Eating in Italy: A Traveler's Guide to the Hidden Gastronomic Pleasures of Northern Italy
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • ok book
  • Eating in Italy
  • Great Guide, But Out of Date
  • Would not go to Italy without Faith's latest book!
  • An Indispensible Guide to Northern Italian Eateries
Eating in Italy: A Traveler's Guide to the Hidden Gastronomic Pleasures of Northern Italy
Faith H. Willinger
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0688146147

Amazon.com

Grab this book and your forchetta (fork) and head to Italy for a tantalizing tour of tastes. Faith Heller Willinger is an American living in Italy who has devoted her taste buds to sampling and reporting on the best Italian kitchens have to offer. If you think Italian food equals pizza and spaghetti, the variety of offerings found in the 11 northern regions explored in this book will astound you. Each regional section begins with helpful explanations of Italian dishes from local menus. Next, the wine and food specialties are temptingly presented with interesting tidbits about production methods and historical origins. For example, grissini, yard-long breadsticks of the Piemonte region, were first made in 1668, when "the Savoia court doctor, Don Baldo Pecchio, had the court baker whip up some crunchy, thin and easily digestible breadsticks for the sickly Prince Vittorio Amadeo II, who suffered from 'intestinal fevers.'" Each section is finished off with a listing of restaurants and inns, organized by city. If you aren't sated yet, Eating in Italy also provides gelato flavors, a key to Italian opening and closing hours, types of pasta, wine terminology, and a food glossary.

Book Description

Faith Heller Willinger has the unique advantage of being an American with an insider's knowledge of the culinary mysteries of Italy and a profound love for all of them. Drawn from her extensive knowledge and expertise Eating in Italy is a gastronomic tour of the regions that comprise the northern half of the country. The finest restaurants in Florence, the best chocolate anywhere, the chic kitchenware shops in Milan, outdoor markets in towns not on any tourist's map, elegant and affordable hotels in Venice, picnic spots in the countryside -- there's information for every traveler, armchair or otherwise, who wants to experience the authentic flavor of northern Italy. Here is the Italian table for the adventurous and sophisticated, including every food-related situation, ritual, and tradition, from weather to waiters, climate to Chianti.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars ok book.......2007-05-29

I have this book and didn't find it terribly interesting. When I went to Italy, I didn't stay in the north, maybe thats why I didn't find it so useful.

3 out of 5 stars Eating in Italy.......2006-11-10

Very good for its age, but beware of this 1998 edition. We just spent 3 weeks in Tuscany, Umbria, Verona and Bologna. Many of the establishments named have closed or moved.
But those businesses written about and yet enduring are terrific.

4 out of 5 stars Great Guide, But Out of Date.......2006-06-14

This is a most excellent guide to the food of northern Italy, maybe the ONLY comprehensive guide in English to that vast and delectable region. It covers a huge range of cuisines from the rustic simplicty of Tuscany to the highly inflected Franco-Savoyard provincial foods of the Val d'Aosta. It gives special attention to the rich traditions of Emiglia-Romagna, especially Bologna. It also does a fine job of sampling the gamut of local offerings, from simple but excellent family kitchens to the greatest restaurants.

Unfortunately, the book is out of date. Last updated in 1998, I have found that maybe one third of its listings are now defunct, and many more can no longer be reached at the phone/fax numbers listed. I am currently planning a trip to Arezzo, Pisa, Assisi, Bologna, and Modena, and many of the restaurants I wanted to visit no longer exist. Still, the larger, more established restaurants and the older more established family kitchens tend to have the same contact information that they did eight years ago.

Please join with me in encouraging the author and publisher to revise and reissue this great guide. I'd love to see it as a supplement to the Fodor's Italy guide, which is generally excellent but provides only cursory coverage of food.

Please note that my rating is somewhat arbitrary given that the book has become largely obsolete.

