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Summary
Summary
Here is an inspiring, wide-ranging A-Z guide to one of the world's best-loved cuisines. Designed for cooks and consumers alike, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food covers all aspects of the history and culture of Italian gastronomy, from dishes, ingredients, and delicacies to cooking methods and implements, regional specialties, the universal appeal of Italian cuisine, influences from outside Italy, and much more. Following in the footsteps of princes and popes, vagabond artists and cunning peasants, austere scholars and generations of unknown, unremembered women who shaped pasta, moulded cheeses and lovingly tended their cooking pots, Gillian Riley celebrates a heritage of amazing richness and delight. She brings equal measures of enthusiasm and expertise to her writing, and her entries read like mini-essays, laced with wit and gastronomical erudition, marked throughout by descriptive brilliance, and entirely free of the pompous tone that afflicts so much writing about food. The Companion is attentive to both tradition and innovation in Italian cooking, and covers an extraordinary range of information, from Anonimo Toscano, a medieval cookbook, to Bartolomeo Bimbi, a Florentine painter commissioned by Cosimo de Medici to paint portraits of vegetables, to Paglierina di Rifreddo, a young cheese made of unskimmed cows' milk, to zuppa inglese, a dessert invented by 19th century Neapolitan pastry chefs. Major topics receive extended treatment. The entry for Parmesan, for example, runs to more than 2,000 words and includes information on its remarkable nutritional value, the region where it is produced, the breed of cow used to produce it (the razza reggiana, or vacche rosse), the role of the cheese maker, the origin of its name, Molière's deathbed demand for it, its frequent and lustrous depiction in 16th and 17th century paintings, and the proper method of serving, where Riley admonishes: "One disdains the phallic peppermill, but must always appreciate the attentive grating, at the table, of parmesan over pasta or soup, as magical in its way as shavings of truffles." Such is the scope and flavor of The Oxford Companion to Italian Food. For anyone with a hunger to learn more about the history, culture and variety of Italian cuisine, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food offers endless satisfactions. BLMore than 900 headwordsBLThought-provoking and entertaining essay-style A-Z entries make this the ideal companion for anyone who wants to learn more about Italian cookery BLEntries written not as dictionary entries but as short surveys, detailing the context in which a dish or food was conceived or developed; how it is, or was, prepared and consumed; and its historical and contemporary importance BLExtensive cross-references facilitate ease-of-use BLIn addition to the A-Z entries, the Companion will include a thematic index, a general index, comprehensive bibliography, and list of suggested further reading
Author Notes
Gillian Riley is a food historian and freelance photographer. She has written many books on food in art such as Renaissance Recipes and Impressionistic Picnics and is the author of A Feast for the Eyes, the National Gallery Cookbook. Riley contributes regularly to the Oxford Food Symposium. She lives in London.
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
Admitting that no one book can adequately cover Italian food, Riley, a British author and food historian, promises to convey the delights and excitement of the pursuit. She certainly does this in a scholarly yet entertaining volume. The more than 900 entries, arranged in dictionary format, read like essays. There are no recipes as such, but many dishes describe the ingredients and methods of cooking. All aspects of food are mentioned ingredients, implements and methods of cooking, chefs, regions of the country, etc. Convenience foods, Cookbooks, and Coriander are all described in entries of 2 pages. Chickpeas and Parmesan each merit 3 pages. Pig has 5 pages, followed by separate entries for the fat, head, offal, and other pig parts. Various aspects of pasta are discussed in 11 entries over 13 pages. Riley quotes excerpts from literature (some only in Italian) to illustrate the use of a food. One of her favorite writers is Andrea Camilleri. In the entry for Sand smelt, there is a half-page description of Montalbano (Camilleri's fictional detective) eating fritters made with the tiny fish. A few small but artful black-and-white photographs accompany the text. A detailed bibliography and a comprehensive index add to the usefulness of this volume as a research tool. Recommended for all culinary reference collections, but those who love Italy or Italian food will enjoy reading it for pleasure.--Bulson, Christine Copyright 2008 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Widely praised by leading Italian chefs and including a foreword by Mario Batali, this A-to-Z guide to Italian food and culture includes more than 900 articles on everything from medieval cookbooks and Italian food in Renaissance painting to the latest cooking methods and regional delicacies. The content is engaging and appetizing and is equally enthralling whether discussing history or flavor, as it provides answers to questions great and small about all things Italian. The book is organized alphabetically, but its content is also accessible by subject, which include art and culture; baked goods; biographies; cheese and milk products; culinary terms; drinks and beverages; fish and seafood; fruits, vegetables, and nuts; herbs, spices, and condiments; history and society; meat and meat products; pasta and rice; prepared food and dishes; preparing, serving, and eating; regional cuisine; and sweets and confectionary. While photos are scattered throughout, more care could have been given to the book's visual presentation with the inclusion of additional images as well as sidebars, favorite recipes, and perhaps a color insert. Nevertheless, the book will delight readers and meets its goal of providing browsing pleasure. The author clearly shares her passion for food, having written many books on food and art, including Renaissance Recipes and A Feast for the Eyes. BOTTOM LINE The first in Oxford's new "Regional Food Companion" series, this title makes an excellent companion to Italian cookbooks such as Everyday Italian or Molto Italiano. Recommended for all libraries with specialties in Italian culture and cooking. [Available electronically through Oxford Digital Reference Shelf.]--Kathleen A. Welton, Chicago (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.