Product Description

Antonio Carluccio is one of Italian foods greatest ambassadors, believing that Italy produces the finest produce and the richest cuisine in the world. This work distils a lifetime's knowledge and experience into one definitive book. Each chapter focuses on a different food type: fish and shellfish; poultry and game; pasta; fresh and cured meats; vegetables and pulses; rice and grains; fungi; cheese; fruits and nuts; and breads and pastries, and describes methods of cultivation, production and preparation, explaining numerous regional varieties, specialities and traditions. Over 200 classic recipes from every region of Italy are featured, along with an A-Z of Italian oils, herbs, spices, wines and liqueurs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24767 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Maestro Carluccio hits the spot again with Complete Italian Food. Despite the title, it is not a comprehensive encyclopedia--how could it be, at 320 pages?--but a personal sampling of Italian food as it is still produced by traditional methods using traditional skills and materials: "real Italian food, where it comes from and why it tastes the way it does". Rather than work his way through the 20 regions of Italy, Carluccio has chosen to start with the foodstuffs themselves. A chapter is devoted to each category: Fish & Shellfish; Eggs, Poultry & Game; Fresh & Cured Meats and so on. Each contains an account of the place these foods hold in Italian culture and an A-Z of the most common individual ingredients, describing each briefly and noting differences in approach from region to region. A selection of recipes follows. It is with these that the book really rises to the heights. How does Carluccio do it? He seems to be able effortlessly to extract from the huge number of available recipes just those that will show up both the beauty of Italian food and its great range. The mushroom dishes are a good example of the deceptive simplicity at work here (fungi are a passion of Caluccio's): Taglierini Pasta with White Truffle; Procini in Oil; Cured Mixed Wild Mushrooms; Baked Kid with Cardoncelli; Judas Ears Sauteed with Garlic and Pasley; Grilled Porcini Caps with Garlic... So it continues, contributing to a wonderfully judicious and informative book. --Robin Davidson

Review
A beautiful, informative book - a must for all lovers of Italian food --Good Housekeeping

A delight to read, look at and cook from --Sainsbury's Magazine

The ultimate compendium of Italian ingredients, produce and recipes --Publishing News

A delight to read, look at and cook from --Sainsbury's Magazine

The ultimate compendium of Italian ingredients, produce and recipes --Publishing News

About the Author
Antonio Carluccio, leading gastronome and best-selling Italian food writer, explores for the first time the foods and traditions of the different recipes which give Italian cooking its richly varied colourful character. He owns with his wife Priscilla, the Italian food shop, Carluccio s and the series of Carluccio s Caffes, and recently given the Commendatore award by the Italian government for his contribution to Italian food. His previous writing includes Complete Italian Food, Antonio Carluccio s Italian Feast and Southern Italian Feast, written to accompany two highly successful television series. Other titles include The Complete Mushroom Book, and Italia.

Customer Reviews

It is enitrely what it states to be.....
I have to disagree with the reviewer who said this book was a disappointment. It does not pretend to be a recipe book - not a traditional one at least. What it is, on the otherhand, is a complete guide to Italian food and cooking. There is a lot of priceless information, doubtlessly-well researched, about how the various ingredients work together, their availability in various regions, and, of course, mouth-watering recipes. What the previous reviewer failed to see, perhaps, was that the recipes given in this book are very easily adaptable, and having read the background info at the beginning of each chapter, one can very easily create a multitude of traditional Italian dishes, based on the recipes found within the same chapter.

I am a great fan of Italian cuisine, and a firm believer that cooking is an art, not a task. If all you need is a bible-full of straightforward recipes, with little or no background info, then perhaps something like The Silver Spoon would suit your needs better. However, if you enjoy adding your touch to the dishes you create, then Complete Italian Food is the book for you. It not only presents instructions....it makes the recipes work for you, and makes them so easily adaptable that before long you'll soon be creating your very own repertoire of Italian delicacies....your style!!!

A comprehensive encylopedia of Italian food
I love the way this book is set out, each chapter is in alphabetical order, giving both the Italian and English for every food, advice on choosing produce and interesting sections on how certain foods are farmed, produced, and ways of cooking them. I am English and live in Italy and this has been my bible since certain types of food in the market, (fish, cheese, vegetables, etc) I could not even find in the dictionary let alone know how to be creative with. I would advise all expats in Italy to arm themselves with one of these and you will never have to ask anyone's help again - your cooking will always be wonderful and noone will ever tell you the English don't know how to cook.

Italian food with flame, flair and flavour
Each recipe was individual and unique and yet just as tantalising and delicious as each other. Even recipies which i would not normally have tried have prooved to be excellant and have introduced me to a range of tastes and flavours, which i woud normally never have experianced. I have gained in confidence and repetoire and now I achknowledge myself as a competant cook. I adore Italian food and this book is the nectar of Italian cookery. I would advise it to anyone confident cook or beginner, food lover or even hater. I challenge anyone not to adore this book.