5 out of 5 stars Would not go to Italy without Faith's latest book!.......2006-01-31

This was our second trip to Italy using Faith's guide to help us find local markets. We were invited to prepare a celebration dinner at a villa for family/friends in Tuscany. We were able to locate all the special ingredients we needed for the feast which lasted 6 hours and ended with a standing ovation. It was a dream come true. Before and after the week at the villa, we traveled in Italy, also relying on Faith's excellent recommendations. She reports that she is currently writing a book for Southern Italy. You can bet we will plan a return visit when it becomes available. Faith has foodie tours of Florence and offers small cooking classes, as well. Check out her website.

5 out of 5 stars An Indispensible Guide to Northern Italian Eateries.......2002-05-19

I've made something like ten pleasure trips to Italy in the past decade, and for me, this is easily the best dining resource IN PRINT. In this Internet age, there are additional ways to garner some information about Eating in Italy, but it you aren't too interested in the "new, hot, trendy" etc., this is definitely money well spent.
There are other books I draw upon, including Sandra Gustafson's "Cheap Eats In Italy," Maureen Fant's "Trattorias of Rome, Florence, and Venice," and the guides from the Time Out series. But kilo for kilo, this is the one I use most frequently, especially if you wander away from Rome-Florence-Venice.
Many of her recommendations also pop up (as citations) in some of the better travelogues--- for instance her writing is cited in books such as "The Collected Traveler-- Central Italy" collected by Barrie Kerper and the recently issued "Piazzas and Pizzas-- the Adventures of the Clean Plate Club in Italy."
Worth every penny, Euro, or late, lamented Lire that you spend.
Gastronomy of Italy
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • The way for Italian flavors
  • A very nice reference for terms, recipes, and Italian books.
  • More than a cookbook...
  • Poor ktichen testing but nice book
  • Bella!!!
Gastronomy of Italy
Anna Del Conte
Manufacturer: Pavilion Books, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1862056625

Book Description

Pastas, pestos, risottos, sublime cheeses, scintillating seasonings, superb wines, and of course delectable desserts: no wonder the first known food writer was Italian. With fish from the port of Ostia, game from the hills near Rome, and the freshest fruits and vegetables, nature has blessed the country with delicious bounty. Prepare your own Italian feast with luscious recipes that range from antipasti, soups, and seafood to sauces, breads, and pizzas. Background information will acquaint you with the cuisine's development, and the different regional specialties (such as Emilia-Romagna's prosciutto di Parma.) Bring to your table a Frittata al Formaggio, the perfect light main course; Mozzarella in Carozza, or a fried mozzarella sandwich; Anolini alla Piacentina, small ravioli stuffed with braised beef; and Gelato di Crema, a smooth, fresh, lemony custard ice cream. With an A-Z of ingredients and, of course, a wine list from this land of vines!

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The way for Italian flavors.......2005-10-14

This book is a good start for initiating an Italian cooking affair; it gives you dictionary of ingredients, regional description, and few recipes.
The recipes represent important Italian ingredients and cooking techniques, they aren't simple (Lasagna like dish made with Polenta sheets - for example) but capture the Italian flavors and texture.
When you've got the Italian taste, you can use (return to) other books with more complete list of Italian recipes, and this book can be used as a reference book, for finding ingredients substitutes, and basic pasta handling.
In addition the book is beautiful and the recipes are very tasty.

5 out of 5 stars A very nice reference for terms, recipes, and Italian books........2005-01-04

`the Gastronomy of Italy' by Anna Del Conte is a dandy little reference to regional Italian recipes, products, wines, and techniques. The list of the author's other works and the imprimatur of the Accademia Italiana Della Cucina demonstrates that this is no quickie knock-off by publisher, Barnes and Noble. An examination of the book's contents confirms this first impression with a very nice collection of information for the foodie, the scholar, and the traveler.

