Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian, by Saveur Magazine, Chronicle Books

It may be ten years old, but there’s no denying the appeal of this book. As with all Saveur titles, the subject matter is authentic, meticulously researched, and written with interest and authority. The then editor in chief of Saveur, Coleman Andrews is one of America’s most respected food writers, and in this work he involves such authorities as Marcella Hazan and Lidia Bastianich (see above), as well as Italian chefs, home cooks, and suppliers.

While there is much to be said for American-Italian cuisine, Coleman and crew toured the whole of Italy to get the real story. From Friuli to Sicily, the Saveur team hit restaurants, trattorie, street food stalls and regular homes to watch, listen and savor not only dishes, but the context in which they were born, the traditions behind them and the fresh, regional produce they were made from. And these are aspects that really do make Italian cuisine quite unique – the variety of historical and geographical influences that shape the country’s food never cease to surprise, with Austria and Slovenia shaping tastes in the north east and the exotic influences of the Arab world in the south, Sicily in particular.

Chapters in the book include, antipasti and salads, soups, pasta, polenta and risotto, cheese and eggs, seafood, poultry and rabbit, meats, vegetables and side dishes, breads, torte and pizza and of course desserts. There are tens of simple Italian classics like bruschette, stuffed zucchini blossoms, tuna and white bean salad, Genovese vegetable soup, rice stuffed tomatoes and spinach gnocchi. But there are also plenty of inventive dishes used by housewives to make delicious dinners from whatever they have to hand, like fried rabbit and squash blossoms, fried fennel, artichoke and onion omelet, porcini salad (yes, it is possible to have a glut of porcini!), swiss chard and potato torte, and cheese and tomato filled turnovers with anchovies. Desserts are predictably simple but enticing – raspberry jam tart, almond meringue cookies, flourless chocolate cake, ricotta fritters and cream gelato with white truffles among others.

Everyone will find something of interest here as each recipe has an accompanying explanation and sidebar of tidbits of interesting information. There is nothing new about the recipes in the sense that they are all classic, traditional dishes as prepared in homes and restaurants all over Italy, but Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian proves a great reference book you’ll use time after time.