Rogers Gray Italian Country Cook Book [Hardcover]

Ruth Rogers (Author), Rose Gray (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 3, 1996

A healthful and delicious collection of recipes from a noted London eatery representing the best in Italian country cuisine features a wide range of soups, pasta, vegetables, and fish dishes. 15,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This compendium of simple Italian food from the owners of London's River Cafe is competent and attractive, but it doesn't distinguish itself from the abundance of Italian cookbooks already on the American market. It is widely understood that the key to fine Italian food lies in top-notch ingredients simply prepared. Thus the recipes for Raw Fennel Salad (fennel, vinegar and Parmesan) and the many grilled or baked fish recipes (fish, salt, pepper and sometimes olive oil) are familiar. The more inventive dishes suggest some unusual methods: a Rotolo di Spinaci (large filled pasta) is poached before serving; eight pounds of coarse salt is packed around a four-pound fish in Sea Bass Baked in Salt. There are also recipes for organ meats (Kidneys with Artichoke Hearts and Thyme) not often served on this side of the pond. The authors lean toward an authoritative, sometimes rigid posture that may put off American readers ("You must use salted anchovies from Greek, Spanish and Italian grocers"). Prospective pasta makers are advised to use stone-ground "00" flour from Piedmont, yet no next-best thing is suggested for those without access to it. Overall, these uncomplicated recipes on uncluttered pages have an eye appeal and a culinary reliability that are undercut by the somewhat stiff delivery.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 318 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (June 3, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679450017
• ISBN-13: 978-0679450016
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #737,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars i'm a total fan January 8, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

My boyfriend and I are good cooks and food mavens who nonetheless don't cook a lot. We know from great food and the recipes in this book are superb. In no other book have I ever found recipes which consistently yielded such high--i.e., restaurant-quality--results. Another great thing is the fact that many of these recipes don't require a lot of expensive/hard-to-find ingredients. We cooked out of this cookbook and its sequel, these two books alone, for a year and a half. Then we visited the restaurant in London, which is sublime--but that is another story.

82 of 94 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring recipes from London's best Italian restaurant. July 8, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

The River Cafe is a chic place to eat delicious and earthy food on the wharfs of London. The modernist design of the restaurant is in contrast with the simplicity and heartiness of the food. The recipes in this book are terrific, simple and unusual. The appetizers and pastas are particularly excellent. Try the grilled calamari served on arugula with a hot pepper vinaigrette. It's a signature dish of the restuarant and has become a favorite in our own kitchen. I hear that some of the cake recipes are hard to execute in US kitchens, but who cares about cakes when the other offerings are so delectable? By the way, the restaurant is always booked weeks in advance, but you can get a table if you're willing to arrive at 7:00 p.m. and release the table by 9:00 p.m.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Delicious photos May 18, 2000

By Gay Gilmore

Format:Hardcover

While I would only estimate that 65% of the recipes in this cookbook are ones I would make (acutally a pretty good percentage for any cookbook), the pictures just might inspire you to make the other 35%. Though recipe type is sometimes obscured because it is overlaid on a complex photo background, I rarely minded simply because the photo was probably more interesting. My first cookbook and coffee table book which excelled at both: I loved this book.