Customer Reviews

In Late Winter We Ate Pears: A Year of Hunger and Love--Seasonal Recipes and Stories From an Italian Kitchen

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The authors, a married couple, own an acclaimed restaurant in Vermont. This book is a compilation of stories and recipes from their travels in Italy. The book is laid out according to the seasons, which I loved. Each section is full of recipes that use the produce that's in season. And there are a lot of recipes in here, around 30 for each season.

The recipes vary from very simple, such as Green Beans in Olive Oil and Lemon to more complicated like Squash Ravioli. But none of them look overly difficult and the explanations are all well done and easy to understand.

Each seasonal section includes meals laid out as Italian meals are served, Antipasti (appetizers), Primi (first Course), Secondi (second course), Cortorni (third course!:) and Dolci (the desert course). There's also a separate section at the end with lovely bread recipes.

A wonderful book that I look forward to cooking from for many years to come.

By design, this book is a companion to Libation. Deirdre Heekin is joined this time by her Chef and husband, Caleb Barber. Son of the Prophet Ezekiel, Caleb was his scout into a new land. His new Canaan is Woodstock Vermont. They started with a bakery, now expanded to an osteria and some new sidelines. In Late Winter is the kind of cookbook to take with you even when you will not be in a kitchen for days, so much supplemental reading is included. Even the recipes have ample background in addition to much better than average instructions. Not a bad book to read before going to Italy, either. My guess is you will be happier with both volumes. You get a talented writer and a working chef, both passionate and genuine.

This is a cookbook fit for a beginner to use. Most recipes are basic enough to jump right into, given you read the whole entry, preferably twice. The format is quattro stagioni ( four seasons) with entries for each course within. Do not be surprised if only a few are at all familiar to you. This book teaches you to cook using Italian technique and to develop an appreciation of the Italian mentality as you proceed. There are not a dozen pasta dishes, but plenty of variety. If you are an experienced with Northern Italian cookery, you will still appreciate the commentary.

The scholarship is appreciable, without being dominant. The listed sources are good for the curious reader. In particular, Ms. Heekin introduces us to Maestro Martino, a pre-Columbian chef published an important early collection of recipes. Thankfully, she ignores the common modern English edition of his book, a barbarous butchered product of the California Studies in Food and Culture series that never fails to disappoint. I reviewed their feeble volume on herbs; this one is worse. They ripped out the recipes, of all things, and pasted in place only superficially related ones. Our dedicated duo instead responsibly went to the library in Milano to work with his manuscript of "Libro de Arte Coquinaria". You can now get the CD-ROM version of both the manuscript and the English translation here on Amazon. She also cites the Medieval Kitchen published by the formidable University of Chicago, also available here. Next is the great Pellegrino Artusi's seminal "The Art of Eating Well" which was finally reissued when the used copies hit $200.00. Finally, always a nice touch of poetry from the Dover dual language edition of their Introduction to Italian Poetry.

OK, so you hit a recipe calling for fresh sardines, which is not at your local fish market, let alone supermarket. You cannot substitute tinned ones. Move on to the fresh trout instead. They list all the recipes separately from the table of contents, which is handy. Risotto is tricky, but you can come close enough, and get better with practice. The only section that falls a bit short is the one on bread. I understand the desire to include it because of their roots in their original bakery, but there are better dedicated volumes that are more painstaking and complete. But I can use it to make a biga and get good enough results. I have only thirty or so volumes on Italian cookery, so this is a happy addition which I will go back to to exercise in the kitchen, and relax with in the easy chair or airline seat.

I have been holding onto this book for a few weeks to really get to know the recipes and I have to say that it has nearly become a staple in my kitchen at this point. In Late Winter We Ate Pears is a cookbook, and a wonderful one at that, but it is also a snapshot of Italy, of owning a restaurant and of, of course, food. This book is broken into seasons, emphasizing seasonal cooking, and each section starts with a few stories. Some of the writing in this book was overly poetic for my taste, snaking off into descriptive paragraphs that sound pretty but don't actually paint a very good picture, and many of the stories are only incidentally about food, but overall it is a delight to read and any foodie will adore it.

