Customer Reviews

A Cook's Tour of Italy

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am thrilled with A Cook's Tour of Italy! We have a family tradition of an Italian Christmas Eve and this year was my first time hosting this family event. I followed the Christmas Eve dinner in Naples and it was perfect! I have never heard so many compliments or requests for recipes before. The peppery shrimp are to die for and the spaghettini with clams, carrots, and wine was surprisingly easy and incredibly delicious! And the Panettone bread pudding topped off the night. This dessert is a tradition on Christmas Eve in Italy and will definitely be a tradition in our family now! I can't rave enough about how tasty all of the recipes turned out. It looks like I may be hosting every Christmas Eve now, thanks to my new cookbook! Everyone should have this book in their kitchen!

Joe Famularo's book `A Cook's Tour of Italy' gives you almost exactly what the title promises. It is a travelogue of meals enjoyed by the author and his companions on many different trips to many of the major regions of Italy. The book is definitely not like Claudia Roden's more systematic `The Foods of Italy' which treats all 20 regions equally. Famularo spends almost all of his time and attention on the nine most popular locations, Rome, Tuscany, Liguria, Lombardy, the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Naples, and Sicily / Sardinia / Calabria.

The organization of recipes by menu and by location is not done to make the material more accessible and useful to the reader, it is done to more closely parallel the author's actual trips. Most menus even cite actual restaurants where the meal was eaten.

The book contains additional, very valuable information on general techniques and sources. The book opens with a useful glossary of Italian ingredients. I always have reservations about book sections like this one embedded in general cookbooks. It is always so easy to find something they do not include. I give this book good marks for including the Italian translations for English terms; however, the presentation of the translated terms is not done in a consistent presentation.

The opening chapter covers broth recipes, bread recipes, pasta recipes, and guidance for cooking pasta. Here again, the author is giving sound information, but the material seems a bit thin for the real devotee of Italian food. If I want a good Italian bread recipe, I will go to Carol Field's `The Italian Baker'. I will give the author high marks for the broth recipes. I can find no missteps and there I am pleased to see the addition of mushrooms to the vegetable broth.

The bottom line is that this is a book with good recipes and information, but its material is spread to thinly and organized in a style that is not helpful when you are looking for `an Italian recipe with veal' for example.

I would recommend this book to:

Someone who has or will be traveling to Italy soon.
Someone who knows nothing of Italian cuisine and would like an engaging introduction.
Someone who collects books on Italian cuisine.
Someone who needs Italian menus such as a caterer, restaurateur, or frequent home entertainer.

One of the best features for most of these audiences is the bibliography and the list of sources.

I recommend this book, especially at its relatively reasonable price, but only if you know it fits a clear need. As other reviewers have noted, it is very readable, has good recipes, and is well organized for finding menus for a Italian entertaining. Since its coverage of many topics is a bit light and it is not organized for optimum use, I give only four stars to this worthy book.

This is a great cookbook. We enjoyed a dozen recipes from this book already and they are easy, easy, easy and so authentic and delicious no one will know you are a) not a chef or b) not Italian. And this is not the usual cookbook. It is filled with stories and customs from the different regions so that you feel that you are really touring Italy. Hence the title (duh!). And then there are meals already organized for things like a bachelor party for 4 (for people without too many friends), a Christmas Day dinner for 12, a Roman lunch for 6, fabulous one-dish meals, so simple. When you read this book, you really feel like you are in Italy. My husband, who thinks making instant oatmeal is cooking, has made some of these recipes and they tasted as interesting and complex as something from a great Italian restaurant. We have given this book to 6 people already as Christmas presents. Who knew we all needed another Italian cookbook. But then this isn't just another Italian cookbook.

