Product Description

With growing numbers of restaurants specializing in "small plates," the antipasto is back in style. These little dishes of savory appetizers or small first courses (perfect cocktail food) whet the appetite, enticing the palate for the meal to come and can even become the meal itself. In Antipasti, Joyce Goldstein reveals the history of antipasti and a host of very delicious recipes. What could be better suited to a La Dolce Vita inspired event replete with sparkling Bellinis than sun-dried tomato topped crostini, little panzerotti (pastries stuffed with Gruy re and ham), or prosciutto-wrapped shrimp? For easier fare, a snap to prepare, there is an entire chapter on Shop and Serve antipasti molto tasty recipes that use high quality store-bought foods such as roasted peppers, olives, soft creamy cheeses, and crusty artisan breads that anyone can throw together for a last minute appetizer or elegant snack. Whether it's bite-sized pieces of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese drizzled with balsamic vinegar to serve before a dinner party or a more substantial first course of roasted duck breast salad, Antipasti welcomes everyone to the table.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #635553 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-27
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this enticingly illustrated book, Goldstein (Enoteca) dresses up classic Italian appetizers with a modern flair that draws on American inspiration as well as new developments in Italy's culinary landscape. Recipes range from the terrific yet simple Venetian specialty Whipped Salt Cod Spread to the more obviously sophisticated Prosciutto-Wrapped Shrimp with Warm Chickpea Salad. A few entries, such as the Stuffed Vegetables or Veal with Tuna Sauce will be familiar to most people, but a large number update lesser known preparations from different Italian regions: the Schiacciata (Double-Crusted Pizza) from Calabria and Shellfish Salad with Oranges and Fennel from Sicily are two tasty examples. Preparing center-stage"worthy little dishes inevitably requires big-dish levels of commitment and technique, however, so while Goldstein does include a section of "shop-and-serve" ideas for really basic antipasti such as figs wrapped in prosciutto and mint, the majority of recipes require a generous allowance of time and a fairly self-confident cook. But Goldstein's helpful tips on preparation, Jeffrey Meisel's accompanying wine notes and Paolo Nobile's photography will undoubtedly encourage even the lazier cooks to create an occasion to show off one of these many mouthwatering dishes. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Joyce Goldstein is a nationally known chef, author, teacher, and Mediterranean cooking expert. Her numerous books include Italian Slow and Savory , Solo Suppers (0-8118-3620-7), Enoteca , and Cucina Ebraica (0-8118-1969-8). She lives in San Francisco.

Paolo Nobile is a photographer specializing in food. His work has appeared in Elle , Gourmet , and Grazie magazines.

Customer Reviews

Picture isn't worth a 1000 words
The best part of this book is the cover

Perfect Appetizers
Exquisite photos and wide assortment of appetizers.....many of which can be expanded into light colorful meals with pizzazz. Excellent gift for your friends who love to cook.

Excellent Presentation of Italian Food Genius. Buy It.
`Antipasti, Fabulous Appetizers and Small Plates' by veteran San Francisco cookbook writer and chef, Joyce Goldstein is a welcome addition to books which put classic cuisines within easy reach of amateur chefs, let alone the foodies among us. I often think of Ms. Goldstein as a Paula Wolfert Lite, which is no small compliment, as I consider Ms. Wolfert to be today's foremost cookbook writer on regional cuisines. It may be more complimentary to consider her a Mediterranean version of Patricia Wells, who happeds to do recipes for trattoria as well or better than Ms. Wells. Ms. Goldstein covers about the same part of the world, focusing on Italy and Shephardic Jewish traditions, as well as the Mediterranean in general.

Ms. Goldstein's book covers both `la cuisina classica' (traditional dishes) and `la cuisina creativa' (modern dishes in the style and spirit of traditional Italian cuisine). One may give a moment's pause over buying this book if you are a compulsive Italian cookbook buyer, and have shelves groaning under the weight of works by Lydia Bastianich, Marcella Hazan, Giuliano Bugialli, Lynne Rosetto Kaspar, Mario Batali and Ms. Goldstein herself, as she has already done a very nice little book on `Enoteca' or the cuisine of Italian wine bars (very similar to the Spanish practice of the tapas bar). I would say that if you have already mined these volumes for a nice collection of recipes which work for you, Ms. Goldstein's latest effort may be guilding the lilly. If, on the other hand, you rely on them exclusively for pasta and veal recipes, you may want to consider Ms. Goldstein's book. I compared her recipes in this book with `Enoteca' and found no exact overlap, and if you choose between the two, `Antipasti' is better for home entertaining.

If you have no Italian cookbooks, and no books on Mediterranean dishes or tapas from the Western Mediterranean and Meze dishes from the Eastern Mediterranean, and you happen to do a fair amount of entertaining (more than twice a year), this book may be an invaluable resource for you.

The single most important chapter may be the 10 page introductory `Shop and Serve Antipasti' which contains no `recipes' per se, but dozens and dozens of brief suggestions on how to prepare dishes or platters of food with no more `cooking' than a little work with a knife and bowl. This chapter demonstrates the immense genius of modern Italian cuisine, which even more than their French cousin (which comes in a close second) has created a universe of shelf stable products which are truly delicious with no more than a bit of preparation. The heart of this miraculous pantry is their pasta, cheeses, breads, cured meats, vinegars, olive oils, and wines. In fact the second most valuable aspect of the book is the addition of a wine recommendation accompanying each dish for which there is a full recipe.

The chapters of full recipes are:

Eggs and Cheese with 8 recipes
Savory Pastries with 6 recipes
Grains with 7 recipes
Vegetables with 14 recipes
Fish and Shellfish with 19 recipes
Meat and Poultry with 8 recipes

The chapter I like best may be the Eggs and Cheese chapter, as it not only gives recipes for both stuffed eggs and a frittata, but it presents these as archetype recipes where the same concept can turn virtually any stuffed egg or frittata into an antipasti.

I confess that when you get to the Fish and Meat recipes, many of them start to look like main course dishes, especially classics such as Vitello tonnato (Veal with tuna sauce) and stuffed squid. I remember making a stuffed squid recipe several years ago and it took so long my fiance gave me an ultimatum about getting us into complicated recipes and burning up the better part of a Sunday afternoon. But that was before my knife skills matured. Now, it would only take me 3 hours to do such a dish.

I especially appreciate the way Ms. Goldstein writes a recipe. She may not give it the full court Julia Child treatment, but she really knows how to wordsmith food preparation (I just wish she had not picked up on the latest hackneyed culinary writing expression which talks about `signature dishes'.)

All in all, Ms. Goldstein adds value to our ways of preparing a cold buffet, even if you already have a big library of Italian or Mediterranean cookbooks.