8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Do-It-Yourself Pizza, May 4, 2001
This review is from: Pizza: From Its Italian Origins to the Modern Table (Paperback)
American pizza is a culinary crime, but you don't have to go to Italy to get the real thing if you're willing to do a little work in your own kitchen.
Rosario Buonassisi shows you how easy it is to make this simple but superb treat, and there's every reason to believe that once you taste the real thing you'll never go back to the pizza from take-out shops, which seldom tastes as good as the box it comes in.
This book gives clear directions and is beautifully (and encouragingly) photographed. It's as good as Charles and Michele Scicolone's book "Pizza Any Way You Slice It (also available from Amazon), and it is similarly packed with recipes, tips and advice. There are a couple of differences worth noting. Buonassisi is a scholar (in archeology) and a writer on many other subjects, and he naturally takes something of a scholarly approach here, providing a wealth of detail on pizza's origins and development. Gastronomically he goes further, providing an excellent chapter on what to drink with pizza: You can easily do better than just <any old> beer or wine, and his advice will improve your meal.
Finally, Buonassisi's recipe for basic dough uses bread flour only, rather than the Scicolones' blend of hard bread flour andsoft cake flour). Having put both recipes to the test--with excellent results--I'd advise buying <both> books and spending some adventurous hours in the kitchen.
It's important to realize, by the way, that once you get the basics down, home-made pizza is a snap. The sauce and dough freeze beautifully, so you can easily make enough at one time to provide for maybe half a dozen home pizza nights--until your neighbors find out how good yours is.--Bill Marsano
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Would appeal to gourmands, November 1, 2005
This review is from: Pizza: From Its Italian Origins to the Modern Table (Paperback)
I actually bought this book for its history of pizza rather than for the recipes it contains, so for me any good recipes would be a bonus rather than an absolute must. Nevertheless, I found this book to be somewhat disappointing, and would probably rate it only 3 stars if not for the fact that I recognize that this book does carry appeal for a certain type of audience.
Here are a few of the things that disturbed me:
1)It's translated from the original Italian. While it is one of the better translations I've read, the language still sounds a bit stiff and unnatural in some places. Admittedly, I am especially sensitive when it comes to translations, so not everyone might be bothered by this. All I can say is that I realized that it was a translation after reading just a little bit, and only afterwards confirmed it by checking the information page at the beginning of the book.
2) Because it's a translation of a book originally published in Italy, the text reflects a very Italian point of view. For example, Buonassisi attributes the global rise of popularity of pizza to Italians who immigrated to different countries after World War II, with nary a mention of the American super-chains that opened up pizza shops around the world. In general, he devotes almost no space to the history of pizza in the U.S., even though there is no doubt that it bears as much significance in the overall history of pizza as the history of pizza in Italy does. In the last chapter of the book, which discusses the future of pizza, his prejudice against the Americanization of pizza is especially obvious.
3) The recipes all focus on one style of pizza, with no mention of other pizza types. There are 24 pizza recipes in this book - not very much considering the size of the book - which all come with full-page photos which I personally don't need, but which others may enjoy. My biggest complaint is that there is no mention of anything other than the traditional (i.e. Italian)-type pizza, such as calzones or deep-dish pizza. The author just ignores their existence. Regarding the recipes themselves, I can't comment either way, as I haven't tried any of them.
4) The chapter about drinks that can accompany a pizza will only appeal to real gourmands who want to know exactly which wine to drink with each pizza. Personally, I found the author's assertion that carbonated drinks (i.e. soda) should never be drunk with pizza to be snobbish in the extreme!
5) There is no bibliography. I was astonished by that, considering that the book contains a long chapter on the history of pizza going back thousands of years. To me, that is a major ommission.
Positive features of the book:
1) There are beautiful photos throughout the book - this is a great coffee-table book.
2) The recipes seem to be quite simple to make.
3) The history of pizza up until the 20th century is very interesting and informative.
In short, this would make a good gift for a gourmand/chef, but not necessarily for others.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Includes over twenty recipes from all eras, March 2, 2001
This review is from: Pizza: From Its Italian Origins to the Modern Table (Paperback)
Rosario Buonassisi's Pizza provides a brief history of pizza, from ancient to modern times, and includes over twenty recipes from all eras. Color photos of finished dishes and intriguing references to pizza dishes and history round out the presentation and make for a lively, colorful pizza guide.
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