In Nonna's Kitchen: Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers [Hardcover]

Carol Field (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 21, 1997

With life in Italy becoming increasingly urbanized and Americanized, le nonne (Italian for "the grandmothers") are the last generation that knows the rich traditions and unique dishes of the country's towns, valleys and hilltops. Carol Field goes trolling through Italy's back roads to find these true guardians of the Italian culinary heritage, and weaves their stories, wisdom and dishes together in a wonderful cookbook that celebrates their history and preserves their timeless wisdom.

In these pages are the authentic meals enjoyed by generations of Italians. There are savory breads such as Gnocco Ingrassato (made with crunchy cubes of pancetta), such fruit preserves as Le Pesche d'Estate (peaches in lemon and sugar syrup), sumptuous sauces like Salsa Piccante alla Senape (spicy mustard) and mouthwatering meat dishes like Agnello in Umido (braised lamb with green olives). And what's a meal without dessert? Tempting fare like Crema Bacchica (literally, Bacchuss pudding -- a cinnamon-and-clove-scented pudding flavored with wine) and Torta di Mandorle e Cioccolata (chocolate almond tart) will elicit heartfelt cheers of "magnifico" from grateful gourmets.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Italy, the Nonna is vanishing. These grandmothers have lived though hard times and devoted their lives to feeding their husbands and children. When they are gone, valuable links with the past will vanish with them unless their children or grandchildren take time to learn from them. Only then will someone continue to know where to find wild greens, how dough looks when it is just right, and how to prepare the dishes these inexhaustible women have made for decades.

In Nonna's Kitchen is Carol Field's recording of the lives of some of these women and the food they cook. Whether they live in the countryside, in a small town, or in a big city, their dishes are specialties found only at home, where everything is made from scratch and it does not matter if a favorite recipe takes hours or days to make. As the title indicates, these women's stories are as important as their food. Putting the two together, Field captures both the essence of the Italian spirit and the soul of Italian cooking.

From Library Journal

Field, author of the authoritative The Italian Baker (LJ 11/15/85) and Celebrating Italy (LJ 11/15/90), has written another winner. Because modern times are making la cucina della nonna (traditional "grandmother's cooking") a lost art in Italy, she wanted to record those recipes and the way of life they reflect before both disappear. Field interviewed almost 50 nonne, whose stories are told in individual profiles throughout the book, and collected some 200 recipes from them. Most of these resourceful women spent much of their lives creating meals for huge families out of just a handful of ingredients, and there are many simple but mouthwatering dishes here, along with some more elaborate and even exotic ones. Field's headnotes and profiles of the nonne make this book fascinating reading, and many of the recipes she offers are not found elsewhere. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Morrow Cookbooks (May 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060171847
• ISBN-13: 978-0060171841
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #656,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved my Nonna...and I love your Book, February 3, 2000

By 

Kenny Haas #25 (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Nonna's Kitchen: Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers (Hardcover)

When my mother gave me this cook book, and I saw the word 'Nonna' in the title, I got a little choked up. I also whispered to myself, "this better be good." Well...'Bravo! Ti hai fatto bene!' You have done well. Yes, the recipes are wonderful, but the mood, the stories, the history of each of these Nonnas made me smile, and made me proud. Just as in my Nonna's cooking, these ladies are the best at turning leftovers into elegance. Wonderful subtle flavors - Crostini, Polpette, the Chocolate Ameretti Pudding...all we need is a deck of cards for Scopa! I made my Nonna write down her sauce recipe for me, because if I didn't, it would have died with her, recipes are verbal traditions handed down for generations...this is cooking history. Thank you. My wife thanks you too...books like this motivate husbands to cook more often.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grandma Knows Best!, August 28, 2001

By 

Stoupa "judytin" (Falls Church, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Nonna's Kitchen: Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers (Hardcover)

For lovers of Italian food in particular, but for any lover of cooking and Italy, this is a must have for your collection. Every recipe is preceded by an introduction to the Nonna (Grandmother) whose speciality it is. These Nonnas run the gamut, from sophisticated Roman and Florentine women to women from small villages, still cooking as their own Nonnas did. I've tried several of the recipes and each has been spectacular. I'm buying another copy to take as a gift for a week-long 60th birthday celebration at a villa near Sienna. Ciao!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious and Delightful, May 12, 2004

By 

beckyjean "beckyjean" (East Granby, CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: In Nonna's Kitchen: Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers (Hardcover)

This is the second of Carol Field's books that I've read (the first one I picked up was "Celebrating Italy") and her hallmarks seem to be meticulous, yet loving, research and a writing style that manages to evoke the sights, sounds, smells, textures, and flavors of Italian cooking to a mouth-watering degree.

"In Nonna's Kitchen" is a cookbook that Field researched by going to Italy and culling time-honored, taste-tested recipes from several authentic Italian grandmothers. I have not yet tried any of the recipes, but reading them feels like good eatin'. I usually dislike cookbooks that don't feature a picture of every recipe. "In Nonna's Kitchen" contains no pictures of food, but the recipes and Field's writing on Italian cuisine and culture make pictures unnecessary.

Ah, yes, culture. It's easy to see Field not so much as a food writer, but as an eager and loving student of Italian culture. She does much honor to the Italian grandmothers who contributed to this book by providing a lengthy, colorful profile of each of them. In these profiles, the "nonne" discuss how they learned to cook, what their lives have been like, how cooking has changed over the courses of their lifetimes, etc. In addition to these formal profiles, Field includes little anecdotes about several of the grandmothers within the recipes they provided.

These are not your stereotypical black-shawled, muttering Italian grandmothers, either. They range in age from 40s-90s, and a good many of them are classically beautiful, stylish women. All of them, however, are quintessentially Italian in that they place great importance on good, simple food made from the freshest local ingredients.

I plan to buy copies of "In Nonna's Kitchen" and "Celebrating Italy" for myself; they're too good not to own. Carol Field now has the distinction of being my favorite food writer!