Guaranteed success with Italian cooking
For those not familiar with the Cooks Illustrated books, they are a bit different from most cookbooks. Each dish is approached in a very thorough and rigorous way; different ingredients, amounts, cooking methods, etc. are all examined to determine the tastiest and most convenient recipe. Each recipe goes into detail on how to best prepare the dish, and many recipes offer variations to allow you to customize the dish to your particular taste. After having tried perhaps 20 recipes in this book, I can honestly say that they have all been very good to excellent. One of the most difficult parts about cooking a new dish is deciding which recipe to use- a quick search on the internet might reveal 100 recipes for, say, risotto. The editors of this book have already done the work for you combing through the recipes to find the best one. Highly recommended.
Great book. Needs pictures.
As I have said in many, MANY reviews, I'm a beginner cook. I hope to improve that status eventually. Life in the Corps just doesn't allow for that...yet.
This book is extremely complete. If they are missing any recipes, it can't be many. I would expect a book this large to have a few mistakes. That is what the website and user feedback is for.
I'm working my way through this book. It is not designed to simply sit down and read. It is more of a reference book. It definitely gives me plenty of options on what to do and how.
I like it alot. I will be using it more in the future. I have always wanted to try making my own pasta. It looks so easy on "Iron Chef". Sure enough they have it and they explain a faster method for making it. They go on to explain why it works the way it does. Greatness!!
The only drawback from a beginner cook's point of view is that there are very few pictures. There are several drawings in black and white that give me a good idea of what to do. In the center of the book is a short spread of color pictures of some finished dishes. Granted, the idea of constantly wanting color pictures to follow may be a security blanket for me. Such is life.
Excellent Italian reference for American cooks
A passionate home cook that has been honing her cooking skills for the last 25 years, concentrating on Italian cooking for the last 10 years, writes this review. My favorite cookbooks are "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute and "Culinary Artistry". With more than 500 cookbooks in my collection I am usually disappointed in my recent cookbook acquisitions. I am also very tough on Italian cookbooks in particular.
The "Italian Classics" by the editors of Cooks Illustrated Magazine pleasantly surprised me. I expected the typical Italian American recipes that I dislike. This book is much more authentic that I expected it to be. Even as an experienced Italian cook I find it difficult to criticize this book to any large extent.
The editors of Cook's Illustrated write this book in the same manner as their other books. The writers tell you what they tried that didn't work, before they get to the ingredients and techniques that did work. There are very few pictures in this book. The paper is not the glossy stock that you find in my cookbooks today. I would have appreciated if the book had included the Italian names for the recipes. Sometimes they include the Italian name of the recipes in the narrative about the recipe, and sometimes they do not. But, the recipes themselves more make up for these minor disappointments.
The book is outlines as follows:
1. Antipasti
2. Salads
3. Vegetables
4. Soups
5. Pasta
6. Risotto, Polenta, and Bean
7. Poultry
8. Meat
9. Fish and Shellfish
10. Bread and Pizza
11. Eggs and Savory Tarts
12. Fruit Desserts
13. Chilled and Frozen Desserts
14. Biscotti, Crostate, and Cakes
The first recipe that I check out in any Italian cookbook to gauge its authenticity is Spaghetti Carbonara. If this recipe has cream included the book is immediately put back on the shelf. Unexpectedly, the recipe is this book does not add the cream, as American books tend to do. As I looked further, I realized that the authors tried to make each recipe as authentic as possible. The reason for the qualifier is that it is always not possible to make a recipe 100% authentic. I for one have never found an American supplier of Guanciale (cured pig's cheek), and Farro is also tough to come by. The writers did a very nice job substituting products that are easier to locate in the US.
If you are in need of comprehensive and reasonably authentic Italian cookbook, this will make a nice addition to your cookbook collection.
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