The sheer volume of mouth-watering recipes in this book is staggering. Mr. Famularo has an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject-- Italian cuisine and its regional sources. And what I appreciate most is its readability. It's an interesting,conversational read, with easy to follow recipes for the not-necessarily-accomplished cook. Who doesn't love Italian food and who couldn't find lots of wonderful recipes to take on? My wife and I are having a dinner party this coming Saturday featuring a full menu from this book. How can we miss? I only wish there were mouth-watering photos accompanying the mouth-watering recipes. We buy alot of cookbooks that sit on the shelf. This one we'll happily use!

As an Italian and a "foodie" (go figure, lol!) I was intrigued by the title of this book, as I have yet to come across a book that completely captures the exquisite subtleties of regional Italian cuisine. This book does it, and wonderfully.
What makes this book so special though, is the way the author truly captures the flavor of each region by including a complete menu of the area's fare.....for example, in the Tuscanny section, there is Yellow Pepper Soup of Cibreos, Cornish hens with Ricotta and Tarragon, Green Beans with Pancetta and Savory and Tiramisu with Amaretto......where are my pans!!! The book is also filled with charming local anecdotes that add authenticity and warmth........bravo, Signor Famularo!

This book will take you on a fabulous culinary tour of Italy. The stories Famularo shares are enlightening and entertaining, and the recipes are wonderful and delicous. Many are simple to prepare and can be easily paired with others in the book to create fabulous Italian menus from all the many wonderful regions of Italy. A real treasure, and one that will be used often. Highly recommended for all cookbook collections.

My mother-in-law who is from Trieste Italy loved this book. Many recipes reminded her of the foods she grew up with. Very authentic for each section of Italy.

I purchased this book for my dad, who a few years back went to Italy and absolutely fell in love- the people, the language, the landscape, the architecture and most of all the food. Not the Olive Garden, spaghetti and meatballs Italian food but genuine food made with fresh ingredients local to Italy. This book was absolutely perfect for him- it combines all of that into a format that is fun, whimiscal and engaging. This is NOT your basic guide to American Italian food but a revealing glimpse through food at the Italian way of life.

Written by the James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Joe Famularo, A Cook's Tour Of Italy offers up more than 300 authentic recipes drawn from the various and diverse regions of this nation of grand culinary traditions. Dishes that offer centuries of cultural heritage and enduring classic taste include Fava Beans Country Style; Homemade Tortellini In Broth; Mozzarella Meat Loaf; Shrimp and Smoked Salmon in a Sweet and Sour Sauce; Spaghettini with Clams, Carrots and Wine; Eggs in Purgatory with Grilled Sausages, and more. A step-by-step sumptuous repository, A Cook's Tour Of Italy is a simply wonderful addition to any dedicated family cookbook collection.

It is an ambitious task to try and cover the many regional cuisines of Italy in one cookbook, but I feel Mr. Famularo has made a good attempt. Basically, the book is divided into nine separate chapters, some focusing on one region, while others group together regions that are not as well known or as traveled. What is really different about this book is that all of the recipes are grouped into specific menus typical to that region. For example, the first chapter begins with a menu entitled "A Roman Lunch For 6 On A Rooftop Overlooking The Spanish Steps". Another menu in Chapter four is titled "On The Road To Lake Como, A Pause In Albavilla; Menu For 6". Each menu includes wine selections, and often notes at the end on how to simplify preparation or important food tips, while each chapter which focuses on a specific region shares a little history about that region. I enjoyed reading this section particularly which helps explain how a particular region's cuisine has evolved to what we now find today.

Since I am a very visual person, I was disappointed at not finding a single photograph in the book, but I did enjoy the unique format of grouping all recipes together into specific regional menus. If you were interested in only certain type of recipes, such as pasta recipes for example, you could easily find these at the back in the index. The menus would be very helpful for those who have some difficulty planning meals, as complimentary dishes are carefully grouped together. I am only going to rate this book with 3 stars, because of the lack of photographs, as well as the unique menu format which some folks may object to. For those who are interested in traditional regional recipes however, I think this book would be a great addition to their cookbook collections.