La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy

Amazing Cook Book filled with recipes from literally all regions of Italy. The best thing about cooking Italian is that there is vast more variety than many other countries. Every region is covered including a few I'd never heard of. Some recipes call for ingredients that may not normally available in US grocery stores. Not to fear. Seems you can find even the most obscure ingredient at local Gourmet Food Stores, even here on Amazon. This is not your everyday "go-to" cookbook, but one to use when you are in the mood to prepare something different for a special occasion. With over 2500 different recipes, even if you prepare one every day, you'll be set for the next 5 1/2 years.

This is NOT a recipe book from a Food Network cook. There are no stories about how the author spent ages developing this recipe while their little ones scampered underfoot at their country estate. This is an encyclopaedia of Italian cookery. The authors went region by region, and asked for what dishes the locals made, and the variations thereof. There aren't a ton of super precise measurements, probably because nobody who's been cooking a long time needs to give exact proportions. You and I both know that if a recipe calls for a couple pounds of tomatoes, you're probably going to be using like 3 TB - 1/4 cup of oil to fry off your onions and garlic. You're probably going to throw in a handful of chopped/torn basil leaves. Like I said. This isn't your typical hold you by the hand type of book. If you wanted that, I'd suggest Marcella Hazon's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. There, she explains exactly what each ingredient is, and how much of it you should be using. However, if you want to know exactly what it is that makes a regional dish unique from how other regions make it, this is where you'd turn. You start noticing subtle differences in how each region treats various proteins, dairy, eggs, and grains. This is like if you wanted to preserve the classic recipes as they are made in each region, before they get made uniform for general consumption. To be honest, this could probably be a multi part series, with one giant tome just covering each region. This is an impressive effort, and I can spend ages flipping through the tome, and finding little pieces of history sprinkled through. A must have for anyone trying to reach that experience they had when wandering through the Italian country side.

This book is a treasure. I do not love Italian food when I go to restaurants, but, growing up I had a friend whose mom was Italian and made traditional dishes that were so good. This book has some great pasta, sauce, salad and soup recipes that have turned out delicious. The way the book is organized / laid out is very useful. It’s so big it’s hard to lay open the book to follow the recipe but this mean there are so many recipes in the book! Most of the recipes are easy to follow with not too many ingredients.

While I am not 100% satisfied, this is a great concoction of recipes organized in a new way. What I'm missing is at least some yummy images (there is absolutely none of any kind) and an alphabetical index in addition to the 2 provided. As is, there is an index by region and another by main ingredient, but if you're after just something italian, you can't simply go to an index in an alphabetical order. I'm in a process of compiling my own as it is going to be invaluable. As a big plus, with a ton of recipes there is no BS included, just plain, concise description of ingredients and how it goes together. But it also means that this is not for a beginning cook, yet I think everyone can count on finding a cooking inspiration here. I love the fresh layout as well. This is just about as different as it gets in cookbooks. ..... As a side note: another reviewer cannot find classic "bolognese sauce" I can't either, which only adds to my above point of the need for an alphabetical index. I actually don't think there is "bolognese" in this one. While considered by many a classic, it has been the most bastardized meat sauce in culinary history. As such it may no longer fall within the fine Italian cuisine category. I'm just guessing here, but truth be told someone ought to go to jail for letting this sauce become a sour point of Italian cuisine

Great book, great recipes, every cook needs

I love this book but it's probably not for everyone. It has no photos and there is no overarching editorial voice. It is a collection of recipes made over half a century from all over Italy. You will often find several recipes for the same dish that vary considerably in substance, quality, and organization. They were written by many different people so sometimes there are detailed instructions and other times there are not. Some of the ingredients will be hard to find outside of Italy or outside of farming communities. I like to read through the book just to get new ideas for my own cooking. If you like food history you will probably love this book. If you want to follow step-by-step recipes you will find some great stuff here but would get more value from The Silver Spoon. If you want an introductory book you'd be better off with Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. WARNING: My copy is missing pages 579-594 and pages 595-610 are printed twice instead. I saw another reviewer who is missing pages that I have in my copy. It seems like there were printing errors. When I noticed this I contacted the publisher but they ignored me. I still think it's worth buying however. I almost gave it five stars anyway, and I certainly would if it weren't for the production problems, which I think potential buyers should know about. The design of the book is gorgeous and it's a pleasure to read. I have nothing against food photography, but so many cookbooks seem more like art books with some clever writing and a few recipes. I find it refreshing that this book has no photos. It is a wealth of great information if you're serious about food.

Very good book. It was approved by my Italian friends. It’s a little bit too big and heavy, but other then that it’s perfect. Excited to try new recipes!!

I love it

I bought this book a few weeks ago and have tried half a dozen recipes from it. It contains many recipes that I have never heard of before. This cookbook is not for beginners. There are no pictures. The recipes sometimes skip steps, like for example, not mentioning that you should stir something to prevent it from sticking to the pot. As an experienced cook this is not a problem for me but might be for others. I really enjoy the little anecdotes scattered throughout and explanations of local traditions. The recipes are arranged alphabetically according to their Italian names, and there are two indices at the back, one based on main ingredient and the other the regions of Italy from which the recipes originate, making it very easy to quickly find the type of recipe you are looking for. I really love this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about Italian food and wishes to expand their knowledge of one of the world's greatest cuisines.

Wonderful book. It is full of interesting recipes and regional variations. Indexing is not great - it's like an encyclopedia but organised around courses and regions so if I see something I want to make I have to post it note it or I can never find it again. The dishes I have tried so far, out of every day ingredients, surprised me. These traditional recipes know how to make tasty, filling meals out of whatever is to hand. Got some leftover pork rind? That's the basis for a soup or stew and so on. People keep mentioning the donkey recipe, but really just take the idea that you can substitute any rubbish, tough, old meat and make something out of it. I've already picked up some good techniques like desalting anchovies that open up new vistas for me, but you have to find these in different recipes. It's not your standard recipe book, it's so much more. What a treasure.

Every Kitchen should have one