Cooking the Roman Way: Authentic Recipes from the Home Cooks and Trattorias of Rome (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

David Downie's delectable Cooking the Roman Way begins with an irresistible invitation: "Close your eyes and imagine you're in Rome, seated al fresco in the sun on a rooftop terrace...." This is a must-have cookbook for anyone who loves Italy and its food, serious cooks and armchair cooks alike. The recipes are simple, well-researched, and perfectly authentic. Downie delivers history and tradition so vividly you feel as though you went to Rome and learned these facts for yourself, and Alison Harris's photos help make that impression all the more real.

The more than 100 recipes are divided by course. Antipasti include the venerable Sweet-And-Sour Baby Pearl Onions, even more addictive than, Downie warns, Farro Risotto Balls with Basil and Parmigiano-Reggiano, little deep-fried nuggets of comfort food. Primi piatti include the aromatic Fennel and Bean Soup with Cherry Tomatoes, Mint, Basil, and Sage, and plenty of pasta recipes, any of which would make a great meal. Secondi cover meat, poultry, fish, and eggs, and include the marvelously rich Roman Oxtail Stew, and Spicy Boned Lamb Leg Sautéed with Rosemary, Wine, and Vinegar. Contorni are vegetables and side dishes, such as Sweet Pepper Rolls Stuffed with Cheese and Anchovy, and dolci include desserts such as Ricotta Lemon Fritters with Sambuca and Fresh Strawberry Tiramisu. Beautiful enough to give as a gift, easy enough to use every day, Downie will definitely have you Cooking the Roman Way. --Leora Y. Bloom

From Publishers Weekly

Food writer Downie explores the streets and alleys of Rome, gathering recipes from trattoria chefs, home cooks, and even his Roman-born mother in this wonderfully complete culinary tour of the Eternal City. The food of Rome has both inspired and been inspired by the food from other regions throughout Italy, and Downie highlights each recipe with history and anecdotes. For starters, Downie explores Rome's Jewish Ghetto and appears with Carciofi alla Giuda (Fried Artichokes, Jewish Style) and Fiori di Zucca Fritti (Fried Zucchini Flowers). Ubiquitous throughout Italy are two dishes-both of which are made with guanciale, cured pork jowl, and generous helpings of Pecorino Romano cheese: the Bucatini all'Amatriciana (named for the mountain town southeast of Rome) and the Spaghetti alla Carbonara (which many believe got its name from the dish's carbon-looking pepper flakes). Main meals include Martino al Forno (Monkfish Baked on a Bed of Lemony Potatoes) and the comfort dish, Frittata con le Zucchine (Zucchini Frittata with Fresh Mint and Pecorino Romano). For dessert there's the Christmastime special, Fichi Ripieni (Dried Figs Stuffed with Ricotto and Almonds and a summer cooler, La Granita di Caffe della Tazza d'Oro, a coffee granita. In his first cookbook, Downie has beautifully and evocatively captured the cuisine of one of the world's best-known cities.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; 1 edition (October 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060188928
• ISBN-13: 978-0060188924
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 8.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #376,576 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shootout in the Forum. Two excellent books. One Winner, December 27, 2003

By	B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Two books on Roman cooking have appeared within the last eighteen (18) months, which gives us a golden opportunity to proof one against the other to find the better book. The first published last year, the current subject, is `Cooking the Roman Way' by David Downie. The second is the more recently published book `In a Roman Kitchen: Timeless Recipes from the Eternal City' by Jo Bettoja.

In general, Downie's book appears to be based more on restaurante, trattoria, and osteria recipes while Bettoja seems to rely more on home cooking recipes. Still, there is a significant overlap of recipe names. I had no trouble at all finding five recipes with the same traditional Italian name, although the English translation of the name may have been a little different. I give high marks to both authors for giving the Italian names of all dishes in both the text and the index.

