Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #737 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-14
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1264 pages

Synopsis
The Silver Spoon is the most influential and successful cookbook in Italy. Originally published in 1950, it became an instant classic, selling over one million copies in eight editions. Considered to be essential in every household, it is still one of the most popular wedding presents today. The Silver Spoon was conceived and published by Domus, the design and architectural magazine famously directed by Gio Ponti from the 1920s to the 1970s. A group of cooking experts was commissioned to collect hundreds of traditional Italian recipes and make them available for the first time to a wider audience. In the process, they updated ingredients, quantities and methods to suit contemporary tastes and customs, at the same time preserving the memory of ancient recipes for future generations. They also included modern recipes from some of the most famous Italian chefs, resulting in a style of cooking that appeals to the gourmet as well as the occasional cook A comprehensive and lively book, its simple and user-friendly format makes it both accessible and a pleasure to read. It provides an introduction to every course, and an explanation of the main type of ingredients.

Each recipe is accompanied by a recommended list of wines, and a section on menus (seasonal, special occasions, everyday) aims to help not only with the cooking but also with the planning of a pleasant culinary event. Never translated before, The Silver Spoon has now been adapted to an international market, with every recipe checked for suitability, measurements converted and methods rewritten to accommodate cultural differences, yet maintaining the authenticity of real Italian cooking. The new layout emphasises its contemporary appeal and the colour coding of each section simplifies the process of cross-referencing ingredients and methods. This is a substantial and prestigious cookbook that will share the bookshelves with other titles such as The Joy of Cooking and Larousse Gastronomique, another classic of national cuisine. With over 2,000 recipes illustrated with specially commissioned artwork and photography, the book is destined to become a new classic in the Italian cooking booklist.

Customer Reviews

A must for any italian food lover
My step father was an Italian restauranteur and had a copy of this same book in Italian throughout his career. He even had it rebound a few years back. During his life he ran a hotel in Rome and cooked for cardinals that came there from the vatican using recipes from the Silver spoon.

I was therefore thrilled when this came out in English and so far have bought 3 copies so that both my daughters have them for their homes. They use them daily. Not only is this the authentic cookery book for Italian food lovers it is amazingly economical, utilising seasonal fresh foods and not that many ingredients unlike so many newer recipes.

Risotto with carrots for example is fantastically creamy as the carrot is pureed. Highly recommended reading and an ideal gift for any newly weds or new home buyers.

Really Good
Bought this book from Amazon and after two weeks have cooked 4 things from it. Every recipe has tasted great with bags of flavour. More importantly, every recipe has worked.

A wonderful cookbook
Since I started using this cookbook I've used very few others. OK it requires you to have a bit of basic knowledge/common sense, but the recipes are straightforward, generally require very few ingredients (avoiding that awkward problem of ending up with cupboards stuffed with peculiar odds and sods that you've only ever used once) and, most importantly, the results are supremely tasty. My only real gripe with the book is that the sizes of the baking tins are never mentioned, so you may end up with either too much or too little pastry depending on the size of tins you possess. It would be better if it was stated in the recipe whether the quantity made filled, say, an 8" tart case. However, all in all this is a great book that's given me hours of pleasure and therefore deserves a five star rating.