The recipes, however, are the reason to buy this book. They are all pretty simple, mostly traditional Italian recipes, and most are very easy to prepare and stay true to seasonal cooking. I love having the recipes broken down into season as I try to eat mainly from my farmers market and it is impossible to find a tomato in May or a snap pea in August, but being able to open this book up to the season and being able to find pretty much any ingredient required is a delight. I also love the final section - bread. I like to bake my own bread but I am a miserable failure at it. The bread section includes lots of tips and instructions that I wish I had five years ago and my bread is already better for it.

Obviously, if you love food, if you love cooking or if you love Italy you will love this book. But if you are just looking for a few easy recipes that use seasonal food or if you would like to be taken on a beautiful journey, I would suggest that you pick this one up right away.

I love to cook and I really want to travel to Italy so I was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations.

It is beautifully written and I enjoyed the focus on using local ingredients whenever possible. For example, "...the eater is drawn into a bond with the ingredients themselves and, beyond them, with the earth that nurtured those ingredients."

The authors occasionally seem to try to hard to outdo their descriptions, and sometimes delve further back into history than is interesting. For example, the chapter on Maestro Martino's cooking in the 15th century was a little more than I ever needed or wanted to know.

I did enjoy the descriptions of the Italian towns, the charming inns and family restaurants. I was disappointed that the book did not include an appendix with the names and contact information for the hotels and restaurants for readers who would like to visit them.

The book is also lacking photos. There is not a single one beyond the photo of the authors on the back flap. Photos of the Italian villages and the prepared dishes would have really enhanced the book. Tessa Kiros did a better job of interspersing memories (and photos) with the dishes which inspired them in Apples for Jam: A Colorful Cookbook and Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes.

Speaking of recipes, those featured in the book are rather simplistic. I enjoy simple dishes but don't need recipes for them. For example, Sauteed Eggplant and Zucchini consists of satueeing eggplants and zucchini with olive oil, salt and pepper. Similarly, satueed beets involves sauteeing beets with olive oil, salt and pepper. The title of Green Beans in Olive Oil and Lemon contains all the necessary ingredients with the exception of salt and pepper. Same thing with Escarole with Oil and Vinegar. The recipe for pears and parmigiano instructs readers to serve slices of pear with chunks of parmigiano cheese. I'm not sure the last one even qualifies as a recipe!

To be fair, there are other, more complex recipes such as apple cake, fresh garden risotto, and squash ravioli. There are minimal ingredients in most recipes and the directions are clear. They don't require exotic spices or unusual cuts of meat.

Since this book disappointed, my hopes are now pinned on Tessa Kiros' next book which is on Venice: Venezia: Food and Dreams.

Having lived in Florence for a year, then in Castiglion Fiorentino for another six months, I recognize many of the places the authors write about--and this was my sole reason for picking up this book. The stories are intricately woven in with recipies, organized by season, which tickles out my own memories of Italy as I read.

The recipies themselves are quite simple, most of them under 6 ingredients and the condiments are usually limited to black pepper, salt, and extra virgin olive oil. I will say that a few of the cookie recipies look promising, but for the most part, there is no alchemy here. I am venturing a guess that most of the food tastes marvelous because the ingredients themselves are so wonderful in this area, and picking up the local equivalents will not yeild the same results.

My family is from the Tuscany region, and though we have cooked this way at home, and it's how I cook now, I still notice that things always taste better in Italy--and I suppose it is the ingredients, because nothing changes.

Still the recipies are extremely simple, often just grilled meats, simple ingredients tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt, and after making something once, you won't really need the recipe at all, because they're more like guidelines than recipies.

The stories are well-written and I had to keep reminding myself that the authors are chefs and restauranteurs, not novelists or professors of English--the language rolls fluidly and poetically in such a wonderful way that it made me homesick for Italy.

A wonderful book for anyone who has been, or would like to go :)

A year of hunger and love is the subtitle of this book of recipes and storytelling by Deirdre Heekin and Caleb barber, proprietors of the Osteria Pane & Salute boutique restaurant and wine bar in Woodstock, VT.

Touted as a "love affair with the Italian culture and way of life", In Winter we Ate Pears chronicles Heekin's and barber's journey to and year of living in Italy. Divided into seasons, the book offers vignettes of life, a travel guide and a collection of simple recipes such as Almond Butter cookies with anise, Fresh Berry and Peach Tart, Cannellini Salad with Fresh Sage to some so simplistic they are more method than recipe.

