How to Cook Italian [Hardcover]

Giuliano Hazan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2005

Few understand how to cook great Italian food in America like Giuliano Hazan. A master teacher in his own right -- Giuliano is the son of the authority on Italian cooking, Marcella Hazan -- he knows exactly what home cooks want and need: delicious, easy, and often quick-to- prepare authentic Italian meals made with readily available ingredients.

How to Cook Italian is Hazan's masterwork, the culmination of twenty years of teaching experience, and a perfect follow-up to his previous two highly successful books, Every Night Italian and The Classic Pasta Cookbook.

Hazan covers the basics of Italian cooking, including perfectly cooking pasta, sautèing vegetables, making quick pan sauces, and braising meats until they are fork tender. He guides you every step of the way -- from what you need (usually just a sautè pan and a pot) and what you don't (expensive, fancy equipment) to how to shop and stock the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer for easy, fantastic meals throughout the week.

Over 225 clear and concise recipes reflect the way Americans grocery-shop, cook, and eat. Preparation time and total time from start to finish are listed for each dish. Recipes cover all aspects of the meal, from appetizers and buffet items to soups, pastas, risottos, entrees, vegetables, salads, and desserts.

For quick weeknight dinners, cooks can choose from a wide variety of dishes ready in thirty minutes or less: Spaghetti Carbonara; Risotto with Rosemary; Grilled Salmon with Thyme and Parsley Sauce; Shrimp with Pistachio Sauce; Chicken Breast Fillets with Lemon; and Beef Tenderloin with Balsamic, Arugula, and Parmigiano, to name a few.

When time is more plentiful, there are dishes such as Classic Bolognese Meat Sauce or Tuscan Ragù, Pork Loin Braised in Milk, and Leek and Porcini Lasagna.

To indulge your sweet tooth, try Neapolitan Lemon Trifle, Flourless Chocolate Cake, and Grandma's Custard Pie.

Illustrated with thirty-two pages of full-color photographs of finished dishes as well as instructional line drawings throughout, this is the one Italian cookbook that today's American cooks cannot live without.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Marcella Hazan, Giuliano Hazan's mother and the woman credited with introducing Americans to authentic Italian cooking, published her first cookbook in 1973, Americans had little access to good olive oil and real Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Times certainly have changed, and this work reflects that in a section on ingredients that calls for items such as bottarga and imported San Marzano tomatoes. But Giuliano's recipes don't differ much from his mother's or those found in the many other general Italian cookbooks, and that's the flaw in this completely competent, utterly unsurprising primer. It's perfect for absolute Italian beginners still looking for recipes for Pasta e Fagioli and Spaghetti with Clams. Hazan, who lives in Florida, works hard to translate Italian dishes for the American marketplace, and he does a particularly good job in his chapter on fish and seafood main courses, suggesting numerous possible species for use in dishes like Red Snapper with Mussels, and Baked Cod with Tomatoes and Red Onions. A chapter on rice includes 15 different risotto recipes, but its most valuable asset is the step-by-step general instructions for making risotto. Such technique sections, especially the one on making pasta by hand, are useful, but just not hefty enough to make this volume indispensable. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Over the past decade, Americans have grown more sophisticated about Italian cooking. No one any longer bats an eye at pesto, and risotto appears on menus everywhere. Hazan reaches out to this audience with simple Italian recipes that reflect much more than the ordinary array of customary dishes but that can still be produced by cooks with limited experience. His soups, besides the expected bean and pasta classic, include a Sardinian lentil soup with mustard greens. Pasta sauces feature several with fragrant mint, a fairly common Italian potherb, but one not often used in America. Swordfish appears in a simple tomato-based pasta sauce. Although Italians eat veal regularly, reproducing these recipes will be difficult in many American regions where veal is not only rare but also expensive. Braised-beef dishes include one Veronese specialty that calls for six hours of quiet bubbling on the stovetop. Hazan's instructions are clear and helpful to the starting cook, who will find plenty of encouragement here. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (October 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743244362
• ISBN-13: 978-0743244367
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,011,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

While some teenagers go to great lengths to be different from their parents, Giuliano Hazan - only son of Marcella Hazan - embraced the idea of following in his mother's footsteps. At the early age of 17, Giuliano began working as assistant at his mother's renowned School of Classic Italian Cooking. He committed himself to mastering the simple, genuine flavors of Italian cuisine. And, now, more than three decades later, Giuliano is an author, teacher, entrepreneur, and one of the foremost authorities on Italian cooking.

