With food like Fried Chicken Marinated in Sage, Rosemary, and Garlic, and some of Italys most gorgeous countryside, its little wonder Umbria is becoming such a popular tourist destination. Home to beautiful hill towns such as Deruta, Perugia, and Assisi, plus a culinary history that dates back to the Etruscans (Italys oldest and perhaps most fascinating civilization), Umbria rejoices in hearty dishes rooted in vegetables, legumes, grains, and farm-raised meats and redolent of herbs and bold sauces. Acclaimed cookbook author Julia della Croce takes us on a stunning visual and gastronomic tour with recipes for dishes such as Penci with Sausage, Lemon, and Nutmeg Sauce and Lorella Puccettis Lentils with Seafood, which perfectly illustrate Umbrias simple, everyday style of cooking. Her 56 recipes are spiced with photographs of the food, the countryside, the markets, and the people, with local lore and insider tips on the best Umbria has to offer. An invitation to the heartland of Italy, Umbria is a gourmet feast for the eyes and the palate.
Julia della Croce is a journalist, author and teacher. She is regarded as a leading authority on Italian cooking and "one of the country's top-flight cookbook writers" - New York Newsday, 1995.
As a restaurant critic, book reviewer, syndicated columnist and correspondent her work has appeared in newspapers and magazines including The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New Yotk Times Magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Tribune, COOK'S, New York Newsday, Food & Wine, COOK'S ILLUSTRATED, TIME (Canada) and Art & Antiques.
Julia della Croce is the author of 13 books, the latest are Italian Home Cooking and The Pasta Book. She has been broadcast extensively on American, Canadian and British radio and has made many appearances on national and regional television. She has also been featured on Italian and Japanese television.
The recognition she has received includes an award in 1992 by The James Beard Foundation distinguishing her as one of "America's Best Cooking Teachers." In 1993, she was honored for her contribution to Italian culinary literature at the Italian Embassy in Washington D.C. Her fourth book, The Vegetarian Table: Italy, was nominated for a James Beard Award in 1994. In 1999, she won the prestigious Diplome d'Honneur of France for the French language translation of her sixth book, La bonne cuisine italienne (Solar, Paris). In 2003, her book, Veneto, was nominated "Best Italian Cuisine Book" at the World Cookbook Awards in Spain.
Julia della Croce has lectured about the history of Italian cooking and culture for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia, N.A.S.F.T in New York and San Diego, The New York Culinary Historians, the American Institute of Wine and Food, and other prestigious trade and educational institutions.
