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Shelf Number | Material Type | Copy | Shelf Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARC 394.26045 FIE | Archive Collection | 1 | Archive Collection | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Author Notes
Carol Field was born Carol Helen Hart in Oakland, California on March 27, 1940. She received a bachelor's degree in English from Wellesley College in 1961. She worked for a time as a librarian in the San Francisco public library system and then with a colleague opened Minerva's Owl, a bookstore, in 1962. She helped run the store for five years and then found work as a buyer for Scott Martin Books. She contributed articles to several magazines including City magazine, Gourmet, and Bon Appétit. After working as an editor at New West and San Francisco magazines, she wrote The Hill Towns of Italy, which was published in 1982.
Her first cookbook, The Italian Baker, was published in 1985. Her other cookbooks included Celebrating Italy, Italy in Small Bites, Nonna's Kitchen: Traditional Recipes and Culture from Italian Grandmothers, and Focaccia: Simple Breads from the Italian Oven. She also wrote a novel entitled Mangoes and Quince. In 2004, she was made a Knight in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. She died from complications of a stroke on March 10, 2017 at the age of 76.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this encyclopedic effort, IACP/Tastemaker Award-winner Field ( The Italian Baker ) takes readers on a fascinating culinary tour: a trip through Italy that in form is part guidebook, part cookbook and ``culinary archaeology'' at its best. Her Italy is a place of fairs, festivals,stet and historic and religious hoopla that transform the mundane into the magical: ``Festivals are a form of communion . . . not only for Italians but for Americans who happen upon them.'' Almost invariably, festivals are gastronomically obsessed, ``tied to the calendar and to the countryside.'' Field lures the reader to feasts of seafood, polenta, rice,stet and strawberries--even a Passover seder in Rome. And, from Tuscan grape harvest sweetbread (schiacciata all'uva)sic to creamy pumpkin-flavored rice (riso e zucca)sic and a Christmas soup of bread and cheese (li straccettisic ), she presents a host of unusual recipes. While they are organized by celebration, many are also incorporated into the author's modern menu suggestions. BOMC HomeStyle main selection; author tour. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Del Conte's focus is on the importance of ingredients to Italian cuisine. Her book is sectioned according to food type: pasta, bread, fish, salami, vegetables, cheese, herbs, olive oil, etc. In addition to recipes, she writes at length about how to stock your kitchen in order to produce authentic Italian meals on demand. A good, basic book to have around. Index. Field's unique approach is to divide her book by seasons and introduce recipes from religious and pagan festivals that occur throughout the year in Italy. Lengthy essays--especially about the more well known holidays like the Palio in Siena or Christmas in Rome--precede the actual recipes, which range from hazelnut pound cake to roast suckling pig, from Granita di Limone (lemon ice) to boar stew. But standard information is also provided (how to make a yeast starter for better bread and a recipe for Italian doughnuts). This cookbook almost functions as a tour guide with its historical background interwoven and lengthy traveler's calendar appended--a luxury but an interesting one. With bibliography and index.Roden's book is divided by subtlety of cuisine in different regions of Italy, including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. From the top of the boot down, she introduces each section with an essay explaining the type of food considered to be that region's specialty and its culinary history. And because no Italian meal is complete without vino, she concludes each essay with that region's specialty wine. Recipes, listed by type of food (the course in the meal), are appended, as are short chapters on essential ingredients and choosing a wine. Based on the author's series in the Sunday Times Magazine (London), this cookbook is a Book-of-the-Month Club alternate selection. As well it should be--it holds the elusive recipe for braciole! ~--Kathryn LaBarbera
Library Journal Review
This fascinating new work from the author of the well-regarded The Italian Baker ( LJ 11/15/85) combines cultural history, folklore, and food, as Field explores some of the more unusual festivals that take place every year in Italy. These celebrate religious holidays, individual cities, pagan traditions, or, often, food: the Fair of Pecorino Cheese, the Gnocchi Bacchanalia. Regardless of the occasion, however, each has its special dishes. Field's lengthy descriptions of the festivals provide an intimate view of the proceedings, and her recipes include many unusual regional specialties and, not surprisingly, a wide array of delicious breads and pastries. Recommended for travel, folklore, and cookery collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.