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new cookbook: "the silver spoon"
Feb. 25th, 2007 01:21 pmlast weekend i finally bought phaidon's new cookbook the silver spoon. it is a translation of il cucchiaio d'argento, allegedly the most famous cookbook in italy, though i can't say i ever once saw a kitchen with a cookbook in it while i was there. even so, it is a remarkable book:
last night we made a simple fettuccine alla vodka which was delicious, a rich and complex flavor, and even better than previous homemade versions i have had of vodka sauce (and now i do not think we will ever buy it in a jar again). for lunch yesterday, we made very decadent mozzarella in carozza sandwiches, thick slices of mozzarella on crustless bread, dipped in egg and fried in a bit of butter until golden brown. simply amazing. on the menu for the coming week: meatballs, chicken and pancetta roulades, broccoletti.
it is also a heavy, gorgeous beastie of a book, hardcover and 1,200+ pages, many photos included. recipes and indices are in both english and italian, and helpful comparisons of italian vs american butcher diagrams are included, as are descriptions of obscure vegetables and their (occasional) domestic equivalents. it is grouped by sections corresponding to traditional course order -- soups and pastas, meats and egg dishes, cheeses and dolci, etc.; each section also has basic information, such as techniques for shirring or coddling or soft-boiling in the egg section, and general time-per-pound guidelines for meats. it is a weighty captain's atlas to the classic italian cooking's weekend travelogue (bought several weeks ago), if you will.
i am very excited to have it in my kitchen. i don't know of any tv italian chefs hawking trustworthy books, and many general italian cookbooks i've seen have been heavily weighted to a particular region, or are either overly fussy or overly americanized. so now, i can stop looking, because i think i've found the perfect italian cookbook.
last night we made a simple fettuccine alla vodka which was delicious, a rich and complex flavor, and even better than previous homemade versions i have had of vodka sauce (and now i do not think we will ever buy it in a jar again). for lunch yesterday, we made very decadent mozzarella in carozza sandwiches, thick slices of mozzarella on crustless bread, dipped in egg and fried in a bit of butter until golden brown. simply amazing. on the menu for the coming week: meatballs, chicken and pancetta roulades, broccoletti.
it is also a heavy, gorgeous beastie of a book, hardcover and 1,200+ pages, many photos included. recipes and indices are in both english and italian, and helpful comparisons of italian vs american butcher diagrams are included, as are descriptions of obscure vegetables and their (occasional) domestic equivalents. it is grouped by sections corresponding to traditional course order -- soups and pastas, meats and egg dishes, cheeses and dolci, etc.; each section also has basic information, such as techniques for shirring or coddling or soft-boiling in the egg section, and general time-per-pound guidelines for meats. it is a weighty captain's atlas to the classic italian cooking's weekend travelogue (bought several weeks ago), if you will.
i am very excited to have it in my kitchen. i don't know of any tv italian chefs hawking trustworthy books, and many general italian cookbooks i've seen have been heavily weighted to a particular region, or are either overly fussy or overly americanized. so now, i can stop looking, because i think i've found the perfect italian cookbook.