The first chapter on the `development of Italian Gastronomy' is too short to compete with full length books on the subject, but it does give some interesting perspective in twelve (12) pages, with the claim that Italians owned the leadership in European cuisine through the Renaissance, only to let it slip away to the French with the political disintegration of the late seventeenth century. By far the most interesting content of this chapter is the account of major culinary works by Italians from the fifteenth century to the present. It is a revelation to hear writers of 400 years ago advising their readers to concentrate on fresh, seasonal produce. So this was not an idea invented by Alice Waters!

The second chapter on the Italian food culture fills out the picture we get from watching `Molto Mario'. It gives a very nice little list of major Italian food markets, which is a useful guide for someone wishing to create a culinary tour of Italy. The only thing I missed was a description of `Enoteca', the name of an Italian wine bar. The chapter on the culinary regions of Italy gets down to serious business. This profile is a great introduction, but again, it cannot compete with complete books written on the subject such as Claudia Roden's `The Food of Italy', Erica DeMane's `The Flavors of Southern Italy', and Micol Negrin's `Rustico' or the classic `The Foods of Italy' by Waverley Root. But, if you just want a quick look around, this will do the job, as long as you realize there is much this chapter is leaving out.

The next two chapters are the heart of the book and the primary reason you will want to buy it. First, there are 130 pages of recipes organized by ingredient or course, with headnotes that often indicate the geographical source of the recipe. Surprisingly, several recipes also come from American and English sources such as Marcella Hazan and Alan Davidson. It is a pleasant surprise to find the recipes in such an omnibus volume written with a keen eye to guiding the amateur to getting things right. A lot of cautions and advice which could easily be taken for granted are carefully spelled out, as when the recipe for polenta describes the delicate task of slowly streaming the corn meal into the pot with one hand while constantly stirring the pot with the other. Well done Anna! The only oddity with this selection of recipes is in the fact that the meat chapter is larger than the vegetable section, with lots of space being given to veal and beef recipes. While not even close to being a `complete' selection, the choice of recipes is very representative of classic Italian dishes.

The next chapter is probably the basis for which most people will buy this book. It is a dictionary of Italian ingredients. The entries are much more than what you will find in a dictionary, but a bit less than you may find in the `Larousse Gastronomique' for French preparations. For basic ingredients such as vinegars, the entries describe how to identify good samples of the product plus a brief idea of how the ingredients are produced. For compound ingredients such as agrodolce (sweet and sour sauce), the entry gives an outline of how the product is made and how it is used, but no complete recipe (as you might find in Larousse, except that Larousse has no entry for agrodolce). Thus, this book is an admirable supplement, filling in for the French classic when it ignores an Italian ingredient. Like Larousse, the entries are written in such a way that it is easy to just start with the A's and read it as if you were reading a memoir or a novel. Well, maybe not a novel, but you get the idea. Some of the more interesting things you will find are the facts that Italy has a name for strudel as made in Venice and a name for the bouillabaisse ingredient, Racasse, which is used in Italian fish stews as a thickener. The separate section on descriptions of Italian food preparation techniques is equally interesting. It is well known that Italian bacon, pancetta, is generally not smoked, yet there is a variety of smoked `pancetta afumicatta'.

The next section on wines will not replace a good book on Italian wines, but it is an excellent resource for finding the terroir of specific wines. It confirmed something I had heard in passing that the first major Italian wines to make an impression on American taste (after the Tuscan cliché, Chianti) were Bardolino and Valpolicello from the lands around Venice. If nothing else, this chapter will impress upon you the great variety of Italian wines and how they are typically used.

My personal favorite section in this and most other books is the bibliography. And, this book has a great one, with lots of entries from both classic and modern Italian sources. Like Germany and France, but unlike the United States, Italian scholarship has produced encyclopedic volumes on regional gastronomy which, if you knew Italian, would make writing this kind of book for American audiences very easy. Makes me want to learn Italian.

While this book overlaps lots of other volumes, its paperback price makes it a valuable book for both reading and reference. If you want to know more about Italian cuisine, you could do a lot worse than to start here.

