Francesco's Kitchen: An Intimate Guide to the Authentic Flavours of Venice [Hardcover]

Francesco da Mosto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2007

Francesco shows cooks how to prepare 150 classic Venetian recipes ranging from antipasti, sauces, soups, and fish, to meats, pasta, and puddings. He demonstrates how Venetian food is a fabulous fusion of ingredients brought together over centuries as merchants and traders traveled the Mediterranean. The ancient broeto (stock) and mollusk soups testify to this, as does the richness and variety of dishes based on fish, roasts, grills, tasty deep-fried delicacies, and sauces. Each chapter is introduced with the history and origins of the recipes, and throughout there are personal reminiscences by Francesco of his first encounters with his favorite dishes. As Francesco is keen to tell, his passion for cooking authentic Venetian food comes from home: "When I start talking about cooking, it is impossible to forget my father, his love and imagination for all things culinary. He has never feared unusual combinations of ingredients and seasonings, and I have always been a willing guinea pig."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Francesco da Mosto is an architect, historian, filmmaker, and author of Francesco's Italy and Francesco's Venice. He lives in Venice.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ebury Press (October 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0091922283
• ISBN-13: 978-0091922283
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #868,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Venice on a plate, November 9, 2007

By 

David P. Zweck (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Francesco's Kitchen: An Intimate Guide to the Authentic Flavours of Venice (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful new book by Francesco da Mosto and certainly up to the standard of his previous publications. But this is not just a book of traditional Venetian recipes and pretty pictures. There are pages on life in the 18th. century Palazzi of Venice and four pages devoted to the humble fork. The origins of ingredients used in Venetian cooking are discussed in detail together with the variety of seafood found in the lagoon. I am sure you will be transported to the Grand Canal whenever you open this book, but that is not to say that the dining experiences on that fabled waterway are anywhere near as wonderful as Francesco shows they could be!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such Romance-Love This Author & TV Host, December 9, 2007

By 

Sherrill "Global Glam Ma" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Francesco's Kitchen: An Intimate Guide to the Authentic Flavours of Venice (Hardcover)

I discovered this super TV Host on BBC while on a trip to Europe and now we can enjoy him in America. His travel series is wonderful and this cookbook is one of my gifts for the holiday.

I recommend all of his books & also the TV Series which was on the Travel Channel recently-all of them go together & carry me to Italy. His personality is so charming & he takes you via the sportscar, the boat & now the kitchen to another world. What fun!

Wonder if his ancestral Venetian home is open for tours??

3.0 out of 5 stars Yes and No, February 4, 2011

By 

P. Strayer (Oakland CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Francesco's Kitchen: An Intimate Guide to the Authentic Flavours of Venice (Hardcover)

I loved all of his TV series which I bought from the Amazon UK site and continue to watch on my computer. But this book - it has pluses and minuses. Most of the dishes are indeed quite different from the rest of Italy. The featurettes written about various topics are great. Sadly there is only one fish soup, which may be the purist's favorite and uniquely Venetian, but my experience in Venice is that there are indeed many fish soups there and it is really a highlight of Venetian food so I was disappointed that there was only one recipe and it's not one I can really try since the fish included are so unique to the region. (I live in the SF Bay Area). But the most disappointing thing is the photographs or the printing. One expects to be inspired by the photos of the food and this is alas not the case with this book. I am thinking of returning it.