Prosciutto, Pancetta, Salame [Hardcover]

Pamela Sheldon Johns (Author), Joyce Oudkerk Pool (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

The craft of curing meats has been handed down through generations by Italian artisan producers who follow these same careful techniques even today. In PROSCIUTTO, PANCETTA, SALAME, best-selling author of the Italian Artisan cookbook series Pamela Sheldon Johns explores the art of preparing home-made salumi—the generic term that encompasses the range of Italian-made cured meats—and offers more than 40 recipes for antipasti, primi, and secondi. Featuring Grilled Shrimp and Zucchini Wrapped with Pancetta; Risotto with Grilled Sausages; and Sautéed Broccoli Rabe with Pancetta, Garlic, and Mushrooms; this artisan guide even includes instructions for preparing homemade sausage. PROSCIUTTO, PANCETTA, SALAME offers a new appreciation for the integrity and dedication that goes into every slice.Full-color cookbook featuring 40 recipes as well as a detailed resource guide to the best artisanal cured meats, supplies, and products.Includes preparation, curing, and smoking information for a vast number of salumi from various regions in Italy. Features charming profiles of Italian artisan salumi producers who have successfully bridged the gap between maintaining the artisan tradition and achieving commercial success without sacrificing quality.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

*Full-color cookbook featuring 40 recipes as well as a detailed resource guide to the best artisanal cured meats, supplies, and products. *Includes preparation, curing, and smoking information for a vast number of salumi from various regions in Italy. *Features charming profiles of Italian artisan salumi producers who have successfully bridged the gap between maintaining the artisan tradition and achieving commercial success without sacrificing quality.

About the Author

PAMELA SHELDON JOHNS is a cookbook author who leads food and wine workshops in Italy and teaches cooking classes in the United States. She makes her home in Tuscany, Italy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580086179
• ISBN-13: 978-1580086172
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #988,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Since 1992, Pamela Sheldon Johns has coordinated food and wine workshops in Italy.
A regular visitor to Italy since 1983, Pamela now lives full-time in Tuscany and coordinates wine and food workshops in various regions: Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Cinque Terre, Campania, Sicily, Veneto, Abruzzo, and Piemonte. Info about the workshops can be found at www.FoodArtisans.com

Pamela owns Poggio Etrusco, a 15-acre farm near Montepulciano. She certified organic in 2003 and produces "Pace da Poggio Etrusco," an excellent extra-virgin olive oil. The farm has apartments and rooms for rent and Pamela's breakfast includes her homemade organic jams. Info about Poggio Etrusco rentals, cooking classes, and olive oil can be found at www.Poggio-Etrusco.com

Pamela's culinary workshops and organic farm have been featured in Food & Wine magazine (top ten cooking schools in Italy), Cooking Light, Bon Appetit, Canadian Geographic, and many other reviews.

Pamela returns to the US once a year for a cooking tour. Contact her to receive the newsletter with updates, [e-mail]

Follow Pamela on Twitter: PamelaInTuscany
on Facebook: Poggio Etrusco

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delicious treats using Italy's cured meats, April 12, 2005

By 

H. Grove "Errant Dreams Reviews" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prosciutto, Pancetta, Salame (Hardcover)

Pamela Sheldon Johns' "Prosciutto Pancetta Salame: Cooking with the Cured Meats of Italy" is a fascinating book. It starts off with a fair amount of information that explains the intricate differences between the various kinds of cured meats of Italy. It even explains the various little regional differences, and interjects stories of specific families and villages in Italy that produce particular varieties of a product.

There were only a few things about this book that didn't impress me, so I'll get them out of the way first. One or two of the recipes didn't seem to have entirely well-balanced flavors, but that can be a matter of taste. A soup that uses dried chickpeas states that you can substitute with canned, but doesn't say how much you should use if you want to do that. Some recipes state amounts by weight and others by number of slices, which can make purchasing a little more difficult if you're purchasing for multiple recipes at once ("hmm... I need 5 ounces plus 8 slices of prosciutto"). We did try one recipe where we were pretty well convinced that the author wrote ounces but must have meant slices. These are small details, which is why I only docked a point for them, but they are details that make a cookbook more difficult to use.

That said, there is some wonderful material in this cookbook! In addition to all of the fascinating information, some of these recipes are just incredible. The aforementioned peas with prosciutto are quite good. There's a ciabatta sandwich with salame, artichokes and rosemary that's just out of this world. The same with a soup made with chickpeas, pasta and rosemary--neither chickpeas nor rosemary inherently delight me, but I just love that soup. The combination of flavors is absolutely fantastic.

Not every recipe comes with a photo, but many of them do, and the photos are quite lovely--they'll certainly make you hungry! Most of the recipes are fairly simple, meant to showcase the delicious flavors of these products rather than cover them up. Only a few require any real time or effort, and that's comparatively speaking.

In all I'm quite pleased with this cookbook. It contains some imperfections, but it's quite usable and produces delicious treats that make the most of Italy's delightful cured meats.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously done PROSCIUTTO is a gem, September 7, 2005

By 

Mark F. Braun (Norridge, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prosciutto, Pancetta, Salame (Hardcover)

Beautifully produced and informative, and just as lovingly executed as a perfect slice of prosciutto on a thick slice of rye with havarti and a little onion, tomato or sweet pepper.

Nice recipes, but more. This is a gorgeous book for anyone who appreciates excellent, cured meats. Here in the U.S., people tend to think "more is better" even if it is dog food on a piece of cardboard. But, not all of us scarf down junk food all of the time; a good prosciutto is food with a simple elegance and this colorful collection captures it perfectly.

My grandfather was butcher; he smoked sausages and gave them out at the holidays to neighbors and friends. I was lucky enough to see it, taste it, learn some of it and understand the slow process of curing. It is gratifying to see PROSCIUTTO as perfectly done as it is: a wonderful memory of how well foods should be done, but in America, are often overlooked. So, when I visit the local supermarket's deli, I appreciate a smile from the nice Italian lady who knows what a little prosciutto can bring: it's a little class in a pasteurized, prefab society. You won't read PROSCIUTTO as much as absorb it. Well done!

Mark Braun, Associate Publisher
Food Industry News

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun after the smoking, February 5, 2007

By 

Granny Knot (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prosciutto, Pancetta, Salame (Hardcover)

After you make the salami, this is how to eat it. Great meal ideas, nicely presented