Author(s): Carla Capalbo
Publisher: Smithmark Publishers
Publication Date: 1995-09
Pages: 256
Review: Our local library has a copy of this cookbook and we’ve taken it out many times. I think it is our single favorite cookbook. For whatever reason the all the recipes we’ve tried seem to translate well into delicious food on the table. Not all cookbooks do this. The recipes and ingredients are very straightforward. We have a friend who is a first-generation Italian; we had her and her husband over for dinner and served them the saltimbocca, polenta and chick pea soup from this cookbook. She was genuinely enthusiastic and asked for the recipes. She said the soup was the closest thing she’d had to her mother’s. That was the ultimate compliment. The book is filled with color photographs that are very helpful. So now we’ve finally purchased our own copy and don’t have to worry about splattering the library’s copy with olive oil.This is a very good place to start if you are new to cooking Italian food, or even if you are somewhat of a novice cook altogether. The pictures are very helpful and they show you what to do every step of the way. It’s very uplifting to end with a finished product that looks the same as the one in the book and even better when everyone raves about the taste! I recommend this book very highly.Okay, this isn’t the definitive Italian cookbook, but for beginners this book covers a lot of basics in both recipes and techniques. I bought this while I was a college student for $5 at a “Books-a-Million” store about 12 years ago. I have so many dog-eared pages, notes and post-its in the book that it’s a miracle that it still closes. It now has a place of honor on the art shelf in my kitchen. I have gifted this cookbook (there’s a newer edition that I found recently at Borders & Waldenbooks) to many people in my family and my husband’s family. Were it not for Carla Capalbo, I probably wouldn’t have tried Baked Eggs with Tomatoes (delicious!), Lasagne made with homemade meat sauce and bechamel instead of ricotta/cottage cheese (a true time-consuming dish of love), Potatoes baked with Tomatoes, Spaghetti with Walnut Sauce, Pork Fillets with Caper Sauce, Ham and Cheese Veal Escalops, etc… We’ve made her homemade pizza, gnocchi, foccacia… You name it, I’ve made it from this cookbook with great success. There are a lot of quick and easy dishes as well as afternoon project meals.
Find this book and gift it to someone who’s just starting out on their own or just learning to cook. Most of the ingredients are cheap and easy to find. A lot of the newer celebrity chef cookbooks have exotic ingredients that can be difficult to locate in small-town America. Sure, foodie snobs will turn up their noses at this book and probably prefer Giada DiLaurentis’ stuff but you know what? This book is all about the food–not the author. For starters, I am not a purist. If Carla Capalbo and her editor want to call this “The Ultimate Italian Cookbook” and it really isn’t, fine and dandy. If they want to use non-Italian products in an Italian recipe, fine. As I am not Italian, I may do the same. What I do insist upon and insist upon strongly is that the recipes are successful. Indeedy, they are!
My favorite dish to prepare for myself for now and later (from the freezer) and for family and friends is Eggplant Parmesan (p. 48). I alter the recipe, but I am saying: This is as good as fine restaurant dining. Serve with pasta, crusty garlic bread, salad, and a good merlot, and you’ve got a winner! Even my brother, a meat and potatoes guy, loves this!
How about Asparagus with Eggs (p. 45). Serve this on a Japanese plate as a salad with a crisp white (sauvignon blanc). The eggs are cooked sunny side up. A stunner combination! Or perhaps Fennel and Orange Salad (p. 71)? This one I prepare often because it is so tasty and quick: Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil (p. 86). There are so many pasta recipes: Spaghetti with Bacon and Onion (love it), Spaghetti with Olives and Capers (I omit the capers and have added tuna from a can– I’m not a purist). There is a Penne with Tuna and Mozzarella (100) that does not have tomatoes and is tasty. Two more fab dishes are Fettuccine with Ham and Cream and Tagliatelle with Smoked Salmon. Serve each with fresh parmesan and coarse black pepper. Tonight I cooked the Herbed Burgers with a simple tomato sauce (I altered the recipe), sauted spinach in olive oil and garlic (from a Patricia Cornwell novel), fresh corn on the cob, and cherry tomatoes.
After the recipes which have always been successful, I love the pictures. What is on the cover is what is inside–full page pictures of the finished dish, including pictures of the cooking steps. This is a big, beautiful book arranged by tools and ingredients to have on hand, then by types of foods. Of course, there is always the index of recipes in the back.
This book is worth every penny I paid for it. I have had it two years and have merely begun making the 200 recipes inside. I look forward to a long relationship (and toasts with a glass of wine).This review is written from the perspective of someone that has been studying cooking for 25 years, and concentrating on Italian cooking for the last 10 years. As such, I am tougher on Italian cookbooks than other cookbooks. If something claims to be “The Ultimate Italian Cookbook” it is probably setting itself up for failure in my opinion.
I like the glossy paper and the sturdy construction of the book. I also thought the author did a nice job with their Pasta summary. The author also did a good job with the detailed directions and photos both during cooking preparation and of the finished products. The level of detail in this book seems to be designed for beginning cooks. Most of the recipes are at best reasonable approximations of Italian recipes. This book covers the classic recipes that you expect to see.
Right at the beginning of the book I found non-Italian ingredients creeping into the recipes. Cream Cheese is not an Italian product yet it shows up in Celery Stuffed with Gorgonzola. Clearly this is not an authentic Italian recipe. Crostini made with standard white sandwich bread! Again, this can hardly be passed off as Italian. Then, turkey recipes show up in the book. I love turkey, however this is not something that shows up in an Italian kitchen. I never saw turkey in the grocery store in Florence, Italy. I understand from talking to real Italians in Florence that turkeys are rare, and arrive only in the fall (for the expats) at exorbitant prices.
If you don’t have any other Italian cookbooks this one might make sense. However, if you want authentic Italian recipes this is not the book for you.
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