Customer Reviews

Trattoria Cooking: More than 200 authentic recipes from Italy's family-style restaurants

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

 

 

We returned home from vacation in Rome with tons of memories and lots of recipes, all except the one I really wanted: the one dish that was our favorite, the one I laughed at the first time I saw it on the menu. "Do they really want someone to order pasta with lettuce?"

Back in New York City, I haunted book shops and the Library for an American "translation" of PENNE AL RADICCHIO E PANCETTA. A friend found it for us in "Trattoria Cooking" and gave us the book as a gift.

I cannot tell you how many times this easy-to-use, non-intimidating volume has saved dinner. The book is loaded with simple, authentic, family-style recipes. Every single one I've tried has turned out perfectly the first time, including the penne which is still one of my favorites. Caggiano does not drown her collection with overripe prose. Instead, she explains in one or two paragraphs why she has chosen the recipe and the region and specific trattoria it comes from. She also suggests the best wine to go with dinner. No glossy magazine photos either. Just good food. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Having lived in Italy myself for eight years, I learned to love the simplicity of the wonderful food served in trattorias across the country. Biba manages to share this in this cookbook, allowing even the most novice cook to be able to prepare wonderful food. As the Italian Food Host @ Bella Online, and an avid cookbook collector, I think this book is one of my favorite. I have personally tried every one of her gnocchi recipes and could recommend them all. This is definately a must have book for any Italian food lover. My only complaint is that there are no photographs, which would have made this book near perfect in my eyes!

"Trattoria Cooking" inspires and delights. The recipes are accompanied by stories of their origins, alternative serving suggestions, wines hints...all in all, an approach to the cooking experience that let's the reader feel comfortable. Great flavors abound inside the cover.

A small word of caution needs to be offered. Beware those of you who are calorie conscious. This book is not moderate in its results. Your grandmother's grandmother would be proud of these recipes. You will want to eat more of this wonderful stuff.

Some of Caggiano's recipes took me straight back to my Neapolitan Grandmothers kitchen. She reminded me that often it's not what you put in a recipe, but sometimes, what you don't put in, that makes all the difference in the world. Great recipes to cook and eat from a place where love food and wine seem to belong together

It's hard to forgive a person who once co-authored a cookbook with Leo Bascaglia, but Biba does well here. Recipes range from antipasti to desserts, and include basics such as chicken and meat broth, homemade pasta and gnocchi, and pizza dough. Some recipes are a bit involved, but they don't require difficult techniques or equipment (Caggiano always instructs us to run tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds, but I ignore this). My favorites include Fried Veal Meatballs, Risotto with Smoked Mozzarella, and Frozen Zabaglione.

This is a nice big hardcover, but no pictures.

"Trattoria Cooking" reveals the simplicity of Italian home cooking. Unfortunately some recipes work better than others. The recipes could have been tested and refined a bit. However, you CAN have success with the recipes the book gives you if you're willing to experiment and not take every recipe at face value. But experimentation and refinement is a big part of cooking, isn't it? Biba's wine recommendations for each dish are very helpful aspect of the book for those of us who aren't wine experts. Get "Cucina & Famiglia" before you buy this one.

I've had this book for many years and use it all the time. I've travelled in Italy, as have others who comments on the book, and bought it because I wanted to perhaps make at home the wonderfully varied and satisfying foods of the trattoria. So many recipes in this book have become mainstays - the Crostini Piccanti recipe creates a spread that is unbelievably simple, good, and different. Whenever I have it at a party, people ask for the recipe. I also love many of the pasta and soup recipes. Enjoy.

I admit I really like all her cookbooks, but this is my
favorite. A wide variety of foods, from soups to dessert,
most unlike anything in other cookbooks

I have hardly make a dent in this cookbook but I can "imagine" what things taste like just by reading the recipe and I have not been disappointed in the few things I've tried.

I have an extensive collection of Italian cookbooks and this is a good one. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning a few new Italian food dishes to whip up at the next family gathering.