Customer Reviews

The Fine Art of Italian Cooking: The Classic Cookbook, Updated & Expanded

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Quite simply, this book has done more to improve my cooking than any other I can readily call to mind. I would suggest however, that while the beginner cook will derive significant benefit from this book, it may resonate most with those of an intermediate skill level. The author convincingly and clearly shares historical perspective on techniques as well as the recipes themselves. The approach emphasizes simplicity and relies on centuries of tradition, learning, and innovation within the various styles of Italian cuisine. I have tried about ten recipes from the book and all have been winners, yet none were particularly time-consuming, difficult to prepare or relied too heavily on exotic ingredients. If you want to understand more about Italian cooking, or just cooking in general, this is a truly great book to have.

Although I had read and cooked my way through much of Marcella Hazan's CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKBOOK when I first encountered this (1980), Giuliano Bugialli's first cookbook, I found Giuliano's method of making pasta much easier than Marcella's. Maybe it's because of the little bit of olive oil. Maybe it's because he uses XL eggs.

Now, in 2010, I find myself cooking from this book once more. I've made a stew, some meat sauces, and I'm going to try the lasagna this weekend. It's a good book. One I really love to cook from (I read most of my cookbooks, but I don't necessarily cook from them). But with Bugialli, it feels essential to cook along with him as I read.

If you really like Italian food, I hope you will read this book and cook along with Giuliano, as I have done and am doing once again.

I consider this the sourcebook for all of Giuliano's cooking. This is the second edition of this book (that I own as well). You can't go wrong with this. He provides more insights than Marcella Hazan whose two volume book is a similar compendium....ahhh, but Giuliano is a Tuscan !

This is a lovely cookbook with a strong Tuscan focus. The book describes what the French call 'cuisine bourgeoise', i.e. traditional upper middle class food. The author really loves this food and his passion comes through very strongly.

For a number of reasons, I consider the book aimed at people who really love to cook. This and the author's other books are well worth seeking out even in 2011.
- The author has looked at manuscripts from past centuries to ensure that the recipes are fairly historically accurate. So the recipes included are proper Italian recipes.
- The authenticity focus means fewer short cuts and the recipes are not necessarily geared to a "trendy modern" palate.
- The book has no pictures.
- The author has an accompanying volume on techniques Giuliano Bugialli's Classic Techniques of Italian Cooking and several volumes on regional cuisines (e.g. Guiliano Bugialli's Food of Naples and Campania, Foods of Sicily and Sardinia and the Smaller Islands). If you want to build a library of Italian cookbooks, I think you should start with Bugialli's many books.

The author would probably consider the audience broader than this. And it is true that many of the recipes are not at all complicated. And all ingredients are readily available in most parts of the world today. So in terms of authenticity the book is lacking a bit in terms of the choice of recipes included. Still, I don't see a reason to seek out an out of print book if you just want a standard Italian cookbook.

If you want to get the book second hand here are some advice on editions: The book was originally published in 1977 and saw its second edition in 1990 and then a reprint in 2005. It seems that the 1990 and 2005 editions are largely similar since they have the same number of pages. So you can safely order the 1990 edition, but not earlier.

I, gave this book to my Daugter-in-law, she loves it, and has shared some of the recipes with me. So glad I ordered it for her.

Mr. Bugialli is a great food writer, no doubt. But unless his writing here is delivered tongue in cheek the book is also a fine example of the great conceit that Tuscans like the author himself lord over all who will listen. It is the idea that Italian food is the source of all fine cooking and eating. The author takes great pains to "prove" by consulting medieval cooking texts that the northern Italian version of most classic dishes preceded the French and all others, of course. It's all great fun, but the effect is that the recipes included in the book seek to show the one "right way" to make a dish, not necessarily the most reasonable way or the one that might give the best results overall. So I would say read this great book and try as many of the dishes as you can,as I have done to my great benefit, but do not be cowed by Mr. Bugialli's high tone and warnings concerning technique and ingredients. Cook on-- even if you do not have the "absolutely required" special hand-milled flour for his bread.

This book is jammed with great recipes. I highly recommend it if you want to challenge yourself in Italian cooking. We have enjoyed a few dishes and will continue to dive into this great book.

Northern Italian cuisine -- it's not a cookbook that's stuck on pasta! My favorite recipe is "chicken in the manner of a suckling pig."

This book is a collection of recipes that you could easily find online. The book contains no photographs and the recipes are nothing to do with the "fine art of Italian cooking".
As an Italian food lover and owner of many cookbooks, this one never made it to my bookshelf.