Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Tuscany [Hardcover]

Giuliano Bugialli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1992

The author brings together more than 150 authentic recipes from his native province. He draws on the recipes of old Tuscan families, early printed cookbooks, and field research to create a collection of well-loved favourites and lesser know recipes. Organized by course, the recipes represent the cooking traditions of all the important cities of Tuscany - Florence, Siena, Lucca, Pisa - as well as the small towns and villages. Bugialli offers the version of such Tuscan classics as focaccia with rosemary, pasta with zucchini flowers, fresh basil risotto and beefsteak, Florentine style. The book also includes such unusual and delicious recipes as fenneled chicken on the spit, veal stuffed with fava beans, lettuce stuffed with endives and fresh chestnut gelato. Bugialli's informed and personal text weaves the recipes together in a narrative. From the renowned wines of Chianti to the distinctive fresh pasta dishes to the huge variety of breads, "focacce", and "pizze" for which Tuscany is famous, all aspects of Tuscan cuisine are celebrated. Photographer John Dominis has shot the finished food in locations throughout the hills and plains of Tuscany. The photos also include scenes of the framed markets and vineyards as well as Tuscan architecture, monuments, and fine art, reminding the reader that in Tuscany, cooking is an art. The author also wrote "Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Italy", which won the Tastemaker Grand Prize for Best Cookbook of the Year.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (September 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556702000
• ISBN-13: 978-1556702006
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,371,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Tuscan Cookbook, April 16, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Tuscany (Hardcover)

Giuliano Bugialli's "Foods of Tuscany" has a perfect balance -- probably 90% recipes and 10% pictures and background. The pictures are wonderful, the recipes are delicious, and the background information displays a surprising level of erudition. My only criticism would be that many of the recipes are very labor-intensive; Julia Child's typical recipes seem easy in comparison. But the results are worth the effort

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice, August 21, 2011

By 

Jackal (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Tuscany (Hardcover)

I bought this book because it was highly recommended by Edward Behr at The Art of Eating. You get around 150 Tuscan recipes. The author has travelled the region and found what he considers interesting recipes. Many of the are a bit complicated so you must like spending time in the kitchen. With only 150 recipes I don't think you get a full picture of the region, but you have to remember that the book is 20 years old. At that time, publishers were not really that keen on publishing books about regional cooking. Times have changed. I am not an expert, but I don't know about any books on Tuscany that are clearly better than this one.

You should also be aware that the author also has written "The fine art of Italian cooking" (product link not working), which despite its title also is a book mostly of Tuscan cooking. That is maybe better than the current book. It certainly contains more recipes and more information. However, the drawback is that it does not have any picture.

I think the hard cover book sold for 50 dollars in 1992 and that was a lot of money. Books are cheaper today, but it has to be said that the binding and printing of the book is beautiful. You hardly see that kind of quality in a book today - and certainly not in cookbooks. I would strongly recommend that you pick up the hardcover edition here on amazon for just 4 dollars!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Re-discovering a great book!, April 1, 2010

By 

Blue leaf (berkeley, ca USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Tuscany (Hardcover)

I bought this book over 10 years ago. At the time I thought it was a beautiful book but did not cook from the book since my cooking skills were rudimentary and the book was way beyond my skills. Over the years my cooking skills have been steadily improving, but for some reason I never pulled down the book from the bookshelf. Recently I attended one of the author's cooking demonstrations and was really impressed with the way that he turned simple ingradients into fantastic meals. This prompted me to take the book out again and now I can really appreciate what a fantastic book it is!