Tag: Cookbook

Book Review: Salumi by Micheal Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn

Book Review: Salumi by Micheal Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn

Book Review: Salumi by Micheal Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn’s Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing was a popular and more general look at making cured meats.  In the author’s latest pork crazed book, Salumi, Ruhlman and Polcyn focus on eight basic categories of Italian salami (plural salumi), including: guanciale, coppa, spalla, lardo, lonza, pancetta, […]

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My Calabria Cookbook Review

My Calabria Cookbook Review

(photo: cover of My Calabria) Authentic Calabria When I see or experience anything with a resemblance of Calabrian authenticity here in the United States I get very excited.   I had a wonderful experience stumbling across Mary Palmer’s very genuine, and heartfelt, cookbook Cucina di Calabria at a used book store during my college days.  Along the same lines, when I […]

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Interview with PBS Host Mary Ann Esposito and Ciao Italia

Interview with PBS Host Mary Ann Esposito and Ciao Italia

Interview with PBS Host Mary Ann Esposito and Ciao Italia Every big idea or theory has an associated sound bite.  The French philosopher Rene Descartes is remembered for his famous line, “I think, therefore I am.”, the chef Jacques Pepin loves to utter, “fast food my way”, and the chef, turned uber capitalist Lidia Bastianich (see the mega Italian Mall, […]

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The Most Useful Cookbook of All Time: Roast Chicken and Other Stories

The Most Useful Cookbook of All Time: Roast Chicken and Other Stories

…well, maybe next to the Joy of Cooking.  Nevertheless, Roast Chicken and Other Stories should be positioned within easy reach on your kitchen bookshelf! The book is full of practical recipes/food ideas such as: You guessed it, Roast Chicken Salad Nicoise Smoked Haddock Leg of Lamb Olive Oil Mash Potatoes The US version of the book (hardcover) is also very nicely put together (nice cover, paper […]

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Mary Palmer’s Cucina Di Calabria

I can’t say enough about Mary Palmer’s excellent cookbook, “Cucina Di Calabria” which, in an elegant manner, documents the many simple dishes of the most southern province of Italy (at least on the mainland).  Palmer’s recipes, like all Italian cookbooks published for a US audience, are a bit more on the “Italian-American” side, but she does hold true to many longstanding Calabrian […]

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