Customer Reviews

Basic Italian (Basic Series)

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This is a wonderful introduction to Italian cooking. The meals are authentic, and recipes easy to follow. This is a must have for simple Italian cooking, and this comes from someone who lived in Italy for 5 years.

This book delivers what it title implies. After a description of the basics you will need for making Italian food, it takes you through recipes by main ingredient.

The food is basic, the recipes are not too complicated, and the ingredients are easy to find in any standard store. My only complaint, albeit minor, is that the instructions are a little too detailed at times. This gets in the way once you figure out what they mean in the description, but ensure that your meal comes together at the same time.

Authentic - Having just returned from a 3 week vacation in Tuscany, at the heart of Italy, I was out to reproduce some of the dishes we ate while there. I already had recipes for things like lasagne and pasta sauce, etc., but they just were, frankly, rather American .. and then I stumbled upon this treasure of a book which gave me just the tips and recipes I needed to make real Italian dishes in a down-to-earth kitchen. All the recipes are actually things an Italian would cook, and actually things an American would eat .. not necessarily an intuitive combination based on other cookbooks I looked at in the bookstore.

Practical - This must be the first time in my life I found a cookbook with recipes that taste gourmet, where I can actually buy the ingredients in local stores and I don't feel overwhelmed by the expectations of the author. The book offer recipes for all the things I would actually make, including bruschetta, risotto, lasagne, pasta sauces, and tiramisu. The recipes are not overly ambitious and do not pretend to be 5-star Michelin - which keeps them practical but doesn't take away from their Italian character. Still, they have nice touches that makes them feel gourmet and not .. Betty Crocker.

Educational - I thought I knew quite a bit about Italian food having done my homework and just been to Italy .. but this book filled in all the gaps for me. It not only has recipes but also magazine-style pages filled with info on the Italian kitchen. I kept saying, Oh! and That explains it... as I read the cookbook like a magazine, it was so interesting and helpful.

With the help of this book I have doubled my repertoire of "impress the guests" recipes.

Multo Bene! Great photos and simple design layout inspire the weekend cook in me to create a great feast for family and friends. Buon