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"Claudia Roden's Food of Italy is one of the most used and loved books on our book shelf. Her knowledge and understanding of the regions and their food and culture makes this one of the most authentic of all Italian cookbooks." -- Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, The River Cafe
"From the Hardcover edition."
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What I loved about this book was the author's real feel for the country. The author spent a year travelling round Italy in 1989 from top to bottom and has themed the book in a regional manner starting with the Piedmont region and gradually working her way down the country to Sicily and Sardinia. In the original edition, it could be a little confusing if you liked to find your recipes by starter or fish / meat etc as the regional theming cut across looking in this way, However, the new edition has a very clear listing early on in this format so that you can easily find recipes by type of food as well as region.
Where to start - my personal favourite sections are those which concentrate on the more earthy peasant food of the far South and Sicily. The Vermicelli alla sirucusana on p231 is a gorgeous mix of flavours - aubergine, yellow peppers, olive oil, garlic, anchovies, tomato, olives, capers (important, they must be the ones stored in salt), basil etc. Simple, flavoursome and amazing food.
If you have a local market where you can buy fresh produce this book is great. For vegetarians there are plenty of options, with stuffed vegetables taking predecence. Recipes for stuffed mushrooms and peppers are good. Plenty of fresh soups are there for the making as well as vegetable side dishes.
The basic recipe for pizza dough and associated tomato sauce makes some of the best pizzas I have ever tasted, whether at home / abroad or in Italian restaurants. You need to buy decent flour and get your oven really hot, but it is well worth it.
Meat and fish are well represented, with some exotic recipes such as Wood pigeon with Wine and Herbs, Hare in wine sauce or some great swordfish recipes to try.
Puddings have never been anything I get around to when eating Italian, but I would heartily recommend the Torta di Mele (Apple and Nut Cake) from the Trentino region. One of the most delicous cakes I have eaten, though you must be very careful with the quantities.
All the obvious dishes are there for anyone wanting an Italian cookbook, usually though not always involving minimum prepation and clean simple flavours.
More generally, as well as being a book stuffed full of delicious recipes, this books serves as a brilliant introduction to the history / culture and foods of all the different regions of Italy. I would recommend it to anyone who likes cooking, anyone who likes reading about cooking even if they don't cook much.
It is a beautifully researched book with recipes that you instinctively know come from real places in often remote places, and none the worse for not being by a celebrity chef or linked to a TV series. Honestly, this is without a doubt my favourite Italian cookbook, and while it might seem expensive really is not once you start cooking from it.
Imagine my excitement when I not only found many second hand copies available from Amazon and other sources, but new copies as well reprinted after more than 20 years. For a book to remain in print for so long must indicate it's quality and calling it a classic would be no understatement. Some my bemoan the lack of pictures or illustrations of the dishes described, but this is a book that takes its subject seriously and is to be used to make glorious food, not to rest on a coffee table and rarely see the inside of a kitchen.
Clauia Rosen does not only write accurate and interesting recipies, but her introductions to each region, and little descriptions, memories and tips throughout are a delight to read. It baffles me that anyone would let go of a book like this and put it on the second hand market. Move aside Jamie Oliver, this is the real Italy on a plate.
The book admirably filled this need. Ms. Roden systematically visits each region of Italy, and provides a geographical and social background for the produce and recipes for each region. Therefore you understand why one region cooks rice, another flavours the food with truffles, why our Emilia-Romagna kitchens instructed us in pasta, pasta and pasta - and your mouth waters as you read. The recipes are approachable in that the majority only require a manageable number of ingredients, and most ingredients would be available anywhere, or a substitute is suggested. It is often the combination that makes the recipe uniquely Italian - see e.g. broccoli on page 265 - rather than the inclusion of a particular item whose absence might prevent you making the dish. There are no illustrative photos, but in fact the writing is so lively, you can easily imagine the finished effect. There are small line drawings to decorate the pages.
My warning in the title comes from polenta on page 125. Here the salting for a serving for 4, employing 300 g of polenta (I used yellow maize flour from the Turkish grocer), is suggested as one TABLESPOONFUL. This produced a mix so astonishingly salty, it ended on the compost heap (where the Iberian slugs seem to be eating it with no adverse effect). I can assure you that one goodly teaspoonful is plenty so annotate the recipe NOW. Then following Ms. Roden's recipe slavishly, I produced delicious polenta, toasted crispy brown on top, creamy and tender inside. Absolutely foolproof.
So: buy the book, enjoy reading about Italy and planning your cooking. Go through the recipes carefully, keep your critical faculties awake and taste as you go along.
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