Italian Food Artisans: Recipes and Traditions (Hardcover)

~ (Author), John Rizzo (Photographer) "The olive and the grape are symbols of Italian cuisine..." (more)
Key Phrases: aceto balsamico tradizionale, caciocavallo cheese, cavolo nero, Italian Food Artisans, Cecilia Baratta Bellelli, Razza Reggiana (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The traditional food products of Italy are world treasures. From aged balsamic vinegar to creamy buffalo-milk mozzarella, from Parmigiano-Reggiano to mellow extra-virgin olive oil, these classic ingredients, lovingly crafted for centuries, form the backbone of a great cuisine. Pamela Sheldon Johns's Italian Food Artisans introduces readers to the men and women who, despite the press of modern industrialization, make these edible wonders today, while offering 50 simple but delicious recipes that use them. Readers interested in Italian food culture and those seeking accessible recipes for authentic Italian dishes will want this book.

Arranged by general topics such as condiments, breads, rice, and pasta, the book profiles the artisans in words and evocative color photos; recipes follow. We meet, for example, the Mori family of Tuscany, whose farm factory has produced extra-virgin olive oil for over two centuries. Recipes include the enticing Penne Santo, a cabbage, pancetta, and olive oil-topped bread, and Torta di Capezzana, a delicious olive oil cake, among others. We journey also to the tiny village of Piantella in Abruzzo, among other places, where Gianluigi Peduzzi oversees the pasta-making business started by his great-grandfather; recipes include Orechiette with Clams and Broccoli Rabe, and Shells Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta in Asparagus Sauce. We also encounter makers of chestnut flower honey, chocolate, vin santo, and wild boar prosciutto, among other ingredients, and are given recipes for their use. A list of resources for finding the products both here and in Italy concludes the book, which, in its evocation of venerable traditions still practiced, is also heartening. It's good to know the modern world, so geared to homogenization, still contains them. --Arthur Boehm

Review

By Florence Fabricant
It's partly an attractive guide to Italian ingredients and partly a collection of thumbnail biographies of the people who produce them. But most of all, Italian Food Artisans by Pamela Sheldon Johns provides behind-the-scenes descriptions with alluring photographs to show how more than a dozen traditional Italian food are made. The author also outlines the qualities that set those foods apart form their commonplace industrial versions.
She writes, for example, of a fourth-generation company in central Italy, Rustichella d'Abruzzo, which makes dry pasta with handcrafted bronze molds, resulting in pasta with a roughened texture that makes sauce cling invitingly to it. Unlike commercial pasta, which is usually dried at high temperatures for about 12 hours, this pasta is slowly air-dried for more than four days, which maintains the flavor of the wheat.
Handmade details and the time to do things right—both of which are costly and avoided by big companies—are lavished on many of the products described in the book, including deeply flavorful cured meats, fine balsamic vinegar, rustic caciocavallo cheese and fruity estate-bottled extra virgin olive oil.
In a chapter about fresh truffles, Johns explains not only the white ones, for which Italy is famous, but also the black variety, which is gathered in Umbria. She gives advice about using truffles and how to select truffle oils and pastes.
This useful book also lists salamis and cheeses by region and has a buying guide to food products in Italy and the United States.

 

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811821293
• ISBN-13: 978-0811821292
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #740,351 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Italian Food Artisans, July 27, 2000

By A Customer

This is a really interesting book. It tells you the traditional way such things as olive oil, balsamic vinegar and mozzarella cheese are made. It gives you a sense of the history of these foods in Italy, makes you appreciate them all the more and, makes you feel that much more part of the culture. One interesting fact: the vinegar we all think of as Balsamic is a pale version. The real traditional kind is thick as molasses and used a drop at a time on meat and other things. A very compelling and beautiful book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The people who keep authentic Italian foods alive, April 19, 2003

By	K. Corn "reviewer" (Indianapolis,, IN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Although there are more than 50 authentic recipes in this lovely book, it is far more than a collection of Italian recipes. Instead, the author sets out to visit the small villages and town in Italy in an attempt to find the food artists who keep culinary traditions alive. I loved reating about such craftsmen as the ones who make Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Italian chocolate and other delicacies. An extra bonus- a list of restaurants and Culinary Guides to Italy - for those who wish to meet the people described in the book or taste the foods themselves.