Customer Reviews

Salt to Taste: The Key to Confident, Delicious Cooking

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

From the recipes, to the photos, to the simple, clear writing, this book is wonderful. It will be my Christmas gift for all my cooking friends (and may end up under the tree of a few who don't cook, but who will enjoy its beauty).

Canora and Young provide a totally readable and thoughtful explanation of how to achieve great taste from cooking simple food at home. They explain, for example, something like soffritto (you know, that base of onion, carrots, and celery, for so much of Italian cooking), so you understand its importance and what difference it makes to cook it shorter or longer. This kind of seemingly basic information and its philosophy of cooking makes me keep opening it to read and to cook. The parsnip soup is on the stove right now and it is so delicious.

Buy this book!

I have more cookbooks than I could possibly use in a lifetime (a lifetime that lasts 500 years), and this book is one of those rare finds that I now reach for on a regular basis. The book is beautifully presented with great pictures and actually interesting and helpful passages on technique, all of which make the book a great coffee table book, but then you get to the recipes and all I can say is "WOW!!!!!". There's something here for everyone, a bolognese that takes over 4 hours (and is actually worth the time --- YUM!!!!!) to a delicious and simple penne with butter, parmigiana and sage that is not only tasty and pretty enough to serve to company but easy enough to throw together at the end of a long day at work (it also has the clean, straight forward tastes that will please even a small child). This cookbook is definitely a keeper that you will reach for time and again and will become stained with the evidence of use; a crumpled page from liquid spillage here, and a little tomato sauce stain there - - evidence that, in my opinion, shows that a cookbook is actually used and worth taking up a space on the shelf.

I've had the pleasure of eating Marco Canora's food at both Craft and Hearth and have long wondered how he coaxes such intense flavor from such simple ingredients. In SALT TO TASTE, Mr. Canora's secrets are revealed. This book is chock-full of delicious recipes and useful techniques for the home cook. Better still, it's as much fun to read as to cook from. My copy is only a week old and is already splattered and grimy and looks like hell. In my house, that's the sign of a fine cookbook. Very highly recommended.

finally a true cookbook again? yes, from a chef who doesn't spend all his time in a TV studio, but instead shares his multiple generations Italian cooking knowledge dressed down, offering a view on food keeping in mind those who are eating! all the essentials from soffritto, stock and many more are covered revealing the little tricks that makes food just tastier. Put your own common sense towards it and you will be cooking real foods.

Believe me when I tell you the recipes here are easy and delicious, with some very quick weeknight suggestions along with longer, slower dishes for weekend cooking. I love to eat well, I don't love to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and I LOVE this book! It's a real find.

Deceptive. Most of the recipes are simple for any cook who goes beyond throw-some-stuff-in-a-crockpot or put-some-soup-and-hamburger-in-a-casserole recipes. All are in reach of a caring cook of any amount of experience who will simply read, take care with ingredients and try the techniques. But it's more than that. The instructions for plain, everyday veal Marsala (I made chicken) raised my usual results to another level. Then one day my husband, who makes great risottos, made his best one ever. "I think it was the broth," he said. The next week, my risotto was outstanding. It WAS the broth--the brodo from A Taste of Salt. Another favorite recipe from this book is the Summer Eggplant Parmesan. This is how I first experienced eggplant parm by real Italian cooks in a tiny neighborhood joint many years ago. Every time I order it, I hope to taste something as good again, but all I get it breaded fried, begrudging slivers of eggplant you can hardly find overloaded with sauce and cheese. Marco's recipe gets the balance right. It's so good, I had leftovers cold for breakfast. The butternut squash, romaine and Gorgonzola salad... another simple but wonderful dish. And the short ribs in Barolo--serve with a nice gremolata to sprinkle and go straight to heaven. I've made about 20 recipes so far and all were excellent. Some I will amend (cut the lemon in the picatta a bit), some I will transfer to other ingredient combinations when whatever's fresh calls for it. This is the kind of cookbook that gives you exact recipes and the confidence to fool around and be creative. And some recipes, well, I will happily repeat just as they are. Buy and love this book. It's a lot more than it seems.

This is a good collection of Italian recipes along with some hints and tips on technique, ingredient selection, and the like. I have tried several and all have been tasty and easy to prepare. The text is nicely illustrated.

The recipes and techniques are designed for the home cook of average experience and ability; no exotic ingredients or arcane skills are required.

I would prefer that recipes and reminiscences be published in separate volumes but this is a personal preference. His tales are interesting but when I grab a recipe book, I want just that--recipes. However, I readily acknowledge that many readers will not agree with me and will prefer this kind of semi-coffee table book.

A good buy at the price.

Marco Canora and Catherine Young's new cookbook is beautiful to look at, and a pleasure to cook from. The recipes are clear, direct and understand how people cook at home. I have just started cooking from it and I am having trouble deciding what to prepare next because everything looks so good. I have already bought three copies as Christmas gifts. I think it's a must for anyone interested in fresh delicious food.

this is the BEST COOKBOOK I have bought in a long time. The cooking is wonderful and the recipes simple and delicious. He is an outstanding cook, and I will have to visit his restaurant in NY soon. I love this Book, get it if you really want to cook good simple REAL Italian food.

This cookbook is beautiful to look at, the pages are just the right weight and thickness, and the photography makes you want to cook and eat. But the reason I was compelled to write a review, when I rarely am, is the way Chef Canora explains the process of cooking this food. He tells you every detail to look for as it cooks, what it will look like, how long each step will take, and his recipes are surprising me with techniques in them that I don't usually use when making similar dishes from other books. I have an extensive cookbook collection and cook often, but I would never have thought to squeeze out the liquid from the steamed cauliflower in a kitchen towel. This step most certainly elevated the Cauliflower Sformato I made to a truly memorable dish. At first glance I am tempted to skip some of his recommendations to save time, or because I don't think it will make a difference, but I have learned that following his advice yields excellent results and absolutely delicious food. This is one of those cookbooks that actually teaches you how to cook all over again. His writing on soffrittos and brodo are inspiring. This cookbook isn't fussy or full of strange ingredients. It is one a person could use several days of the week happily. Truly a standout in my shelf full of Italian cookbooks.