The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian: Recipes from the New and Old Worlds, Simplified for the American Kitchen [Hardcover]

Jeff Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

In a companion volume to his new 40-part PBS series starting this fall, Frugal Gourmet Jeff Smith entertains and informs with a cookbook that is also a journal from making perfect little gnocchi to brewing lemon-flavored olive oil. Full-color photos.

Editorial Reviews

Review

New dishes from Italy are adapted for modern kitchens and paired with Smith's extensive knowledge of culinary history to make for a fine cookbook. From easily-produced homemade Italian sausages with traditional and innovative seasonings alike to the usual pasta dishes associated with regional Italian cuisine, these pack in many excellent dishes, lightly spiced with Smith's ongoing comments about food origins and production. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688075916
• ISBN-13: 978-0688075910
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic Cooking, February 2, 2000

By 

A. Teplitsky (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian (Mass Market Paperback)

Most Americans think of Chicken Parmessan, Alfredo sauce or Italian salad dressing when they hear Italian cooking. As an American soldier stationed in Italy I've never seen either of the above. They are all American inventions.

Italian cooking is very diversified. Venice is big on fish and seafood while the inland areas eat more meats. Jeff Smith's book is as close to authentic Italian cooking as one can get. The sheer number of recipes alone will give a person an insight of how Italian cuisine influenced modern American food.

The amazing thing is that there is at least one recipe that I wanted to try that I couldn't find all the ingridients for. It called for a Sicilian wine and being stationed near Venice I couldn't find it in any of the local wine stores. Great book. I will continue to use it for years after I come back to the US. It will remind me of the years that I spent here.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for neophyte Italian cooks., June 27, 1998

By 

The Italian Stallion ([e-mail]) (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian: Recipes from the New and Old Worlds, Simplified for the American Kitchen (Hardcover)

As an Italian tired of Olive Garden-fare Italian cuisine, I bought Smith's book with two ideas in mind: 1) I wanted to understand both the context of the dishes I hoped to prepare and the constituent ingredients (for instance, how is Parmesan-Reggiano made?) and 2) coming to the book with little previous cooking experience -- let alone Italian cooking -- I wanted to be able to prepare most of the dishes in the book. Smith's book excelled at both these. The book is well-written and easy to follow, but avoids pedantry. Some of my favorite recipes are: Italian peasant bread, Italian Rolled Chicken, Bracciole, and the Fresh Tomato Sauce Sicilian.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CIAO BABY! THAT'S ITALIAN! AUTHENTIC ITALIAN RECIPES!, May 31, 2008

By 

! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b "DR SHOCK" (TRI STATE AREA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian (Mass Market Paperback)

The Frugal Gourmet' Jeff Smith does Italians proud with this authentic Italian cook book! My last name is Carbonara (like the famous dish) and I am a stickler for authentic Italian cuisine. I am glad I had the forethought to make sure I asked my 'Nana' for her delicious recipes before she passed away many years ago. Although I miss her dearly, I can still feel her presence when I make her wonderful dishes for my family and especially at family holiday functions! This is an excellent cook book for everyone, but especially for those who may not have been fortunate enough to have an Italian Nana to ask for those special recipes. Jeff Smith has another winner here! It's full of great recipes and stories by a very talented cook and writer. This one focuses on Italian cooking. I have used many of these recipes and found them to be very good. Being a home grown cook myself and having had many of my grandmother's classic recipes handed down to me, I found this book to be very helpful in expanding my culinary taste buds.

Jeff Smith entertained us for years on his PBS program 'The Frugal Gourmet'. Not only did he teach us many savory dishes, he also educated us. Not satisfied with just cooking delicious meals for his viewers, he would give detailed history lessons about the origins of the dish and made it all a lot of fun!

This may be Mr. Smiths best cook book and it is a worthy edition to everyone's cook book library. I own and have read many, if not all of his cook books, not only for the man's knowledge of cooking, but his incredible wit! This guy was funny and I would have loved to have hung out and throw a few beers down with him.

Unfortunately, this man had some very seriously bad press released about his personal life and well..... I am not one to spread rumors.....he seemed like a great guy and sadly he died before he was able to clear his name.

R.I.P. Frugs!