A16: Food and Wine [Hardcover]

I've been waiting for this book to come out and it's finally here! I write a food blog about Italian cooking and I absolutely love this beautiful book. A16 is an Italian restaurant in San Francisco which prides itself on cooking authentic food from the Campania region of Italy. It is named after the highway that connects Naples to Puglia, the "A-16". This is the highway from which the owners of the restaurant explored this region of Italy - tasting wines and eating food all along the way.

The book begins with one of the largest and most comprehensive discussions on southern Italian wines, written by wine director Shelley Lindgren. Covering wine from Campania to Sardinia, it's a full 58 pages! Anyone interested in Italian wines should pick the book up for this section alone. One of the white wines she writes about, Falanghina, intrigued me so much I ran right out and bought a bottle. It was such a nice surprise, a really delicious wine and such a change from the mediocre Chardonnays we have too much of around here.

One of the things I loved about this book is the attention to ingredients - it is not just a book of recipes. Chef Nate Appleman devotes a dozen pages to explaining key ingredients and their uses such as San Marzano tomatoes, salt, bottarga, anchovies, capers, herbs, olive oil, cheeses and vinegars. There is also an interesting section explaining the differences in the flours used in pizza making and the difference it can make in your pizza dough. There is a whole section devoted to pizza making which I found helpful. Chef Appleman talks about visiting the famous pizzeria in Naples, "Da Michele" and discovering the secret to its outstanding pizza dough - addding older, fermented dough to fresh dough to build a more complex flavor. A16 uses a method which replicates this taste - letting the dough proof for 2-3 days (which I'm going to try for our weekly pizza nights at home!)

The recipes in this book range from Antipasti to Desserts, with dishes such as Bruschetta Four Ways, Ricotta Gnocchi, Bucatini with Fava Beans and Pancetta, Chicken Meatballs with Peperonata, Short Ribs alla Genovese, Chard Gratinata with Bread Crumbs and Pistachio and Almond Cake. Each recipe is thoughtfully paired with a wine selection. Nice touch. There are also thoughtful discussions on the techniques of making soffritto, meatballs and fresh pasta.

There is also a comprehensive "Resources" list at the back of the book for hard to find ingredients.

Anyone interested in good food and wine will love this book. The photography is gorgeous.

A16 is a gem of a restaurant in San Francisco which takes its name from the highway that cuts across the ankle of Italy's boot, through Campania and Puglia, and, not surprisingly, places its focus on the food and wines of this region.

This book is part cookbook and part textbook, beautifully written and with stunning photographs of Italy, the restaurant and some of the cooking methods. The section on the regional wines is amazing.

Most of the recipes rely on the ingredients to take center stage. Therefore, anyone following the recipes MUST seek out the highest quality ingredients possible. If you try the burrata antipasto, you will never know how truly heavenly it if you use supermarket burrata, which is grainy in texture and not worth eating. It is definitely worth finding a cheese shop that either carries, or will order, burrata imported from southern Italy or made domestically by the Gioia Cheese Co. in South El Monte, CA. The book includes recipes for making some of the more difficult-to-find ingredients at home where possible.

Great cookbook, great restaurant.

..then I believe it would be one of my best dining experiences.

I not only collect cookbooks, but I actively use them. This is a fantastic cookbook that focuses on the Campania region in Southern Italy, and for me, it's in the same vein of excellence as Anne Willan: From My Chateau Kitchen. Probably because of several factors present in each book; the love of culinary arts is obvious and there are narratives that explain, teach or entertain. They both highlight the cooking style of a region and success with the recipes is achievable.

I like the organization of the A16 better, with the chapters on Antipasti, Pizza, Zuppa, Seafood all the way to Gelato. The book is the size and weight of a college textbook, with nice paper stock and photography as good as it gets. Other reviews have mentioned the wine section, which is substantial and gave me new wines to try that I hadn't heard of or tried before. I am fortunate to have a wine store (The Wine House) that carries many of the suggestions. I guess that it's no accident they are listed in the resources section at the end of the book. But I digress.

What carries a cookbook for me is more than being an instructional manual, but the how's and why's and history of a cuisine. In most any country, cooking is part of the cultural foundation, and while that may not be necessary to know, for me, it adds something. In that, A16 delivers. The section on Naples and pizza was just perfect for me. From what I read, I'll never look at a mass market pizza the same way again. Nor will I buy crushed canned tomatoes again either, instead, I'll opt for the canned whole tomatoes and crush them myself. Little gems like these are throughout the book.

Make no mistake, ingredients are at the forefront of A16's cooking and depending upon where you live, some might be a challenge to find. If that is the case, the resources section at the end of the book I mentioned will be helpful in finding some of the more esoteric items. However, even the simple items like salt and flour are given their due, and types and proper uses are given. The attention to detail and the obvious love of cooking are what make this book excellent and why it will find its way into homes and bookshelves of cooks everywhere.

If you love cooking and cookbooks, you'll love this book, more so if you love Italian cuisine and wine. For yourself or for others, this is a nice gift for all but the novice cook.