The stories are a sensual feast, the recipes typical of regional cooking. It's a delightful book, however, for me, photos of the actual food and perhaps a few scenic shots would do much to enhance the text as I am a visual person. My only quibble with the book was that at times, it seemed the author was trying too hard at a turn of phrase, nevertheless, it made for a pleasant reading experience. The recipes offer the best of regional cuisine where a few well-chosen ingredients can make a memorable feast as in the Petto di Pollo in Padella-Sauteed chicken breast-where chicken, butter, salt, pepper, olive oil and white wine are the ingredients.

A good book for your cooking and travel library.

While I enjoyed the descriptions and vignettes in the book, what really stood out for me was the love of food that went into these recipes. If you love to experiment with food and try unique combinations, this book is the perfect blueprint for some fun.

Heekin and Barber make some traditional recipes unique with the addition of magical ingredients, like the red wine and mint in their Zucca Gialla in Saor, or the crushed amaretti cookies in their squash ravioli, or the raisins in the Penne with spinach and pine nuts.

Some basics are covered and served up with elegant touches. The Petto di Pollo in Padella is a simple yet flavorful recipe for a chicken breast. Their Fagiolini Verdi is a perfect tasty means of preparing fresh green beans. The turkey cutlets with lemon is a fast and tasty scallopini-type recipe. The pears with parmesan makes a simple yet surprising dessert.

Some of the offerings are rustic yet elegant. Try the sausages with black grapes, or the Zuppa Valdostana, a soup with savoy cabbage and crusty country bread.

And some recipes are simply to die for, or of, if cholesterol is an issue. Their Pasta Carbonara is perfection - a dish for two, to be eaten "while wearing pajamas or formal wear...with a glass of your finest red wine."

Arranged by seasons, with bits of history and narrative stirred in, the book is a perfect companion while you eat your way through the year.

You know, I generally like Travelogues. I generally like cookbooks. I even enjoy things that combine the two such as several books by Traveller's Tales. However, "In Late Winter We Ate Pears," was so awful, I had a very hard time reading it. The writing style of both aspects of the book was hard to take. The travelogue bits had flow issues, the voice of the author came off pompous and unlikeable, the things talked about were boring and gave no real insight into the culture, history or even the true food if Italy. The two writers just stuck to a very small niche aspect of Italy and treated it like it was the entire cross section of the country in terms of customs, cuisine and life. It was so boring and flighty that it was hard to take the sections on Italy seriously.

The recipes were amazingly poor as well. Not only were they simple, basic recipes (at best), but there was little to no variety between them and I found a lot of them unappetizing, and I'm a gourmand. That's pretty bad. the writing style for the recipes were horrible. They were supposedly written by a professional chef, but the recipes were so all over the place with no real direction or insight, it read more like something domne by a middle school Home Ec student than someone who owns their own dining establishment in Vermont. Even worse, these recipes are so basic that, in fact, recipes are not needed for most of them. The fact the author(s) tried to overly complicate things this cut and dry just speaks to the pomposity of this book and the little regard they give to the reader.

I applaude the authors' attempt to speak of their passion for Itallian cooking and the country itself. However the former is completely lost in the writing and lack of quality recipes and the travelogues come off so poorly and pompous that it's hard to enjoy anything about this book, much less take it as a serious addition to one's library. Highly disappointing all around.

Usually, I like photos in my cookbooks, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed a book with no photographs of the finished foods, but enjoy it I did.

In a nutshell, the book is a memoir, organized by the seasons, of the authors' time in Italy, a memoir that revolves around the foods they ate and learned to make. And like Italy, its pace is leisurely - no rushing and, in fact, reading the stories that accompany a particular recipe gave me a greater appreciation for the history of the food, itself.

The recipes are not difficult, although some of them, like ravioli, will take time. The most important theme that runs through all the recipes in the book is to find the freshest, highest quality ingredients that you can.

This is not a definitive tome on Italian cooking, but it is a great intro or addition to a collection of Italian cook books.

I liked the author's other book, "Libations, Bitter Alchemy" as it was a vicarious thrill ride for an armchair gourmet. I liked this book even better as it gives history and stories to the recipes. Whereas making wine was an abstract concept for me, learning about the history of the dishes and then making them is far more satisfying. I highly recommend it.