Ciao Italia (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The host of the PBS series Ciao Italia makes this companion volume reflect her dual roles as worldly-wise TV cooking teacher and grateful granddaughter of Italian immigrants. She concentrates equally on technique and history, in sections on preparation (stocking a pantry, making pasta) and on " trademark " foods (Parmigiano-Reggiano, Balsamic vinegar). Ever filial, she emphasizes straightforward family fare, like polenta con formaggio e verdure (polenta with cheese and vegetables) and minestra con panno sotto (literally, soup with bread under it). Even more complicated dishes--e.g., chicken and rabbit with juniper berries--could seemingly be prepared by a grandmother at an old wooden kitchen table to the strains of Enrico Caruso. Recipe instructions are complete but not wordy; recipe "stories," like that of picking up a piece of bread fallen to the floor and kissing it to ward off germs, add to the book's immigrant sensibility. A full and focused, if not dazzling work. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Deep roots and warm memories inform this companion volume to the PBS series of the same name, by the Italian-American cooking teacher who grew up draping homemade pasta over a broom handle hung between two kitchen chairs...and then spent time in Italy learning and teaching other regional specialties. Her bent is toward homey and unpretentious but serious cooking that can be as simple and familiar as fried cauliflower or grilled eggplant--but that also features, in the eggplant line, a more than usually complex molded timballo. Homemade soups (including one with strands of pasta dough poured in through the holes in a colander), homemade pastas (she makes hers with eggs and a five-to-one mix of all-purpose and semolina flour), and homemade breads, gnocchi, and polenta all bear the mark of Esposito's bred-in-the-bone expertise, which she translates here to useful tips for those who really want to cook the way Italians do for their families. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; 1 edition (October 23, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688103170
• ISBN-13: 978-0688103170
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #412,024 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recipes like my mother usd to make!!!!!, January 19, 1999

By A Customer

These are my home town recipes! Reading this made me feel at home. True Italian flavor. These are real...real..hand-me-down recipes from the old country. Even if your not Italian you can't help but enjoy the tradition presented here. CAIO !

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These are the real Italian recipes you've been looking for, October 6, 1998

By	L. Saporito "Homeschooling mother of 4" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Don't pass up an opportunity to own this book! With love and warmth the author shares recipes that are simple and satisfying. I've cooked half of this book and the results have always been terrific...especially the Farfalle Picante.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What more has to be said!!, July 6, 1997

By A Customer

Ciao Italia is filled with traditional Italian recipes and is not only a wonderful book that is an associate book to the public television show but the host of the show and the author of the book Mary Ann Esposito is one of the most down-to-earth and personable people I have ever met