Italian Cookbooks

Regina Juno

Regina Juno

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Dec 5, 2014
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I'm in search of classic Italian Cookbooks. I don't want soemthing that an American author created, but from a true Italian. Something that a home cook could work out of. I'm hoping to find typical recipes that Italian house wives make as well as some fancy gourmet recipes for special occasions. Does anyone have any recommendations?
 
Italian food is so beloved by Americans that you’d think we all had grandmothers back in the old country, making fresh pasta and gargling vino di tavola while shooing the lazy cat away from the bowl of homemade ricotta. It’s a cuisine whose American interpretation gets closer to its roots as the American palate gets more sophisticated, and now we hunger for the particular specialties that define each region: fresh fava beans, nutty farro, succulent roast pork, silky handmade noodles with scant but flavorful sauces. Cooks looking for authentic, delicious Italian recipes will find great pleasure in the pages of these award winners.
 
Many of the popular chefs are American with an Italian background. My favorite Italian chef is Antonio Carluccio and he has several books and restaurants here in the UK. Some say he sold out, but on his shows he is a true Italian. His show,'Two Greedy Italians,' showed good traditional food, but take a look at their recipes as most of them are online.
 
I was just thinking of making a post on this exact same thing so I am so thankful to have come across your post before making my own :) Thank you for asking the questions and to the two lovely people above me for your replies! I can't wait to get my search on I can not have enough truly Italian food in my house :)
 
Regina Juno said:
I'm in search of classic Italian Cookbooks. I don't want soemthing that an American author created, but from a true Italian. Something that a home cook could work out of. I'm hoping to find typical recipes that Italian house wives make as well as some fancy gourmet recipes for special occasions. Does anyone have any recommendations?
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Honestly i share the same opinion with you i too have been looking for a good Italian cook book something that would help me prepare a variety of unique Italian dishes.
 
I think that's a big variety of Italian cookbooks from Italian cooks, but finding them in English might be another question. Do you speak Italian Regina? I feel that the Italian cuisine is one of the richest in the world, it's known worldwide mostly due to pizzas and pastas, but there's much more than that to the Italian cuisine if we dedicate the time to explore it.

Here's an example of what might be a great Italian cookbook. ;)

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I'm not sure what to recommend, as I don't have any Italian cookbooks at home myself. I usually find recipes online (I prefer the ones with pictures, so I know they're accurate).
But, if you're looking for books written by Italians, you should probably learn some Italian :D I doubt there are many good Italian cookbooks translated into English...

When my dad first visited Italy, it was 2010, and he found (and bought) this Italian cookbook, called "1000 e più Ricette della tradizione Italiana di Terra e Mare" (yup.. a book with really long title!). The book was first published in 2009, and it costs less than €15 (depends on where you buy it). It's a thick book, it almost has 500 pages, so you won't be disappointed by it! But it's, of course, written in Italian... :P
 
Yep, I guess that most people these days follow the recipes online, but a good hard copy cookbook is a must in any kitchen, even more an Italian cook book. :) Yeah, what a long title. And I am guessing you speak Italian of course right Rosie?
 
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Yes, I do :) I've been living here since 2008, had plenty of time to learn :D

Oddly enough though, i still do not own an Italian cookbook... I should get one myself, because you're right, an Italian cookbook is a must! Even if just for the pictures :D haha! (for who doesn't understand Italian)

When I was still learning Italian, I have actually translated A LOT of recipes from Italian to English, and this is mainly how I learned Italian :) Pretty funny right? Google translate was a real help. And if anyone is looking for a good online source for recipes, visit the Giallozafferano website. It's a collection of many, many recipe blogs, owned by real people who post very nice recipes (in Italian, of course). It's easier to translate something online, than copy the whole recipe from a real book :P It's how I started, so for anyone who can't understand Italian, this online source is quite OK.
 
