt Cod with Capers and Mint, Grilled Lobster with Herbs and Arugula, and Sea Bass Ravioli with Marjoram and Potatoes would each be showstoppers as the centerpiece of any meal. Served together, they comprise a truly unforgettable feast.

The Christmas Day menu is equally lavish, centering on a succulent boned turkey breast stuffed with chestnuts and prunes, while the New Year's Day spread is pure decadence. The latter begins innocently enough, with a refreshing aperitivo of tangerine juice, Compari, and soda, then proceeds through a parade of richly flavored dishes, from the hot-pepper-spiked Octopus in the Style of the Prostitutes of Napoli, to the meatball-filled "mythic pasta dome" known as Timpano di Maccheroni, to the prosciutto-wrapped Braised Pork Roll. An irresistible selection of dolci (sweets), including Cinnamon Chocolate Pudding with Pine Nuts and Waffle Cookies, rounds out the meal. New Year's Day welcomes a relaxed daylong open house replete with an ever-changing spread of antipasti, pasta, and dolci, most of which can be prepared at leisure and served at room temperature, enabling the hosts to enjoy the party as much as the guests.

Photos, along with helpful wine suggestions and practical advice on technique, accompany each menu. Throughout, Batali paints a portrait of his Italian-American family that reminds readers that the simple joy of being together is what the holidays are really about. The 60 simple yet elegant recipes can be mixed, matched, and adapted for any occasion. Served together or separately, each is cause for celebration. --Robin Donovan

From Publishers Weekly
Americans tend to think of Italian cooking as easy: we have come to rely on 15-minute pastas and hearty, seasonal dishes like minestrone. But here, Batali of Food Network's Molto Mario presents the most cherished Italian dishesAthose served, often after days of preparation and with fanfare, during the holidays. Batali focuses on the seafood-rich Amalfi coast, beginning with a Christmas Eve menu that includes Vongole Origanate (clams oreganato), Baccal? Vesuviana, Ravioli alla Spigola (Sea Bass Ravioli with Marjoram and Potatoes), and in case you still have any room for dessert, Classic Cannoli. The book consists of traditional Italian menus that take you through the four holidaysAChristmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's DayAbut the recipes can be used for an impressive meal or snack any time. (There is also a separate section on the wines of Campania.) Cooking from scratch is the name of the game, so don't expect shortcuts; however, instructions are generally to the point and the results are well worthwhile. Recipes like Mythic Pasta Dome (a sort of pasta torte) capture the elaborate and festive nature of holiday Italian cooking. Beginners might be intimidated: Baba (lemon cake) requires a yeast rising and the insertion of fine holes in the cake into which a lemon mixture is "infused." But once practiced, recipes become easy, and there are some simple yet gratifying recipes, such as No-Bake Chocolate Cookies. If you want to enliven your Italian repertoire with authentic, celebratory dishes, this book is invaluable. Photographs by Quentin Bacon. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Fans of television's premier Italian cook, Mario Batali, will enthuse over his Holiday Food, a compendium of distinctive recipes designed for Christmas celebrations in elegant Italian style. As with all Batali's work, these recipes take advantage of seasonal ingredients and represent a cross section of regional Italian cooking traditions. His version of the timpano, the show-stopping pasta dome from the movie Big Night, is more readily executed than the original but equally certain to impress holiday guests. Exciting desserts include a rich almond custard apt to become a family favorite beyond the Christmas season. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

"Four Menus, Four Festive Meals."
This is a compendium of distinctive recipes designed for four holidays, from Christmas eve through to New years day in elegant Italian style. The recipes make use of seasonal ingredients & shows a modest cross section of the regional variety of Italian cooking traditions. But, it is on the whole a book on the region of Campania. It includes color pictures of the food itself that are both more numerous & of finer quality than in his other books. Like many Asians, Italians truly revel in small portions of several types of dishes.

This is cooking from scratch, no breezy shortcuts here. But, the instructions are direct & the results are very worthwhile. The sixty recipes are adaptable so that they can be mixed & matched for any occasion one wishes. From the Christmas day turkey breast stuffed with Prunes & Chesnuts to the vibrant Tangerine juice Aperitivo, you will find all these recipes mouth watering. Lastly, the wine suggestions helped in the celebratory enjoyment that is the "heart & soul of Italian cuisine."

A Treasure!
I just re-ordered this book as I lost the first one I bought. Contrary to what some other reviews have said, I like the fact that it is a small book with special or holiday recipes. I have several other Italian cookbooks, including the Silver Spoon and Essentials of Italian Cooking, and while I really like those books, the volume of recipes is often overwhelming when I am looking for a special holiday dish. So far I have made the broccoli saffriti, spaghetti all cozze (spicy spaghetti with mussels), Strangulapreti all sorrentina (Gnocchi with tomato sauce and Mozzella) and the pizzelles and they have all been great! Since I haven't made the other dishes I can not say how they will turn out, but so far I have not been disappointed. As for the book itself, it is truly beautiful and I enjoy looking at the pictures and reading about Mario's personal holiday experiences.

Based on my experience with this book, I am eager to buy Mario's other cookbooks.

Excellent as always
While we ultimately didn't have the opportunity to make any of these recipes for the holidays, my wife and I read through most of them and they look wonderful. We own every cookbook Mario's written and we've eaten in two of his NYC restaurants, so we're very familiar with his style and the quality of his work. In fact, the "Feast of the Seven Fishes" in the book is very much like his Christmas Eve menu at Lupa, his place on Thompson St. in the Village.

Very high recommendation from real Italian "foodies" (we spent 3 weeks in Italy last year....)