Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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!

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!

Carol Field is one of my all time favorite Italian food writers. She knows what she's talking about, always finds authentic and interesting recipes and has such respect for Italian culture and tradition. The recipes are wonderful, often simple and everything I've prepared has been absolutely delicious! I can't recommend it enough. The nonna's stories are wonderful to read as well and I'm so happy that she's captured their recipes and stories and recorded them. Her book is a treasure, just like they are. Buon appetito!

Carol Field is my favorite cookbook author. She is as much a historian as a cookbook author. She makes you feel like you are there with her experiencing what she is experiencing. I absolutely love the way she writes.

As with many ethnic cookbooks it would help if the recipe titles were also give an English translation so when going through the index trying to get an idea what to make it wouldn't be such a chore. As far as the actual recipes, Carole Fields is Molte Bene!