Italian Food (Penguin Classics)

`Italian Food' is one of the three major books Elizabeth David wrote in the first five years of her culinary writing career, the other two being `French Provincial Cooking' and her first, `Mediterranean Food'. The titles of two of these three books, being about `Food' and not strictly about `Cooking' is very telling of the fact that Ms. David's major books on food are simply not like any other writer of her generation.For starters, it is a mistake to see Ms. David as `the English Julia Child'. While Julia Child was possibly the most outstanding teacher of cooking methods writing in English, Ms. David was the most distinguished scholar of English, French, and Italian cooking methods and cuisine. The hallmark of that difference was that while Julia Child reworked and expanded traditional recipes so that no detail was left to chance for the amateur American cook, Ms. David goes to equal lengths to describe exactly how Italians really cook, down to the marked inexactness of their measuring.Unlike all the great modern writers in English on Italian cuisine such as Marcella Hazan, Giuliano Bugialli, and Lydia Bastianich, Ms. David not only gives us a survey of Italian ingredients, recipes, and methods, she gives us a critique of them as well. Can you possibly imagine Marcella Hazan saying that the Italians generally do not cook eggs very well?Note that Ms. David is as rigorous about her giving the correct Italian names to things as the very best of the Italian writers, but unlike the Italians, she is really seeing Italian cooking through French colored glasses. Today, we commonly think, for example, of a frittata as a distinct type of dish. Ms. David translates `frittata' into `omelet'. Her description of the technique is perfect, something even Mario Batali would be proud to quote, but he may object to the interpretation of the dish as seen by `the F country'.The importance of Ms. David's achievement, which required a full year's research in Italy, can only be appreciated when you realize that she was working in a climate of opinion in England which saw Italian cuisine as very dull, being nothing more than variations on pasta and veal. As we are well aware today, Ms. David found an enormous wealth of regional diversity in ingredients, methods, and even language, as the same pasta shape can be called three or four different names in different parts of the country.Since this is a critical and analytical look at Italian cooking, it is done by type of dish rather than by region. And, the book is not intended to be a `complete' survey of Italian dishes. There are a few well known dishes such as `pasta puttanesca' or `timbales' which are not here, and some, such as `spaghetti alla carbonara' which are found under a slightly different name, `Maccheroni alla carbonara' (which is actually more appropriate, as many types of pasta shapes are done with this eggy preparation).One of the many things that stand out in this book is how well Ms. David's personality and point of view come out on practically every page. In a recent competition for `The next Food Network Star', the judges stated over and over that the contestants must project who they were while presenting the culinary material. Like her great contemporaries, M.F.K. Fisher and Julia Child, this is certainly one thing which Elizabeth David does to great effect. I was especially pleased when she spoke of her connection to the much older travel writer, Norman Douglas. While Ms. David's biography did not clearly reveal the source of Elizabeth's love of food and food writing, the statements in Ms. David's own `Italian Food' make it clear that the elder Norman Douglas was her primary mentor in establishing her professional interest in food and writing about it at a very high standard.Ms. David's high standards are evident when you compare her writing with that of Tony May in his recent handbook, `Italian Cuisine' where I found several mistakes in identifying ingredients. While the culinary content was sound, Mr. May, and his publisher's copy editors, had relatively low standards for factual accuracy.A quick look at the back of `Italian Cooking' confirms the fact that this is more a work of scholarship than of a simple book on cookery. There are appendices of bibliographies on both cooking and tourism and notes on wine. One may need to be a little careful with any references, especially on wine and travel, as much in this area has changed in the last 50 years.Short of stumbling across an autographed copy of the hardcover edition with the original illustrations, you will want to refer to the revised edition, first published by Penguin Books in 1963, as this edition incorporates most of the footnotes into the main text, as the footnoted material was largely segregated due to the 1954 rationing of food in England.While Ms. David had several major culinary writing disciples, especially Jane Grigson and Claudia Roden, I believe the only place you will find writing at her level of scholarly criticism is from the leading modern columnists such as John Thorne, Jeffrey Steingarten, and James Villas.You may not want to cook from this book on a daily basis, but as I have, I believe you can use this as your primary source of Italian recipes, and be all the wiser for choosing this volume.

I have an old Penguin paperback version of this book, in my possession since 1966, held together with duct tape, speckled with with dots of olive oil, pesto and marinara from all these long years of use so it was with great delight that I found this new version on Amazon. It is a standard that I return to again and again for Mrs. David's keen understanding of what makes Italian cusine so superb; impeccable ingredients, careful attention to method and restraint. The recipes from this book taste the most like food I've eaten in Italy because Italian food, while layered with many nuances and flavors is essentially quite simple relying on exquisite freshness and finesse. Elizabeth David brings that lesson home in her wonderfully literate and direct voice sometimes reminding and sometimes demanding what the recipes are expecting from you. As is her wont the book is filled with asides and quotes from Italian writers and thinkers; F.Marinetti, the Italian futurist of the 1930s and Apicius from 30 A.D. and a line like this from Guiseppe Marotta, the Neopolitan writer, who says about spaghetti: "The important thing to remember is to adapt your dish of spaghetti to circumstances and your state of mind". She wins me over with her charming/demanding use of the English language, her dry sense of humor and her obvious love of her subject. Many of the recipes in this book have become part of my repetoire ( Minestra Verde, Budino di Pollo in Brodo, Casoeula, Carote al Marsala & Pesche Ripiene to name a few) while others are simply informative about Italian food and culture. This book, originally published in 1954, holds it's own right now in the 21st century and is a tantalizing and wonderful adventure in cooking and eating. For anyone who enjoys Italy and Italian food this book will give years of service and pleasure.