5 out of 5 stars More than a cookbook..........2004-12-21

I haven't dug into this book fully yet, but since there wasn't an in-depth review, I'll add my quick two cents.

Areas covered include a brief history of Italian cuisine, and a region-by-region look at history and specialties. There are recipes, naturally, but the depth of the glossary sections (separate glossaries for ingredients and Italian terms/techniques) can't be overstated. The section on wine was a little too brief, but that information can absolutely be found elsewhere.

I have the paperback version of this book, which I'm guessing is the same version as this one, and feel like I got a heck of a gift from my step-sister this Xmas. While I really like the cookbooks of Lidia Bastianich (pictures are nice - this paperback has none, and the recipe variety is better), this book should be treated more as a reference than a cookbook. A solid addition to your kitchen, or even to your backpack if you're traveling Italy and want to decode the menu.

4 out of 5 stars Poor ktichen testing but nice book.......2002-07-02

This is yet another Italian cookbook suffering from poor proofreading and kitchen testing (judging from the severe errors in the one recipe I've tried so far, the Polenta with meat sauce). I don't see how they could invest so much money in beautiful photography and printing and yet completely drop the ball in what matters most, making it easy and pleasant to generate the meals.

Of course, that doesn't matter most in selling the book off the shelf, so publishers are getting away with it. But I will gripe here when I have a chance and punish them for their oversight. (The thing could have been done in half the time, with a third the salt, and anyone trying it would realize this immediately once it was too late...) I also want preparation times in my recipes and make-ahead and storage/leftover notes.

Otherwise this book is beautiful and has one tempting page after another with plenty of useful Italian translations and an encyclopedia of ingredients and wine all of which sold me the book and I am generally happy enough with it. But I will defensively make the recipes from now on, now that my trust has been violated.

5 out of 5 stars Bella!!!.......2001-12-30

Being a huge fan of Italian cooking (and quite a good novice in my own right) I was very eager to find a good cookbook on the subject especially after returning from a month long culinary tour of the pennisula in November. Well, I hit the jackpot when a friend presented me with a copy of Gastronomy of Italy. It is a simple, beautifully written and presented book on the foods of Italy. Anybody who is looking for a really good book on Italian cooking need look no further than this. I spent over 3 hours on the first evening just savoring the recipes and drooling over the photographs!! Bella! Enjoy. Scott
Autumn in Piemonte: Food and Travels in Italy's Northwest
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Autumn in Piemonte: Food and Travels in Italy's Northwest
    Manuela Darling-Gansser
    Manufacturer: Hardie Grant Books
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

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    ASIN: 174066308X

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    The culinary heart and soul of the beautiful and culturally fascinating Piemonte region of northwest Italy—from Crissini con le Noci to Fritatta Gialla e Verde, and from tiny countryside trattorias to opulent Torino cafes—is explored in this alluring account that is equal parts memoir, local history, and recipe collection. Located between France, Switzerland, and the eastern portion of Italy, the area is home to some of the world's best produce. Secrets of the agriculturally rich Po Valley and tales of the spectacular capital of Torino are coupled with anecdotes about friends, family, and the importance of preparing and sharing good, quality food. Vivid color photographs further illustrate the splendor of the region.
    Frommer's Food Lover's Companion to Italy
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • A great introduction to regional Italian cuisines
    Frommer's Food Lover's Companion to Italy
    Marc Millon , and Kim Millon
    Manufacturer: Frommer
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0028609263

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars A great introduction to regional Italian cuisines.......1999-09-01

    There is no such thing as "Italian cooking" and I think Frommer's Food Lover's Companion to Italy is a great introductory tool to learn about the different foods of each region of Italy. My mother's family came from central Italy and I grew up eating great dishes like homemade pasta, risotto, gnocchis, and polenta. However, my knowledge of the cuisines of other regions was limited and I found this little book to be of great value in showing how each region differs from the others.

