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Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: tomato oil, green olive pesto, thinnest setting, Coach Farm, Vin Santo, United States (more...)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Sure to excite lovers of the best Italian cooking, Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages reenvisions classic home cucina with enticing results. Batali, known to fans as "Molto Mario" from his Television Food Network shows, and as chef-owner of Manhattan's much-loved Po and Babbo restaurants, presents nearly 250 of his favorite recipes, traditional and innovative, for delectable salads, pastas, grilled specialties, ragus, and desserts, among others. The collection, inspired by the cooking of Borgo Cappene, a hillside village in northern Italy, and Greenwich Village, where Batali culls exemplary ingredients for his restaurants, reflects Batali's commitment to simple cooking--impeccable ingredients sensibly combined and properly prepared. Cooks seeking deeply flavored, smartly presented dishes will embrace Batali's recipes for everyday meals and for entertaining.

Arranged by courses, antipasti through formaggi and dolci (cheese and sweets), the uncomplicated dishes include White Bean Bruschetta with Grilled Radicchio Salad, Baked Lasagna with Asparagus and Pesto, and Roasted Porgy with Peas, Garlic, Scallions and Mint. Gorgonzola with Spiced Walnuts and Port Wine Syrup with fresh fruit would make a lovely conclusion to any dinner. Throughout, Batali provides advice on dish preparation; there are 32 pages of color photos and dozens of black-and-white shots of life in Batali's two villages. Batali's reliance on the best ingredients simply prepared, rather than on fussy restaurant techniques, places his dishes squarely in the realm of home cooks. They'll find his book a keeper. --Arthur Boehm

From Booklist

New Yorkers have long appreciated Batali's Po Restaurant, and fans of his cable television cooking show have come to respect his no-nonsense approach to teaching classic Italian cooking. Batali emphasizes the essentials of regional Italian cooking, carefully noting the similarities and differences as one travels from one ancient province to another. His pasta dishes come in true Italian style, heavy on the pasta itself, light on the sauce. Seafoods shine as main courses, and Batali's insistence that the famed fish stew cioppino actually originated in Liguria will no doubt offend San Franciscans, who have long claimed it as their own. Meat dishes waste nothing and make efficient use of all parts of the animals, including organs and feet. Although many of the vegetable dishes have some meat garnishes, there are plenty of recipes that will satisfy pure vegetarians, too. Mark Knoblauch
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1st edition (September 29, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0609603000
  • ISBN-13: 978-0609603000
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #78,394 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Mario Batali
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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tomato oil, green olive pesto, thinnest setting, spun dry, warm serving bowl, glazed onions, fennel fronds, sauté pan
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Coach Farm, Vin Santo, United States, New York, Borgo Capanne, Osso Buco, San Daniele, Faith Willinger
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Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages
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Customer Reviews

42 Reviews
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88 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Professional Chef and Successful Communicator, January 19, 2004
By B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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I find it hard to be entirely objective about this book, as Mario Batali is my number one culinary hero. Through his show `Molto Mario' on the Food Network, he exposed me for the first time to Italian regional and microregional cuisines and the `if it grows together, it goes together' doctrine. This is called `terroir by the fans of cooking from `the F country', which Mario loves to hate. This also brought into full light the doctrine of `buy the very best of what is fresh today and that will determine what you cook tonight.' Mario does not give you the cerebral approach of someone like Paul Bertolli or Tom Colicchio or, ultimately, like Thomas Keller, but Mario gets all the important stuff right, in a way we can appreciate and use.

I love the way Mario quite honestly confesses to having lifted most of his recipes from Italian grandmothers, as he believes that the best Italian cooking is done in the home and not in the Restaurante. In spite of his heart being with Italian cuisine, he is never disrespectful of American food and produce, especially when the American product is superior to the Italian.

This book is comprised of recipes primarily from the extended three-year stage he served in a little trattoria in Emilia-Romagna, a stones throw from the border with Toscana. But, it does contain several recipes from other parts of Emilia-Romagna, Toscana, Lazio (Rome) and even Sicily. His two `villages' are Porretta Terme in Italy and Greenwich Village in Manhattan.

The book has six chapters of recipes, these being:

Antipasti, 43 recipes including crostini, bruschetta, polenta, pickled vegetables, mushrooms, and cured fish.
Primi (pasta or rice), 49 recipes including recipes for fresh pastas, gnocchi, couscous, and risottos.
Seconde (main dish)
Pesce (fish), 27 recipes including scallops, calamari, prawns, crabs, lobster, snapper, and even frogs' legs.
Carne (meat), 32 recipes including rabbit, pheasant, lamb, veal, beef, sausage, liver, and sweetmeats.
Contorni (side dishes) 26 recipes including polenta, many vegetable dishes, grilled, fried, and pickled.
Formaggi & Dolce (cheese and sweets) 27 recipes including fruit and confections with funny names.

Each section includes pantry recipes for sauces and dressings not included in this count.

