La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy

Ok, so another reviewer complained that the measurements were in Imperial measures, but then again, look at who published the book... Rizzoli, based not in England, but New York. So naturally it will be in American measurements. With that out of the way, you will find some incredible recipes in this book. Spaghetti bolognese? *PISH* It is a ragù bolognese from the Emilia Romagna. Or the Tuscan ragù. Or the Naples version. Who knew there were so many recipes of a meat sauce? Broken down into several sections, and those sections again showing the regional versions of some incredible recipes, you are spoilt for choice. Mother in law from Campania? Dig up some recipes from that region. Brother's new girlfriend from Venice? I'm sure you'll find some lovely stuff from that part of the country. Frankly, there is nothing in here that you won't be able to make. So some recipes don't have measurements, but I'm sure the Italians didn't always measure their stuff in the old days, and made it by look, feel and taste, and that's something you'll have to experiment with. It is a brilliant book for the kitchen, and together with The Silver Spoon (Cooking) you will probably find you are well set to get going. I love both this book and the Silver Spoon, and I've been told that the dishes I've made from both taste better than in a restaurant. If you like this book, and you also love Greek food, look at Vefa's Kitchen or Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes . Great stuff in there too.

This book is truly amazing! I love to cook and I have a large amount of cooking books of all backgrounds, but this is by far my favourite. The recipes are of varying difficulty level, from veg simply turned in some garlic oil to sweet and sour meatballs in tomato sauce (DO THIS ONE!). I prefer the recipes in this book to those from the Silver Spoon as well, as even for the same dishes, these are always better. It really speaks to the cooking experience of the grandmothers and -fathers from whom these recipes come. Which brings me to the one drawback some readers might find in the book: Cooking experience needed to understand the recipes. You certainly need to have that. It might say stuff like: Make a white sauce. So you do need to know how to do that. On the other hand, I don't think you'll find anything in this book that you couldn't learn from YouTube in the space of 15 minutes.

Not for every day, these recipes are fascinating and unusual. I bought it as a gift for a very good cook and she thinks it is marvellous.

I bought this book as a kind of a follow on for myself from Marcella Hazan's wonderful Italian cookery bible: The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. It is certainly comprehensive and there are some wonderful recipes. However, in contrast to Mrs Hazan not all of the recipes work out well. There have been a couple that have failed to turn out as expected and, in common with another reviewer, I have had to use a bit of adaptation along the way. And the imperial system of cups is a bit annoying, although one should not stick rigidly to measurements anyway. That said, it is a cook book of epic proportions. There is a recipe for using up your unwanted quadropeds (donkey stew) and even one for frog risotto! There is a great little recipe for Ditalli pasta with anchovies and sun-dried tomatoes. I seem to recall a similar one in Rick Stein's Mediterranean book. Weird... Worth buying if you like Italian food, but buy Marcella Hazan's one first.

Has every region covered with authentic regional dishes

Every recipe you could ask for easy to follow however be warned it’s heavy in weight !!!!

Some wonderful recipes we go back to time and again but still like discovering new dishes occasionally

So many amazing recipes - it’s absolutely packed and has so many rare dishes with unusual ingredients.

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