    This is not a cookbook, but I've found it to be enlightening in helping me discover what other types of Italian cooking I'd appreciate. I've bought cookbooks on Liguria, Piedmont, and Emilia-Romagna based to a very great extent on what I read in this book. There's a lot of relevant information on the foods of each region, as well as some discussion on regional specialties like risotto in Piedmont, polenta in the Veneto, and farrinata in Liguria.

    This is one of two books that I keep at work to browse through while eating lunch. The other is Judy Ridgway's "The Olive Oil Companion". Quite often I thumb through the Frommer book to see variations of my favorite foods and think about dinners that lie ahead. If anything, this little book has enhanced my love of Italian foods.
    Savoring Italy
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • It's all in there !
    Savoring Italy
    Carol Field , and Marilyn Costa
    Manufacturer: Harpercollins
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

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    ASIN: 0060169001

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars It's all in there !.......2006-11-20

    succulent recipes...mouth-watering photography...it's a perfect coffee table book to browse through at your leisure and enjoy...
    Al Dente
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Nice, nice book!
    Al Dente
    William Black
    Manufacturer: Black Swan
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0552999989
    Release Date: 2004-07-04

    Book Description

    Contrary to popular opinion, the answer to the question ‘Where does pizza come from?’ is not ‘The freezer.’ But it is true to say that many Italian foods are now part of our everyday diet. Pesto, Parmesan and ciabatta are on sale in every supermarket.

    In Al Dente, William Black travels the length and breadth of Italy to get to the roots of Italian food. His quest for the most delicious and authentic cooking and the very finest ingredients take him to wonderfully familiar places and hidden delights: he drinks coffee in Turin, and views the mattanza, the annual tuna catch, off the coast of Sardinia. And as he eats his way to the country’s culinary heart, he unearths the fascinating story of his own family’s role in Italian history. A joy from cover to cover. It will probably make you want to book a holiday and it will certainly make you laugh.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Nice, nice book!.......2005-01-01

    I purchased this book while spending half a day at Gatwick airport, on my way back to Italy, after losing my connection... This is a lovely book, and I think the editorial review posted on Amazon's web site is a bit ungenerous. It is truly a very "English" book, but I don't see why that's supposed to be a problem. It is interesting and witty, and, more importantly, the author really understands Italians, and their attitude towards food. I am Italian, and it's not so common to find someone who can deal with our love for food in a joking but at the same time very very respectful way. We may be a "bit" obsessed with food, but just see (better, taste) what the results of this obsession are! Black knows about food and cooking, and for his attitude towards them he definitely deserves an honorary Italian citizenship.
    Part of the book also deals with Italian history, and it does so in a interesting way. Indeed, one important thread of the book is the author's search for information on Mazzini and the Rosselli brothers, as before starting his journey he discovered to be related to the Rossellis (on his mother's side).
    If you plan to visit Italy, and if you love food, you should read this book first, especially if you are going to visit some of the places toured by Black. Just consider that, unfortunately but understandably, not all of Italy is covered here, and there are some important "culinary places" that you will not find in this book, notably most of Tuscany and Emilia Romagna. You will find, instead, Piemonte (Turin, and Alba and her Truffles), Sicily, Sardinia, a small bit of Rome, Comacchio (a small small plsce hidden in the fog, famous for the eel), Amalfi and Naples, Livorno and Genoa, and a few other places that I don't remember. Anyway, I highly recommend this book, and I am surprised it's didn't have any success in the US!
    Delizia!: The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Delizia!: The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food
      John Dickie
      Manufacturer: Free Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

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      Eating & Drinking in Italy: Italian Menu Translator and Restaurant Guide, Fourth Edition (Open Road Travel Guides)
      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
      • does the job
      Eating & Drinking in Italy: Italian Menu Translator and Restaurant Guide, Fourth Edition (Open Road Travel Guides)
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      ASIN: 1593600712

      Book Description

      Nothing can make a trip to Italy more enjoyable and rewarding than a great dining experience - but you have to know what to order! This handy guide helps readers navigate Italian menus while also steering people to some great Italian restaurants, bistros, cafes, wine shops, and food markets in Italy's big cities. Most of the book is a comprehensive menu reader, translating thousands of Italian words into English. There are also sections on restaurant etiquette, a pronunciation guide, English-to-Italian phrases and words and descriptions of the many different kinds of food and eating establishments in Italy.

