World Cuisine Italy II (World Cuisine, 2) [Bargain Price]

By Antonello Colonna

Written by two renowned Italian chefs with popular restaurants in Milan and Labico, Italy. The use of fresh and seasonal local ingredients, combined with a legendary love and respect that Italians... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 8460973530
• ISBN13: 9788460973539
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: World Cuisine
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Gorgeous, Mouthwatering and FUN!!

World Cuisine - Italy (II) is is a bargain book in the US apparently because it was printed for the UK market. The price on the back is in pounds not dollars, and the ingredient measurements are metric. In addition, the book uses terms that may be unfamiliar to US readers such as aubergine for eggplant, or courgette for zucchini. That's the bad part. The good part is that this book is a true bargain. The price is ridiculously low for this little treasure! For less than the cost of a magazine, you'll get a book that gives you a nice introduction to the cuisine of Italy, including descriptions of various regions and typical dishes. The closing section gives a nice description of the wines of Italy. In between, there is a delightful collection of traditional dishes interpreted by chefs from some of Italy's leading recipes. (In addition to the two authors, four other chefs are called upon for inspiration in this book.) Every recipe is beautifully illustrated with a full color photo on the facing page. Talk about inspiration! Many more expensive cookbooks skimp on the very important visual aspect of the presentation. Each dish is broken down into 1) level of difficulty - low, medium or high; 2) Preparation time; and 3) Cooking time. Only a handful of the recipes fall into the high difficulty range. For every recipe there is a small highlighted note which gives an additional piece of information. The notes vary; it may say which region originated the dish, or an explanation of unfamiliar ingredients, or some acceptable substitutions. For example, the note on Classic Carpaccio tells us that this steak dish was named after the famous Italian painter, Vittore Carpaccio, "known for his brilliant use of red and white." What fun to be able to tell your dinner party guests those kinds of details! The table of contents is set up with the Introduction (To whet the appetite), Starters, Rice/Pasta/Pizza, Meat & Fish, Desserts, Authors' Selections, and Wines. There is also an alphabetical index at the end of the book. While I might deduct a star for making me figure out the metric conversions, I'd add that star back (and more) for their great basic recipe for pizza crust alone! Highly recommended!!