"Italian food does not hem and haw; it asserts itself proudly. If it were a painting, it would not be made of varying shades of beige but of the vibrant colors one sees on the houses in so many Italian towns."

--Giuliano Hazan, How to Cook Italian

In 2007 Giuliano received the coveted Cooking Teacher of the Year Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) which "honors an individual who demonstrates and effectively communicates an exceptional knowledge of culinary studies and techniques in a vocational, avocational or traveling teacher capacity."

Although born in the United States, Giuliano spent much of his childhood in Italy, and got his first taste of teaching as a teenager, working at his mother's School of Classic Italian Cooking in Bologna. And, after completing an B.A. degree at Swarthmore College, (Swarthmore, PA) he enrolled in the Trinity Rep Conservatory, a professional theater program in Providence, Rhode Island.

For more than three decades, Giuliano has taught hands-on and demonstration style courses to sold-out crowds at cooking schools in Europe and the United States. From 1995 to 1999, he led a number of multi-day courses at the legendary Hotel Cipriani in Venice (a particularly memorable class was the one he taught with his mother and acclaimed chef Nobu Matsuhisa). And, in the United States, Giuliano's recent cooking school appearances include Sur La Table, Ramekins, and Central Market.

In 2000, Giuliano and his wife, Lael, inaugurated a cooking school of their own, Cooking with Giuliano Hazan. Each spring and fall, the couple - along with partner, Marilisa Allegrini of the famed Allegrini Winery in Valpolicella - offer culinary and travel enthusiasts a true taste of Italy at Villa Giona, a restored Renaissance villa outside Verona.

The week-long courses promise "total immersion in Italian food, wine, and life" and draw professional and amateur chefs from all over the world. After daily excursions, Giuliano leads a five-hour class during which participants prepare a traditional Italian meal. The group then enjoys the meal - and a number of perfectly-paired wines - together, gathered around a large table, in typical Italian fashion.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Giuliano Hazan's How to Cook Italian is a winner!, December 17, 2005

By 

Nanette Galloni (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Cook Italian (Hardcover)

Let Giuliano lead you into his home kitchen and you will be richly rewarded with memorable meals.

Giuliano is blessed with the unique combination of an Italian palate and American organization. This book works.

The concise, easy to follow recipes are based on using a handful of ingredients and following a few simple steps. Each one's preparation time is listed, and most take under an hour from start to finish.

The book includes a thorough discussion of kitchen tools, ingredients, and techniques used in the Italian kitchen.

Its gorgeous full color photography will make you want to race into your kitchen and start cooking for your family and friends.

-- Nanette Galloni

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent start for cooking Italian, November 9, 2006

By 

Stephanie Manley (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Cook Italian (Hardcover)

Giuliano Hazan does an excellent job of putting together a variety of Italian dishes. His book contains dishes of both northern and southern Italy. The book starts with a very good primer on how to cut vegetables correctly, what tools you will need, and information about basic ingredients of Italian cooking. I also like that he limits the recipes to ingredients that can be found in your local "Mega Mart".

I found the primer in the begining of the book to be very helpful. Sometimes just knowing how to prepare or cut a particular ingredient can help take away any intimidation you may have with a new ingredient. He has step by step instructions for cutting up artichokes, onions, and so much more. I also like he takes the time to tell you what tools are essential, he isn't one for useless gadgets. The ingredients that you will need, you will find in a local grocery store. Nothing too exotic will be asked for in this book. It is annoying trying to make a recipe and having to forage for some rare ingredient.

The recipes do span both northern and southern Italian cooking. So often in the United States I think we often feel Italian food is just red spaghetti sauce. Northern Italian food is rich, has unique sauces, and if you haven't tried any northern Italian food, you are missing out. His recipes also do a good job of spanning appetizers, meats, rice, pasta, salads, vegetables, and desserts.

I like that the recipes are written clearly, and are easy to follow. He lists out steps, so you can make sure you are on the right track with his recipes. Also the recipes have ingredients that you are familar with. His recipes are written to where they are almost fool proof.

This is a well put together cookbook. I like that ingredients are easy to find. Recipes are written out clearly, and they are easy to understand. He also does a good job of featuring recipes from northern as well as southern Italy. If you are looking for a book to start out our Italian cooking adventures you will be pleased with this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Italian Perfection, March 21, 2006

By 

Ann C. Iverson (Houston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Cook Italian (Hardcover)

I run a hands on cooking school and use Giuliano's newest book, How To Cook Italian, as a foundation for the course. If you want to become an expert on Italian foods, cooking and cooking techniques, and how to make your meals genuninely Italian, you must have this book.