57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favorite cookbook, bar none., October 30, 2005
This review is from: The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens (Hardcover)
GOOD READ, GREAT RECIPES
How I adore this cookbook. I have a lot of cookbooks, and I always reach for this one first. First of all, you can read it like a novel. LRK's stories are wonderful, and hearing the origins -- anthropological, agricultural, familial, anecdotal --is really fun for a literary foodie type (like me).
THE SIMPLE-TO-COMPLEX CONTINUUM
But my appreciation of this book goes way beyond its bedside appeal. It's my first, best resource in the kitchen, too. I've noticed a few of the other reviewers found the recipes a little complex, and I'd like to address that. It's true that some are multi-step and use a lot of dishes. It's true that, say, the Tyrolean Pot Roast (*drool*) might take a couple tries before it comes out letter-perfect. But let me balance that by saying that:
SIMPLE
(1) there are plenty of recipes so simple you'll find yourself using them every night. Like string beans with olive oil, salt and pepper (optional raw garlic halved and rubbed on the sides of the bowl). It's one of those foundational recipes accessible enough for a novice cook, and the technique may be applied to many vegetables.
CLEAR
(2) Even in Rossetto Kasper's more complicated recipes are not tricky because she explains them so well. It's really hard to take traditional recipes passed down through generations without measurements, cooking by feel, and in another language, no less -- and translate them into a coherent step-by-step set of instructions. That's exactly what Rossetto Kasper has done, though -- she takes recipes a la nonna (grandma recipes) and converts them into accessible text that any home cook can achieve if they really try.
IDIOT-PROOF (SORT OF)
(3) Most of Rosetto Kasper's recipes are really forgiving. She'll point out where you can make substitutions. For example, if you have run out of rosemary, but your basil plant is temptingly available in sun-drenched glory, chances are good that Rossetto Kasper will point out that you can switch them just fine, and that traditional Italian home cooks often do, according to the seasons, regional differences, and the whim of the cook. I've screwed up so many of her recipes the first time, and all my mistakes have been not just edible, but good. Good enough that I was more than interested in trying a second time, for even better result. Example: The Polenta Chocolate Cake. I defy anyone to make that cake not taste incredibly good -- you'd have to do something really drastic, like omit the chocolate or pour ketchup over it. The first time I made it, it was for a giant family dinner. I was stressed and goofed up the cooking time (probably three or four other things). My family moaned like they were having a giant collective foodgasm. It's just really that good. Sure, I made it correctly after that, but it's good to know if you don't always manage to color in the lines, all is not lost.
AUTHENTICITY
More thoughts: her authentic recipes are really authentic. I made her ring-shaped currant/anise seed bread (forget the name) a few years ago for the first time and happened to bring it when I took my grandmother to visit one of her friends. This tiny, very old Italian woman flipped out when she saw it because it reminded her so much of something her own mother made, with a recipe "from the old country." (I know it's a cliché, okay, but that's what she said! She meant it!) The she tasted it and just about cried because it was JUST like her (long dead) mother used to make. Since she never knew the recipe, she hadn't had it since the last time the last (long dead) old woman in her family made it. That's the kind of food you get from this book. Making old ladies that happy is really, really special.
MORE AUTHETICITY
I had a similar experience with the Pane Dolce di Zucca (Pumpkin Bread -- nothing like American pumpkin bread, and actually, I generally use butternut squash, per Rossetto Kasper's suggestion). My husband had colleagues from Italy here in the United States for a month or so. They were kind of homesick. I sent some of this bread in to work with my husband one day and they went wild when they tasted it -- apparently it's a country recipe that they'd all had from their families, but wasn't available commercially, and that they hadn't had in a very long time since they lived in the city now for work. They were absolutely mystified as to how this American (me) managed to figure it out. Not until they met me and heard my lousy Italian grammar did they believe my husband wasn't secretly married to a little old Italian grandmother, heh. The book is like one giant Italian Proust Madeleine.
NUTRTITION
This book really emphasizes fresh, organic, whole foods.
FOR ALL LEVELS OF COOKS
I think this book would be excellent for a novice cook or a very experienced cook (or anyone in between). I loved it for the authentic recipes I've never come across in other texts, for the stories, and for the clarity of the directions. I would have loved it as a beginner cook because there's plenty to make that's not intimidatingly complex, and there are pictures. The sections on tomato sauce, broth, and sourcing/selecting ingredients would be extremely useful for a cook who was just starting out, or perhaps just moving from survivial cooking to loftier, more ambitious cooking.
RECIPES I LOVE
Crackly Apply Meringue Cake, Rosemary Pear Tart, Chicken Balsamico, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, Pork with Peppers, Marinated Trout, Melting Cavolo Nero (Kale), Chickpea All Souls Soup (a basic recipe that can be used for many different beans), different things with Farro (wheat berries) -- and my goodness, I can't remember what all else. Suffice to say, the spine is cracked, the pages are wrinkled and stained, and it's just the best.
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58 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lynn and Italian Country Food - - a perfect combination, December 6, 1999
This review is from: The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens (Hardcover)
Lynn's books combine history with recipes. You have the feeling you are sharing the Italian tradition, a link to great food. Anyone who enjoyed the extra food histories in her "The Splendid Table" must sample this great new Italian cookbook. Her researching is painstaking and exhaustive.
I know because I first met her in 1984; I prepared a dinner for her that year, using a new recipe for butterflied leg of lamb on the grill, and only later did I discover it was her recipe from an issue of "Bon Appetit". That meal was a highlight of my amateur career, shared only with the pleasure of being a part of her pre-publication surprise party for submission of the manuscript of "The Splendid Table".
Lynn's recipes live - - they talk to you. You experience them. This new volume is a must for lovers of good food and instructive cookbooks.
Dan Davis
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