Amazon.com Review
Do we need another Italian regional cookbook? The answer is yes, if it's Bologna Mia, a modest volume that nonetheless captures the spirit and letter of Bolognese cooking and the texture of the Bologna-born author's life. Offering more than 80 authentic recipes for familiar and unexpected fare, the book chronicles author Loretta Paganini's childhood and adolescence spent with two great cooks: her mother, proprietor of a pasticceria, and grandmother, home cook extraordinaire. Each story is illustrated with recipes--savory, easy-to-make fare such as Pasta with Walnut Sauce and Apricot-Stuffed Roast Pork Loin. Those looking for simple, honest recipes from Italy's gastronomic heartland, related in the context of an ordinary-enough life that, to American eyes, has the shape of culinary legend, should welcome the book.
In chapters dedicated to "city dishes" and the cooking of her mother and both grandmothers, Paganini limns such events as Christmas at Nonna Luisa's and provides appropriate recipes. The recipes are always clear, and fare such as Chicken Breasts with Porcini Mushroom Sauce should find a happy reception on any table. Given Paganini's mother's profession, sweets are copiously included, and feature such tempting items as Chocolate Sausage Cookies and Pears with Custard Sauce. Paganini, now living in America with her husband, has succeeded in recapturing the past for her readers. They will enjoy sharing it--and its defining food--with the openhearted author. --Arthur Boehm
Product Description
Loretta Paganini had the good fortune to be raised in Bologna, the kitchen of Italy, by two generations of Italian chefs.In Bologna Mia, she has gathered together over ninety of her family's treasured recipes, each one evoking vivid memories of the kitchens she spent time in during her childhood.Each of these recipes comes with a story.Paganini shares with us her paternal grandmother's famed pasta recipes (Paganini believes it was her magical tortelloni that helped her to charm her husband), the wisdom of her maternal grandmother's delicate hands, and the recipes for her mother's Cordon Bleu award-winning specialty pastries, tortes and appetizers....The Bolognese are known for having a knack for taking simple ingredients and combining them to create uniquely flavorful dishes.In Bologna Mia, Paganini captures the exciting flavor of the Bolognese culture, the incredible flavor of its dishes, as well as the passion her family feels for food.
