La Bella Cucina: How to Cook, Eat, and Live Like an Italian [Hardcover]

Viana La Place (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2001

Viana La Place, coauthor of the classic Cucina Fresca, is passionate about bringing the delights of the Italian table-and the essence of the Italian way of living-into everyone's home. Viana knows the life and food of Italy as well as anyone who ever fell in love with the place, and in La Bella Cucina we meet her Italian neighbors, travel to local festivals that, of course, feature food, and generally learn how to cook, eat, and enjoy all of life like the Italians.

What are the staples of an Italian pantry? How do you use a moka to prepare the first coffee of the day? When is the right time for a gelato? Viana answers these and many other questions, then presents a collection of more than 125 elegant, fuss-free recipes for soups, salads, vegetables, pastas and rice, meat and poultry, fish, and ideas to end a meal.

As with the best of Italian cooking, these recipes are naturally healthful and celebrate the simplest ingredients and techniques. They are an invitation to not only a meal, but also to a way of life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In La Bella Cucina, Viana La Place instructs us to look to Italy to discover how to live the good life--la bella vita. She paints a picture of generations gathered together around a table abundant with bowls of pasta, bright platters of vegetables, glistening olives, ripe fruit, and crusty peasant bread. The image poses a sharp contrast to American society, where most of us rush along spending many hours at work and the rest isolated in suburban homes or city apartments.

La Bella Cucina is not just a cookbook, but a guide on how to live la bella vita no matter where you call home. La Place--celebrated author of several Italian cookbooks, including Cucina Rustica and Verdura--details not only the essence of true Italian cooking but also the way of life so profoundly connected to it. She even includes a blueprint for eating like an Italian--from a breakfast of espresso and biscotti to pranzo, the hearty Italian lunch, to cena, the late, light dinner typical in Italian households.

In keeping with the traditions of true Italian cooking, La Place relies on simple, earthy ingredients to create evocative recipes that are at once rich in flavor and simple to prepare. Her soulful recipes like Summer Barley, Tomato, and Basil Soup; Dried Fava Bean Purée with Leeks and Bitter Greens; Sunday Meat Sauce; Spaghetti with a Mountain of Tiny Clams; and Roast Pork with Wild Fennel are more than sufficient for feeding the good life. --Robin Donovan

From Publishers Weekly

La Place (Pasta Fresca, Cucina Fresca and Cucina Rustica) brings the simplicity of the life and food of the Salento (the southernmost part of Apulia in Italy) to the table. The prose paints a vivid picture of rural and small-town life that envelops the reader in its relaxed atmosphere. From capturing in loving detail her neighbor, Signora Pantella, to reminiscences of the big Sunday lunch, La Place takes readers into her stress-free world. The recipes echo this mood. They have the unfussy style that characterizes the region's cuisine, whether it's the robust yet subtle Poaching Halibut Al Modo Mio or the tender, succulent Signora Pantella's Red Peppers al Forno. Vegetables appear both as a section, or a component of pasta sauces, spuntini (morning and afternoon snacks) and meat dishes. Several can be produced in advance to serve at room temperature, such as the delicate Verdura all'Insalata or the Fried Yellow Peppers with Wild Mint and Red Wine Vinegar. In addition, she dispels many myths about starting a meal with antipasto and ending with dessert, explaining that this is the province of restaurants. At the end of the book, she sets out menus that typify her way of life, starting the meal with a small serving of pasta and ending with fruit. Everything is done with a delightful simplicity, which will be attractive to the beginner as well as the experienced cook. (Oct.)Forecast: This will attract cooks who like to read. Unfortunately, the subtle and simple cover, which echoes the book's style, may not help it stand out from others on the shelf.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; First Edition edition (October 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609605186
• ISBN-13: 978-0609605189
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,145,507 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Relax, browse, cook, November 12, 2001

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: La Bella Cucina: How to Cook, Eat, and Live Like an Italian (Hardcover)

Musing on her life in the Salento, a rugged, isolated part of Puglia, Viana La Place ("Cucina Fresca," a classic and personal favorite) paints a romantic, convivial, earthy portrait of the simple life. The recipes, from little dishes through main courses and finishes, are enveloped in Italian ritual and custom and La Place's own experiences. She includes a chapter on wild foods and another brings together dishes for "when you are not feeling well." Ingredients are fresh and simple - though not always easy to obtain here; the leaves and stems of an Italian squash, for example.

But whether she's braising an artichoke, roasting an eggplant, or stewing beef, La Place explains how to choose the best and get it right. Rustic dishes include bread and wine-washed arugula, white bean and ditalini soup with wild fennel, dried fava bean puree with leeks and bitter greens. There are several tomato sauces, simple pasta dishes with wild herbs, or vegetables or seafood, risottos, fried squid, skewered lamb and roast pork.

This is a book for browsing and relaxing as much as cooking.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars talking about the spirit of italian eating, August 24, 2009

By 

Dan "Dan" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: La Bella Cucina: How to Cook, Eat, and Live Like an Italian (Hardcover)

not only a recipe book but a philosper's book on italian cooking. I like the biscotti very much , very special way to make biscotti, it called for sperated eggs, like making cake, no butter, no baking soda/powder, simple, delicious, and the author wrote with great passion.