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      Customer Reviews:

      4 out of 5 stars does the job.......2007-05-29

      If you need a little help reading an Italian menu, this will do.
      Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage)
      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
      • Fun, fun fun in the bowels of the kitchen
      • A humorous read that made me hungry!
      • Interesting but not what I thought it was going to be
      • I think I made the pages soggy...
      • ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
      Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage)
      Bill Buford
      Manufacturer: Vintage
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
      MemoirsMemoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Gastronomy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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      ASIN: 1400034477
      Release Date: 2007-06-26

      Amazon.com

      Bill Buford's funny and engaging book Heat offers readers a rare glimpse behind the scenes in Mario Batali's kitchen. Who better to review the book for Amazon.com, than Anthony Bourdain, the man who first introduced readers to the wide array of lusty and colorful characters in the restaurant business? We asked Anthony Bourdain to read Heat and give us his take. We loved it. So did he. Check out his review below. --Daphne Durham
      Guest Reviewer: Anthony Bourdain

      Anthony Bourdain is host of the Discovery Channel's No Reservations, executive chef at Les Halles in Manhattan, and author of the bestselling and groundbreaking Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook, A Cook's Tour, Bone in the Throat, and many others. His latest book, The Nasty Bits will be released on May 16, 2006.

      Heat is a remarkable work on a number of fronts--and for a number of reasons. First, watching the author, an untrained, inexperienced and middle-aged desk jockey slowly transform into not just a useful line cook--but an extraordinarily knowledgable one is pure pleasure. That he chooses to do so primarily in the notoriously difficult, cramped kitchens of New York's three star Babbo provides further sado-masochistic fun. Buford not only accurately and hilariously describes the painfully acquired techniques of the professional cook (and his own humiations), but chronicles as well the mental changes--the "kitchen awareness" and peculiar world view necessary to the kitchen dweller. By end of book, he's even talking like a line cook.

      Secondly, the book is a long overdue portrait of the real Mario Batali and of the real Marco Pierre White--two complicated and brilliant chefs whose coverage in the press--while appropriately fawning--has never described them in their fully debauched, delightful glory. Buford has--for the first time--managed to explain White's peculiar--almost freakish brilliance--while humanizing a man known for terrorizing cooks, customers (and Batali). As for Mario--he is finally revealed for the Falstaffian, larger than life, mercurial, frighteningly intelligent chef/enterpreneur he really is. No small accomplishment. Other cooks, chefs, butchers, artisans and restaurant lifers are described with similar insight.

      Thirdly, Heat reveals a dead-on understanding--rare among non-chef writers--of the pleasures of "making" food; the real human cost, the real requirements and the real adrenelin-rush-inducing pleasures of cranking out hundreds of high quality meals. One is left with a truly unique appreciation of not only what is truly good about food--but as importantly, who cooks--and why. I can't think of another book which takes such an unsparing, uncompromising and ultimately thrilling look at the quest for culinary excellence. Heat brims with fascinating observations on cooking, incredible characters, useful discourse and argument-ending arcania. I read my copy and immediately started reading it again. It's going right in between Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London and Zola's The Belly of Paris on my bookshelf. --Anthony Bourdain



      Book Description

      A highly acclaimed writer and editor, Bill Buford left his job at The New Yorker for a most unlikely destination: the kitchen at Babbo, the revolutionary Italian restaurant created and ruled by superstar chef Mario Batali.

