The Silver Spoon (Cooking): Amazon.co.uk: Phaidon: Books

Review

'The most successful Italian cookbook of all time.'The Financial Times 'It's hard to imagine a more comprehensive resource of Italian classics.' Fine Cooking Magazine 'Accessible and a pleasure to read... When it comes to Italian home cooking, The Silver Spoon serves it up.' Costco Connection 'Italy's version of The Joy of Cooking... presents lucid recipes for every dish a lover of italian food could wish for - more than 2,000 of them.' Bon Appetit 'Without a doubt, this season's one indispensable cookbook is The Silver Spoon... magnificent.' This Week 'Not so much one more Italian cookbook as the one-volume encyclopedia of Italian home cookery.' The Wall Street Journal 'A kitchen essential for anyone with even a passing interest in Italian food... If you're stuck for a Christmas gift idea for the foodie in your life, this is just the thing.' Sunday Business Post Ireland 'The Silver Spoon is as delicious to look at as the recipes inside.' Scotland on Sunday Christmas Guide 'A brilliant source of inspiration.' Best Books of 2011 Delicious 'Time-honoured recipes that make this a one-stop reference book for traditional Italian cooking.' House and Garden 'The ultimate kitchen companion.' Mindfood Magazine --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Description

The Silver Spoon is the most influential and successful cookbook in Italy. Originally published in 1950, it became an instant classic, selling over one million copies in eight editions. Considered to be essential in every household, it is still one of the most popular wedding presents today. The Silver Spoon was conceived and published by Domus, the design and architectural magazine famously directed by Gio Ponti from the 1920s to the 1970s. A group of cooking experts was commissioned to collect hundreds of traditional Italian recipes and make them available for the first time to a wider audience. In the process, they updated ingredients, quantities and methods to suit contemporary tastes and customs, at the same time preserving the memory of ancient recipes for future generations. They also included modern recipes from some of the most famous Italian chefs, resulting in a style of cooking that appeals to the gourmet as well as the occasional cook A comprehensive and lively book, its simple and user-friendly format makes it both accessible and a pleasure to read. It provides an introduction to every course, and an explanation of the main type of ingredients. Each recipe is accompanied by a recommended list of wines, and a section on menus (seasonal, special occasions, everyday) aims to help not only with the cooking but also with the planning of a pleasant culinary event. Never translated before, The Silver Spoon has now been adapted to an international market, with every recipe checked for suitability, measurements converted and methods rewritten to accommodate cultural differences, yet maintaining the authenticity of real Italian cooking. The new layout emphasises its contemporary appeal and the colour coding of each section simplifies the process of cross-referencing ingredients and methods. This is a substantial and prestigious cookbook that will share the bookshelves with other titles such as The Joy of Cooking and Larousse Gastronomique, another classic of national cuisine. With over 2,000 recipes illustrated with specially commissioned artwork and photography, the book is destined to become a new classic in the Italian cooking booklist.

Customer Reviews

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152 of 153 people found the following review helpful

The essential guide to Italian cookery 16 Nov 2005

By Budge Burgess TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

"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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141 of 143 people found the following review helpful

All you will ever need for Italian cookery 19 Oct 2005

By A Customer

Excellent layout and for such a large book, easy to find recipes for any food item you care to think of.
Each recipe is also easy to follow and made as simple as possible to follow.
Many of the recipes are well known but this still leaves literally hundreds that the reader has probably never heard of or thought of.
When they say this is the only Italian cookery book you will ever need - they are right.

72 of 73 people found the following review helpful

Bin your other cook books 16 Mar 2006

This is a great book. Admittedly, quite a few dishes are made of bits of animal that I’ve never even heard of, let alone eaten. But there’s a bewildering array of recipes to try, including starters, sauces, soups, pizzas, pasta, and main courses.

The beauty of the Silver Spoon lies in its simplicity. There’s none of the pretentious guff that usually pads out cookery books, and the recipes are very short and clearly explained. And there are plenty of recipes that won’t have you trawling the supermarket for dozens of obscure ingredients. Chicken in almond sauce? Chicken, almonds, onion, garlic, lemon, white wine. Spinach sauce (for pasta)? Spinach, milk, butter.

Incidentally, this is the only cook book I own that is bound in a way that allows it stay open at the right page all by itself.