Pro: The part Elizabeth David contributed is great. I also have the hard cover version, which was originally written in the 1950s. The recipes are written European style.Con: Regarding the Kindle version, it is a big disappointment. The whole point of a digital version of an old cookbook would be to have the modern benefits of a digital index. Not only is there no list of the specific recipes in a table of contents, the index does not have links, and the pages the index refers to are useless, because they do not match with the digital version's page numbers.

If you're American, you read Elizabeth David's works because they cultivate first an understanding of ingredients, flavors, textures and methodology more than a step-by-step, "how to" guide to recipes. If you read this particular volume, based on a culinary historyof whole foods, prepared through the ages with regional interpretation, you will build your confidence in formulating and enjoying fine Mediterranean cuisine.As expected, David's revisions since 1958, and Child's 1991 upgrades, have resulted in a full integration of footnotes into the text. The result is a more readable and useful version of an absolute classic. Five stars. Again.

This is the book that I turn to if I want no muss, no fuss Italian cooking that gets it right, even though I have others. I got a paperback copy back in the 70s and finally had to give up on it last month--so got a new copy here on Amazon. Other than the cover, everything is just like it was in the 60s, when it first came out. Elizabeth David was a wonderful writer. If you want Italy at home, and don't need fancy photos, this is the book to go to.

Recipes are pretty good, but the Kindle format is horrible. The index doesn’t link to anything, but that’s OK, because it is 100% wrong. Absolutely nothing I have looked up in the index is on the listed page number.

Food writing at its best. Techniques and "recipes" from the old days. A bit of history. Etc. The only other food writer I enjoy so much is M.F.K.Fisher.

The food is scrumptious, the directions easy to follow. An assortment of eating delights.

A seminal book , how have I not had this in my collection, is a huge oversight. It may have been written in another Millennium, but the appreciation for the simple but finest ingredients combined with the no frills , straightforward cooking of Italy, yet with a dash of her wit and seasoning - a truly gastronomic delight

A wonderful book that takes you into the life of the Italian kitchen. Much more that just a recipe book, more a cultural exploration.

Bought as a gift for my Mom who loves cooking. She was really pleased with the books. They arrived very quickly and were in perfect condition. Thanks!

The book makes interesting reading. The recipes are simple but sound delicious. The best thing about the book is that it is now a piece of social history. Most of the ingredients are readily available in the modern supermarket without having to source the produce at specialist shops in London. Brilliant for its age.

VERSION: PAPERBACK EDITION (2nd stock image above refers, at the time of writing)📝 'Elizabeth David discovered her taste for good food and wine when she lived with a French family while studying history and literature at the Sorbonne.A few years after her return to England, she made up her mind to learn how to cook so that she could reproduce for herself and her friends some of the food that she had come to appreciate in France. Subsequently Mrs David lived and kept house in France, Italy, Greece, Egypt and India, as well as in England...'ooOooIf your budget won't stretch to the hardback edition, which is highly recommended for its superb photography and sumptuous presentation for a book of this time, this is the next best thing, IMO.Fresh lemons enhance the plain white cover which opens to 376 matte finish pages, packed full of information and recipes, written in the typical Elizabeth David elegantly flowing style.📝 'This edition of Italian Food differs from several of its predecessors chiefly in that revisions made over many years in the form of footnotes have now been incorporated into the main body of the text......References to numerous shops, at one time sources of supply of imported Italian foodstuffs, but now vanished, have been eliminated. When it came to my original chapter on the wines of Italy, I found that almost everything I wrote in 1954 had receded into history...'.The book opens with an introduction, notes about the previous editions, and finishes with a 37-page index.Sandwiched in between are the recipes, titles in both Italian and English (if applicable), split over the following chapters:~ ITALIAN DISHES IN FOREIGN KITCHENS~ THE ITALIAN STORE CUPBOARD~ KITCHEN EQUIPMENT~ HORS D'OEUVRE AND SALADS~ SOUPS~ PASTA ASCIUTTA~ RAVIOLI, GNOCCHI ETC.~ RICE~ HARICOT BEANS, CHICK PEAS, POLENTA ETC.~ EGGS, CHEESE DISHES, PIZZA ETC.~ FISH SOUPS~ FISH~ MEAT~ POULTRY & GAME~ VEGETABLES~ SWEETS, SECTIONED INTO 'FRUIT' & 'ICES'~ SAUCES~ PRESERVES~ CHEESES~ NOTES AND BOOKS ON ITALIAN WINES~ SOME ITALIAN COOKERY BOOKS~ GUIDES TO FOOD & WINE IN ITALYA scattering of black & white illustrations breaks up the text, which is simple in places and more complex where it needs to be, e.g.:📝 'DENTICE (DENTEX)~ A Mediterranean fish of which there is no equivalent in northern waters. At its best grilled or roasted.'📝 'ORATA~ The Daurade of Provence. A large Mediterranean fish with, in spite of its name which implies gold-fish, silvery scales. The nearest approach to it to be found in England, is the sea bream, which can be used for the recipe below.There are two good ways of cooking this fish, in 'cartoccio' (fish cooked in paper cases), page 146, and with a sauce of white wine and sultanas, which can be applied very successfully to carp and also to fresh haddock.'Then follows the recipe for 'ORATA AL VINO BIANCO' (Orata cooked in white wine).📝 'When it was first published, 'Italian Food', Elizabeth David's magnificent survey of the varied food and cookery of Italy's many regions, proved an inspiration to British cooks. In it, she conveyed all the richness, the colour and variety of this remarkable cooking tradition. The popularity of Italian food today and the ready availability of ingredients means that even the busiest cook can re-create such tempting dishes as 'roasted red peppers',' Piedmontese cheese fondue', 'fettuccine with fresh tomato sauce' and' chicken breasts with ham and cheese'.