Customer Reviews

Soups of Italy: Cooking over 130 Soups the Italian Way

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

 

 

This book is that rare treat--a cookbook that is historically and culturally informative, stimulating to the taste buds and to the eyes, beautiful to behold, and filled with clear, accessible, and engaging instructions on how to make some of the most sumptuous, delectable, and easy recipes ever to have found their way into print. There is something here for everyone, from the novice to the experienced chef (really!), with recipes for a wide variety of tastes, budgets, and needs, from simple clear soups to hearty meals-in-themselves taken from the gamut of the Italian social and geographical landscape. The author goes to great lengths to ingegrate historical and cultural information of Italy into her instructions on how to prepare these dishes, and also lets her reader know where variations and experimentation are called for, thereby making this one of the most flexible and adaptable cookbooks around. But the book's greatest strengths are its astonishing gustatory rewards embedded in virtually every one of its 130 recipes, for despite the clarity and precision with which the reader is introduced to the various dishes, no one could anticipate from reading alone just how marvelous these soups will taste. They are extraordinary and are sure to make every occasion in which they are used a culinary event. If you are looking for a cookbook that will remain open and in use, rather than on the shelf, this is the one!

I've lived in Italy for 10 years, these recipes are exactly how my Italians friends and family (my wife is Italian, from the Naples area) make thier soups...

This book is that rare treat--a cookbook that is historically and culturally informative, stimulating to the taste buds and to the eyes, beautiful to behold, and filled with clear, accessible, and engaging instructions on how to make some of the most sumptuous, delectable, and easy recipes ever to have found their way into print. There is something here for everyone, from the novice to the experienced chef (really!), with recipes for a wide variety of tastes, budgets, and needs, from simple clear soups to hearty meals-in-themselves taken from the gamut of the Italian social and geographical landscape. The author goes to great lengths to ingegrate historical and cultural information of Italy into her instructions on how to prepare these dishes, and also lets her reader know where variations and experimentation are called for, thereby making this one of the most flexible and adaptable cookbooks around. But the book's greatest strengths are its astonishing gustatory rewards embedded in virtually every one of its 130 recipes, for despite the clarity and precision with which the reader is introduced to the various dishes, no one could anticipate from reading alone just how marvelous these soups will taste. They are extraordinary and are sure to make every occasion in which they are used a culinary event. If you are looking for a cookbook that will remain open and in use, rather than on the shelf, this is the one!

Great collection of soup recipes!!!! They remind me of the ones my grandmothers from Italy used to make for us growing up. Simple easy to follow-highly recommend.

I love to cook and I love to read. This has resulted in my owning nearly three hundred cookbooks, most of which I have cooked from at least three or four times. This is, in its focused way, the absolute best.

I have made about thirty of these soups and I have never produced a single one that was not genuinely delicious. I have never served one to guests without hearing something similar to "OMG this is good!"

If you like to cook and you like to eat soup, even occasionally, GET THIS BOOK! You will sing the praises of Norma Wasserman-Miller and mention this book in your will. It really is that good.

You will notice that everyone who has rated this book thus far has given it 5 stars. I did not look at the ratings until I bought the book, but I must say, I am not surprised in the least. This cookbook is wonderful. I love making good soup and I have several "general" cookbooks (i.e. those that cover every course), and in those books there are two or three special soup recipes that I love. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book has about 130 very special recipes! They do not disappoint. I have a few cookbooks that have soup recipes, which I've tried, and I've found them rather boring; there isn't anything very special or unique about the recipes and some of them even seem like the same general recipe with a different name. You will not find that with this book. The recipes are unique and interesting, and the book itself has a good amount of useful and interesting information. This book is so good I felt compelled to write a review and give it 5 stars--highly recommended!

Wasserman-Miller begins with Il Fondamenti - The Essentials. For me, this is the best part of the entire book - a clearly written, well thought out section identifying the elements of soup, techniques to use in soup preparation, equipment you will need, and a nice overview of the ingredients she includes in her recipes. This chapter alone taught me how to create layers of flavor and gave me confidence to improvise my own soups, and I refer to it often.

The Artichoke and Pasta Soup is delicious - it was the first recipe I followed in this book, substituting prosciutto for the pancetta. It's become a staple in my house - often omitting the pasta to make it a side vegetable dish. The minestrone recipes were a hit with my family, the lettuce soups less so. I also learned about all the different types of broth, and now generally use up bits and pieces in the fridge to make and freeze a vegetable or light broth to pull out and use later on.

Soup in a can is how I grew up, but I love to cook, so this has been a perfect resource for me. I recommend it for any novice cook.

The recipes in this book would lead to successful soups for beginning soup cooks. For the more experienced maker of soups its wonderfully inspirational!
Don't make the mistake I did of reading it on an empty stomach!
I definitely recommend it>