Jigger, Beaker, and Glass: Drinking Around the World
Author: Charles Henry Baker
Charles Baker has created what is perhaps the greatest armchair drinking book of all time.
Interesting textbook: La Bouche Creole or Mini Bar
100 Ways to Be Pasta: Perfect Pasta Recipes from Gangivecchio
Author: Wanda Tornaben
"In 100 Ways to Be Pasta the Tornabenes weave memoir and history together with the vivid flavors of local village life, bringing us a true taste of Sicilian culture and cuisine. They incorporate lessons from basic pasta-cooking techniques to secret tips from old masters, and include an extensive glossary of pasta vocabulary, a dictionary of pasta types, and of course a generous sprinkling of anecdotes and advice." "All of this serves as a delightful setting for the one hundred authentic, mouth-watering recipes, lovingly honed and perfected in the old abbey kitchen. From quick, easy basics, like spaghetti with garlic, oil, and hot pepper or farfalle with peas and prosciutto, to traditional pasta soups like minestrone, to more elaborate baked and stuffed pastas like Baked Orecchiette with Lamb Ragu and Melted Mozzarella or Baked Timbale of Anelletti with Veal and Vegetables, each recipe serves up a little piece of Sicily for your very own kitchen." As informative and useful to the beginner as to the experienced Italian cook, 100 Ways to Be Pasta is a must-have and a treasure for any cookbook shelf.
Publishers Weekly
Pasta's very simplicity can sometimes trip up cookbook authors. After all, how many recipes for spaghetti with tomato sauce does one need? Mother and daughter Wanda and Giovanna Tornabene easily skirt this issue with inventive dishes such as Tagliolini with Green Apple Pesto and Speck, and Ditaloni with Eggplant Balls, Potato, and Pancetta. To coauthor Carre o's credit, the voices of these two women, who run a restaurant in a 13th-century Sicilian abbey, remain genuine and convincing throughout. They demonstrate that cuisine can be inventive without involving backbreaking labor: in a recipe for Bucatini with Dried Figs, for example, they explain that they purchase dried figs rather than drying their own, "a boring and tedious task." In a charming sidebar, they describe the pasta they prepare for their dogs and cats twice a day. There's a distinct Sicilian flavor throughout, which means less of an emphasis on handmade egg pasta (Papa's Ricotta Ravioli with Simple Butter Sauce is one exception) and an homage to the classic Lampedusa novel The Leopard in the form of a timballo that mimics one served in a prince's home in the novel, as well as a version of Sicily's Famous Spaghetti with Eggplant and Ricotta Salata. Recipes are clearly written and divided into types, such as rich pasta, one-dish pasta, soup with pasta, etc. The Tornabenes' La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio (Knopf, 1996) and Sicilian Home Cooking (Knopf, 2001) were James Beard Award winners; this new addition looks like another potential champion. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Gangivecchio is the rustic country restaurant that the Tornabenes (mother and daughter) opened in their ancient Sicilian home almost 30 years ago. Despite its isolated location, it somewhat improbably gained an international following, and the authors have written two other cookbooks about this special place. Here, they write that for them, "pasta is a live thing." "More than just a food," daughter Giovanna says, "pasta is part of our histories." With freelancer Carre o (Once Upon a Tart), they have translated this history into written recipes, some familiar, many of them less so: Linguine with Scallions, Raisins, and Turmeric; Spaghetti with Sea Urchin; and Pappardelle with Asparagus, Walnuts, and Speck. While this book does not seem to have quite the same resonance as the earlier two, fans of Gangivecchio and the Tornabenes will be delighted to have this personal collection of their favorite pasta recipes. For most libraries. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
No comments:
Post a Comment