I compared the recipes for five dishes:

Gnocchi di Semolino alla Romana
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Cipolline in Agrodolce alla Romana
Carciofi alla Giudia
Frittata con Zucchini

Although no pair of recipes was the same, I can find virtually nothing in these five recipes which would suggest that one author was presenting consistently superior recipes. I was slightly annoyed with Downie for specifying white coctail onions in the Cipolline recipe, especially since I have no trouble finding cipolline in my local Pennsylvania megamart. My conclusion that Downie relies on the Trattoria and Bettoja relies on the home is in the sources they cite for their recipes. Both appear to give equal time to the influence of the Jewish quarter on Roman cooking.

In Bettoja's case, the focus seems to be on a large number of recipes for each major type of Roman dish. She has, for example, more pasta, artichoke, and fava bean recipes than Downie, and also more dessert recipes. This is ironic since Downie controverts one of my hero Mario Batali's claims that Italians do not go in for sweets.

In contrast, Downie includes many seminally Roman recipes which Bettoja simply ignores. He has excellent recipes for making both Pizza Bianco, a certifiable Roman speciality, and fresh fettucini, including sound recommendations on making the fettucini completely by hand and with the assistance of power mixers and power pasta rolling machines. Most surprising of all is that Downie includes the recipe for Gnocchi di Patate while Bettoja does not. My understanding from Mario is that this is a Roman speciality and every trattoria in Rome serves it on Thursday. Alternately, Claudia Roden identifies it as a northern (Friuli) Italian speciality. Since Downie specifically cites potato gnocchi as the Roman canonical dish for Thursday and thereby agrees with Mario, I have to assume that while the dish may be promenant outside Rome, it is certainly a distinctively Roman dish as well.

Bettoja is a teacher who runs her own culinary school in Rome while Downie is a culinary journalist, so it surprises me that it is Downie who has the superior sidebars on some basic techniques such as how to clean an artichoke (sidebars with step by step photographs) and how to roast and skin sweet peppers.

Even though Bettoja's book is later and even though the books have identical list prices and almost identical page counts, Downie's book is much richer in the quality and quantity of it's photographs, almost all with useful captions. I generally do not count good photography to a cookbook's credit, but in the case of a book dedicated to so photogenic a location as Rome, I must make an exception here. For the identical price, Downie and his photographer and editors have simply done a much better job. Downie's book is also richer in sidebars on general Roman and Italian culinary matters. The sidebar on the sources of Pecorino Romano, which is made in greater quanities in Sardinia than it is in Lazio, was a great surprise. His headnotes for individual dishes are also richer in explaining the history of many dishes such as Fettucini Alfredo and Fettucini alla Papalina.

In the battle of the blurbs, Downie has Mario and Carol Field while Bettoja has Lidia Bastianich and Frances Mayes on her back cover. I think that's a tie.

I would buy both of these books, even with the rather substantial overlap in named dishes. The overlap is actually a plus for amateur foodie scholars, as it gives one the sense of exactly how different two sources can be with exactly the same dish. Bettoja is a great source for pasta recipes and Roman desserts, while Downie has much greater success at evoking the Roman ambiance and in covering deeper techniques. Downie also wins the points on domestic sources for flour and other Italian specialities. Bettoja rather quixotically gives us the telephone numbers of companies in Rome. Not very useful unless you plan to visit Rome in the near future.

Both books are recommended. If you need to choose one, I would pick Downie's book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking The Roman Way, November 11, 2002

By	Scrounger Mama (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I just bought this book, and I am so glad I found it. It explains delicious,simple and healthy Italian recipies and is also a fun read. The author goes beyond demistifying Roman cuisine. Every section is easily accessible with interesting stories and beautiful pictures of places I'd like to go. This book is very well organized. It includes clear steps and pictures for making basic components such as fresh artichoke hearts. There are also more complex recipies for more seasoned cooks. I am glad to have this one in my kitchen and know many friends who love Italian food who will be glad to get it too.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you love Italian food as I do, you must buy this book., October 26, 2002

By	paul taylor "wee hours reader" (Oakland, Ca USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The recipes are great. I especially loved the carbonara and the spicy Amatriciana tomato sauce. Finally I have a cookbook with my favorite recipes! I own many Italian cookbooks but I wasn't aware that some of the classics I love are from Rome. A friend gave this book to me as a gift. It's a beautiful book with lavish color photos. I like it so much I'm going to give it to everyone on my Christmas list.