Customer Reviews

Rogers Gray Italian Country Cook Book

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

Be aware that this book is exactly the same as Rogers and Gray Italian Country, also published Random House.
The cover is different and the name is different, but the books (including the formatting) are exactly the same.

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.

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.

I have cooked many dishes from this cook book. They were all easy and the food was delicious. In addition, the instructions are clear and the graphics are great. By all means, dine at the River Cafe in London if you get the chance.

My fiance got this cookbook for Christmas, and has already made four recipes from it - all of which turned out perfectly! He's generally one to "test" new recipes on me before making them for friends, but these were all spectacular on the first try. Especially wonderful so far has been the risotto with butternut squash and the ravioli stuffing with butternut squash and mascarpone cheese. Absolutely amazing. When you can make cooking fun, it's definitely a triumph - and Rogers & Gray have completely succeeded in that respect. BENE!!

If you want to taste REAL Italian cooking instead of someone's idea of what Italian food might taste like with their own variations...this IS the cookbook for you.......Fresh, hearty robust flavors .......

Have a problem preparing a "whole fish", but otherwise have not found a better guide to exquisite preparation of whatever fish (absolutely fresh) may be available. Contrary to popular thought - the English (Rose and Ruth) can cook!

Fabulous, concise, expansive, enjoyable! Rogers and gray make it possible for my friends to think I am a kitchen God!!!