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| Author: Jamie Oliver |
Italy and its wonderful flavors have always had a major
influence on Oliver’s food and cooking. In this
book, he travels this famously gastronomic country paying
homage to the classic dishes of each region and searching
for new ideas to bring home. The result is a sensational
collection of Italian recipes, old and new, that will
ensure that Italy’s influence reaches us all.
Italy has inspired Jamie Oliver throughout his career.
His ambition has always been to travel across the country
on a quest to capture the very essence of Italian cooking
-- and to produce the best and simplest Italian cookbook
for everybody anywhere to enjoy.
Jamie’s Italy is the result of
that journey -- and it’s a land of plenty. As well
as providing more than 120 brand-new recipes for everything
from risotto to roasts and spaghetti to stews, structured
as traditional trattoria menus, Oliver takes you all over
Italy to cook with and learn from the real masters of
Italian cuisine: the locals. Far from the standard “lemons
and olives” version of Italian cooking, this is
a cookbook by the people for the people. From Sicily to
Tuscany, it’s about the local fishermen, family
bakers, and, of course, the “Mamas,” sharing
their recipes and the tips that have gone into their cooking
for generations. But it’s not only mouthwatering
food that Oliver brings back home: it’s also
the spirit that makes cooking and eating absolutely central
to family life, whichever part of Italy you’re in.
Bursting with the warmth and hospitality of real family
life, this is both an accessible cookbook and
a unique travelog and diary, in which you’ll find
the authentic flavor of Italy and the people who live
there. If you love quality food prepared with genuine
passion -- you’ll never want to leave Jamie’s
Italy.
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From Publishers Weekly
Oliver, television's Naked Chef , may have been born
in Southend-on-Sea, but he turns out to have an Italian
soul in this collection of recipes from all over the
Boot. As an outsider, Oliver has great reverence for
the traditions of Italy, and he offers some surprisingly
deep insight about how a lack of choice and a massive
working-class population have kept those traditions
alive. This is no sugar-coated fairy tale, however:
Oliver doesn't hesitate to get down-and-dirty, as in
a description of Palermo street food served by hand
from a "chain-smoking, dirty-looking bloke," and
he cogently explains why he insisted on including a "graphic
and gruesome" photo of a slaughtered sheep. Indeed,
Oliver enthusiastically encourages British and American
readers to familiarize themselves with foods less common
in their home countries such as rabbit. Nonna Giusy's
Fish with Couscous reflects the African influences of
Sicily, and Altamura Pea Soup with fresh peas and broken
spaghetti perfectly represents the Italian genius for
making something out of almost-nothing. Desserts include
a simple Pear Sorbet with grappa. Candid photos such
as one of Oliver's mentor's father, a 96-year-old who
cooks for himself every day reinforce the personal feel
of this collection, and the impression that Oliver has
a deep affinity for Italian food, no matter his British
roots.
© 1997-2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. |
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$34.95 (hardcover)
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