I would recommend this book primarily for the reading of Mario's unvarnished enthusiasm for food and the Italian dedication to (relative) simplicity of method and freshness of your `prima materia'. I would also highly recommend his basic tomato sauce (I make it all the time) and his recipes using fresh pasta. As he points out, there is a big difference between the fresh pasta of the north and the dry pasta of the south both in the way they are made, in the types of flour used, and in the sauces appropriate to each. Mario's recommendations on making and dressing pasta are worth the price of admission.

The black and white or sepia photographs of Mario and his colleagues at the trattoria lend a warm `gemutlichkeit' (sorry, I don't know the Italian word) to the proceedings. The color photos are better than average, in that the photographer succeeds in getting the entire dish in focus.

I highly recommend the book for the authenticity of the recipes and his introduction into a deeper appreciation of Italian food. It is not a complete presentation of Italian dishes, but it is a great partner to a broader treatment done by Marcella Hazan, Lydia Bastianich, Giuliano Bugialli, or the Cooks Illustrated volume on Classic Italian recipes. I agree with those who warn that the book is not for novices, but is the sort of book which can show the way from innocence to experience.

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128 of 141 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Fun to Look Through-Not as Fun to Use, November 1, 2000
By caseybean (Tucson, AZ.) - See all my reviews
This book is enjoyable to read, but not as useful as I had anticipated. Many of the recipes just don't use ingredients that I can easily find or even care to use like rabbit, squab, pheasant, frogs' legs etc... That said there are some good, practical recipes-just not as many as I hoped for. I'm Italian and grew up around delicious homemade Italian food, just not the type of dishes Batali creates. Batali's recipes are indeed authentic, but not necessarily tempting. There aren't enough pasta recipes, but plenty of meat and seafood recipes in the book. Unfortunately this book spends more time on my bookshelf than in my kitchen. Try to look at a copy before purchasing this one.
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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A fine book, but read the intro before buying, December 31, 2003
By "kstoltz3" (Leesburg, VA) - See all my reviews
Far too many people look at the title "Simple Italian Food" and think that the book is going to include tons of 30 minute recipes for everyday Italian cooking.

Wrong.

Anyone who has watched Batali's show, or anyone who reads the introduction to this book will find out that what he is referring to is the use of a few, excellent ingredients in each dish, as opposed to a long list of ingredients that will require one whole cart at the grocery store to carry. Most of the recipes require 6 or 7 ingredients, tops. Some are exotic (most have easy substitutes), yet one of Batali's primary but often-missed points is that the kind of ingredient isn't important, but its quality. I'm surprised by how few a number of people took this concept away from the book.

The recipes turn out delicious. They can be intensive at times, particularly the pasta dishes. Most of the meat dishes also require long periods of braising. Few of the dishes are quick-prepares. THAT'S FINE IF THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.

So look through the book a little bit before buying and determine if this is what you are expecting. If so, you'll likely enjoy it.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars NG--Not Good
I want a cookbook that is serviceable. I used B's holiday cookbook and this one several Christmas' back and spent A LOT of time both shopping for and preparing multiple courses... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pimlico Sam

5.0 out of 5 stars MARIO!
I am thrilled with my book. It is in perfect condition and I would buy from the seller again!
Published 3 months ago by D. Lyn

5.0 out of 5 stars What would you expect...It's Mario!
What can I say, It is Mario Batali! Mario Batali and Lidia have been truly inspirational to me as a fairly new cook. Read more
Published 10 months ago by W. Miers

5.0 out of 5 stars This used to be my cookbook until grand daughter visited!
Two grand daughters visited and raved about Mario Batali and his cooking talents. I never did get to use the book and it is being used somewhere in Maryland! Read more
Published 12 months ago by Retired Counselor

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so simple
Before I start, I want you to know that I haven't read any of the other reviews.

That being said, I bought this book some years ago because I enjoyed watching Molto... Read more
Published 18 months ago by W. Timm

5.0 out of 5 stars A taste of Italy
After reading ,trying and eating what Mario offered, I was certain he has mastered they way of Italy. And in Italia there is no bad food.. Grazie Mario
Published 24 months ago by Joseph D. Spano

3.0 out of 5 stars If this is simple, I'd hate to see complex
"Take one Yak's kidney (the left one, not the right) and toss it with yellow-blue endive, freshly picked that morning from the garden of a french hairdresser's mother's cousin's... Read more
Published on October 13, 2007 by HM

5.0 out of 5 stars great book
excellent cook book for beginners or pros...love it and love shopping on amazon
Published on April 4, 2007 by A. Rocconi

1.0 out of 5 stars Impossible Cookbook
Mario Batali's cookbook is most disappointing. I looked it over carefully, and I found absolutely nothing of interest to me. Read more
Published on December 9, 2006 by A. DATTORE

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite cookbooks
Batali's "Simple Italian Food" is an excellent cookbook for people who actually like to cook, and for those who accept that Italian cooking covers a vast range of subjects and... Read more
Published on April 11, 2006 by George Grella

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