Ha, so you live in Italy eh? If you don't mind me asking, why have you moved there? Most likely a relationship of professional reasons right? If it was love naturally you need to cook the local way to please your man! :D
 
The Silver Spoon cookbook is considered to be the Italian bible of cooking. It is vast and comprehensive. There is nothing you can't find in it. I received it as a wedding gift from my Mother in Law and it's a tradition to get one to start your married life apparently. I love it! She gave me the Italian version (Cucchiaio D' argento) and I bought the English version as well. There are some slight differences between the two because it takes into account that Americans/UK people may not have access to some ingredients. You can see them on my shelf with a few other good ones like Jamie Oliver's Italy (surpringly good recipes and the show was cool too).
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Gelsemium said:
Ha, so you live in Italy eh? If you don't mind me asking, why have you moved there? Most likely a relationship of professional reasons right? If it was love naturally you need to cook the local way to please your man! :D
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Yes, I live in Northern Italy :)
I don't mind you asking, I'm always glad to share my story :) I came here for work, was supposed to stay only for 3 months or so, but - you guessed it - I fell in love. However, I did not fall in love with an Italian, my boyfriend is also a fellow countryman so, at first, I only cooked the way I knew how: good ol' recipes from home.

However, after a while I came to realize.... OMG! I'm in Italy! I have so many recipes I have to try! So many things to eat for the first time! So I started to like the taste of the local cuisine, a lot!

I don't have any hard copies of Italian cookbooks, but I do love to try out new recipes. Maybe I should hint this out to my Italian friends. I do have a birthday and I don't mind getting a good Italian cookbook as a gift! LOL!
 
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serialexpat said:
The Silver Spoon cookbook is considered to be the Italian bible of cooking. It is vast and comprehensive. There is nothing you can't find in it. I received it as a wedding gift from my Mother in Law and it's a tradition to get one to start your married life apparently. I love it! She gave me the Italian version (Cucchiaio D' argento) and I bought the English version as well. There are some slight differences between the two because it takes into account that Americans/UK people may not have access to some ingredients. You can see them on my shelf with a few other good ones like Jamie Oliver's Italy (surpringly good recipes and the show was cool too).View attachment 1722
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This is a nice library you have. Thank you for all the info on the cook books. I love hard covers, particularly for cookbooks. However, I have to admit it is just more financially prudent to look up recipes online. Are there any Italian websites that post in English which could be referred to for recipes. I know that there are plenty of famous Italian Chefs with websites, but I feel like many of the ones that are popular in the US are probably tweaked for American taste. I would like to find a site that is run by someone who is actually residing in Italy and living the actual life.
 
Rosie said:
Yes, I live in Northern Italy :)
I don't mind you asking, I'm always glad to share my story :) I came here for work, was supposed to stay only for 3 months or so, but - you guessed it - I fell in love. However, I did not fall in love with an Italian, my boyfriend is also a fellow countryman so, at first, I only cooked the way I knew how: good ol' recipes from home.

However, after a while I came to realize.... OMG! I'm in Italy! I have so many recipes I have to try! So many things to eat for the first time! So I started to like the taste of the local cuisine, a lot!

I don't have any hard copies of Italian cookbooks, but I do love to try out new recipes. Maybe I should hint this out to my Italian friends. I do have a birthday and I don't mind getting a good Italian cookbook as a gift! LOL!
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That is a really nice story, so you fell in love with the country. From what country are you originally? I think it's great that we travel to a place and end up living there, Italy has to be one of those fascinating destinations for sure. :)
 
I frequent Italian food forever website quite often for the recipes. Just to see what's new. :D There is a good reference website for cooking that you should also check out. It's called Eating Italy Food Tours. It's about sharing a taste of Italy. That's where I get links to cooking and food tours that would eventually show me a bit more about Italy.

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I don't really have a list of recipes that I have tried myself, and I prefer watching videos while learning the recipes. So what I do is browse around and look for keywords to the right videos and then try them out.
 
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Yep, I didn't know that site either and it's certainly a good one. There are quite a few tours feature there so I can't really imagine a better way for us to know the local gastronomy, considering we are in Italy of course. :)
 
Italian food is so popular at my house, it appears thats all we eat. It's just so comforting and yummy. I love it, infact we all love it when its extra cheesy. I know he's not Italian but Jamie Olivers recipes are great!
 
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