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121 of 123 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The essential guide to Italian cookery, 16 Nov 2005
"The Silver Spoon" offers, in over 1200 pages, the ultimate guide to Italian cookery. It is a massive, very heavy book. It is designed to be used, to be explored, to enthuse, to instruct, but overall, to feed your imagination, your palette, your body. And yet it's not a book to leave around casually on the kitchen table … and certainly not the coffee table. For the serious cook, this is a must have. It's a book to be read and used, a book which will be referred to for decades, a book you will pass on to your children.It begins with the instruction that 'eating is a serious matter'. Cooking is an art form as well as a pleasure. First published in 1950, this cook book has stood the test of time. There are few glossy pictures. The meat of the volume is its thousands of recipes. Simple. Complex. There is primary advice on cooking techniques and terms, what to use, how to use it. You get instruction on sauces and marinades, all the different courses, meat, fish, vegetables, pasta. An absolutely comprehensive guide. The day you buy it you begin wondering how you've lived your life without it. The recipes are clearly described. No frills, no gloss. Straightforward description of how to cook each dish, how to get the best out of your ingredients, how to enjoy food and feeding others. The layout is simple, accessible, the recipes easy to find, easy to follow. But it's a vast work. You really need to sit and read it, leaf through it, highlight new ideas you'd like to try, refer to the classics and standards which you'll produce again and again. An exciting, stimulating essential, the ultimate guide to Italian cooking, and a book which, once you own a copy will not only become indispensable, it's a book which will make you evangelical as you try to convince friends and family that they too must own a copy. Give this to someone as a present - they will never stop thanking you.
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