      Finally realizing a long-held desire to learn first-hand the experience of restaurant cooking, Buford soon finds himself drowning in improperly cubed carrots and scalding pasta water on his quest to learn the tricks of the trade. His love of Italian food then propels him on journeys further afield: to Italy, to discover the secrets of pasta-making and, finally, how to properly slaughter a pig. Throughout, Buford stunningly details the complex aspects of Italian cooking and its long history, creating an engrossing and visceral narrative stuffed with insight and humor.

      Customer Reviews:

      4 out of 5 stars Fun, fun fun in the bowels of the kitchen.......2007-10-12

      I read Bourdain's book and loved it. I also liked this one. Raw, honest talk from someone who has been there.
      The autobiography part was fascinating (can such characters really populate elite restaurants!?) and the lowdown on furiously making food night after night was priceless. The last section was too blah blah about Mario Batali, although the scenes of Italy were intriguing. A must read for real food lovers.

      5 out of 5 stars A humorous read that made me hungry!.......2007-10-07

      Who wouldn't want to go on Buford's journey? He's a great tour guide on his gasto-tour of the kitchens of the Mario Batali and Pierre Marco White. He shows that kitchens can be places that are filled with potential dangers and loads of passion. It took me awhile to get through this book, in part because I kept getting hungry and had to go make something to eat! I'm ready to go clamp the pasta machine to the counter and whip up some fresh pasta.

      It's a pretty dense book to get through, and the author wanders away from the main story often. Most of the time, it's to an interesting place, but sometimes, it's just a tangent. But aside from a few of those as a distraction, I thought this was a great book.

      3 out of 5 stars Interesting but not what I thought it was going to be.......2007-09-19

      I got this book because my husband heard an interview on the radio and thought I would like it since I love to cook. It was interesting but spent too much time, for me, on the politics of working in a restaurant kitchen and not enough on the workings of food in a restaurant. I bored with the personalities and gave up trying to figure out who was who.

      4 out of 5 stars I think I made the pages soggy..........2007-09-17

      This guy, Bill Buford, is pretty amazing. Despite the danger of slicing off his hands entirely (an accident that he somehow manages to repeat) under various huge, sharp, professional knives, he insisted going (back again and again) to Italy to learn about things so obscure even professional chefs wouldn't have much idea about.
      If you're looking for a book about Batali, this isn't the most comprehensive one, but it's scathingly honest and if you really live and breathe food, you'll gain a whole lot more than goss about the inner workings of Batali's businesses. It gets a bit soppy at times - a bit too "Tuscany is beautiful, and Provence is the ultimate foodie heaven", but only fleetingly, and all can be forgiven once you read about the author's hilarious effort to cook a whole pig...

      3 out of 5 stars ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......2007-09-11

      The chapters on Mario Batali and the dynamics of his kitchen were really interesting and engaging. I was intrigud by the sections on Marco Pierre White as I had just read Gordon Ramsey's autobiography in which his tempestuous relationship with White plays a significant role. The rest of Buford's book is just too tediously, self-indulgently written to the point where it killed my interest in the underlying subjects of pasta making and butchery (I ended up skimming page after page as I just couldn't take it). It reminded me of a computer spitting forth every bit of information in its memory regardless of relevance or interest. Just too many tedious, boorish details.
      Italy on Your Own: Making the Most of Local Food and Drink (Self-Help Travel Guides)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Italy on Your Own: Making the Most of Local Food and Drink (Self-Help Travel Guides)
        Susan Grossman
        Manufacturer: Hippocrene Books
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

        GeneralGeneral | Gastronomy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
        DiningDining | Food & Lodging | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Italy | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Travel | Subjects | Books
        ASIN: 0870523546

        Books:

        1. Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
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        5. Haley's Hints
        6. Healthy Helpings: 800 Fast and Fabulous Recipes for the Kosher (or Not) Cook
        7. Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
        8. History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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        10. How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques

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