Customer Reviews

Italianamerican: The Scorsese Family Cookbook (G. K. Hall Reference (Large Print))

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Without a doubt, this is my most favorite of cookbooks. It's not the most thorough and it's not the most helpful, but it certainly is the most fun. The cover, a snapshot from the movie "Good Fellas" shows Catherine Scorsese (as Tommy's mother) sitting at a table having just served three gangsters a midnight snack; the gangsters are Joe Pesci (Tommy), Robert DeNiro (who, Catherine claims, thinks she makes the best pizza in the world), and Ray Liota. This book is filled with simple Italian-American recipes handed down through the years on both the Scorsese side and the Cappa side (Catherine's family). The most famous of these recipes is the first--tomato sauce with meat--and meatballs--which every good Italian American knows is consumed on Sundays--that's the tradition. There are veal recipes and recipes for soups (Catherine's lentil soup is the best--I've made it). And of course there's the previously mentioned pizza (sausage or pepperoni) about which Robert DeNiro raves. There are also several dessert recipes--the Sicilian Cake, with ricotta cheese and heavy cream providing the center--being the best. There are transcripts included from Scorsese's documentary--"Italianamerican"--from which the title of this book comes. Catherine and her husband Charlie reminisce about life in New York's Little Italy on Mulberry, Mott, and Elizabeth Streets. There are several charming black and white photos of the family through the years--the Scorseses, with little "Marty," standing beside the Christmas tree which the old folks "didn't go for." The anecdotes are sometimes hilarious; Catherine and her sister-in-law, for example, laugh about how they'd go to DiPalo's deli and make fun of the way customers pronounced such words as "ricotta"--it's rigotta--and "capicole"--it's capicoli. The praise on the back of the book, from Francis Ford Coppola, summs it up: "I am very happy that Katie's recipes are being published, so that I can immediately start trying them out." In fact, in Coppola's restaurant in Belize, there is the famous dish, "Mrs. Scorsese's Lemon Chicken."

This book makes a lovely contribution to any cookbook collection. In fact, it's the one guests always seem to pull from the shelf and thumb through. My copy, of course, is stained from years of use. There are tomato sauce stains and cheese smudges. The pages are as tasy as the actual dishes themselves.

Enjoy!

Finally! My search is over....my mother-in-law has searched for this book for over a year now. I bought it as a gift (mother's day) for her, but was sure to copy all the recipes before I mailed it off to her! After reading another review, I went right to the pizza recipe, and made it last night. I must admit, it was REALLY good. This book is filled with wonderful - traditional family recipes that every American-Italian (or anyone who enjoys Italian food) should have!

I have been looking for this cookbook for almost a year! What a pleasure to find it. My husband is of Italian decent and I have started a catering business with emphasis on southern Italian cooking. These recipes will enhance the ones taught to me by my husband's grandmothers and aunts and my own mother-in-law. This has made my day.

ChefBove`

i found the recepes very good and tasty the family had a great flare for cooking I tried many of them what can I say but God bless the family for puttin out such a great italian cook book

I just cooked the lemon chicken.

It was easy and EVERYONE loved it!

THIS COOK BOOK PURCHASE WAS A GREAT IDEA!

I had heard about this book for years and finally looked it up on Amazon. I read the reviews and ordered it. It arrived very prompty and in pretty good condition. However, I am a little disappointed to note that it is a very limited (read small with few recipes) book. Because it is out of print, I spent some money for it. Really........ not worth it.