
Member Reviews

This time Nancy Silverton has taken on meats, fish and vegetables. After living in Umbria, Italy she learned all kinds of dishes such as Bone Marrow Pie, and Moroccan braised shanks. Vegetables such as charred sugar snap peas and roasted beets with chicories. She also includes her wonderful butterscotch budino. All of Nancy Silverton’s books are wonderful and so is this one of course.

I love reviewing cookbooks, not just for their slick pages and glossy photos but also to be immersed in a chef's story about a dish, and if I'm lucky, to learn a thing or two. Nancy Silverton is a chef's chef. I have seen cool-as-a-cucumber cooking show contenders become completely unglued when they find out she will be judging their dishes. That being said, I didn't know much about her before reading this cookbook. The introductory pages provide her culinary backstory and the recipes included are a collection from her three Los Angeles restaurants: Chi Spacca, Pizzeria Mozza, and Osteria Mozza. She believes that the internet and Instagram has made "fusion food" is a thing of the past and I couldn't agree more. This cookbook is definitely "meat-heavy" but there are lots of other great recipes for breads, vegetables, and desserts included. I reviewed this as an e-ARC but will definitely be purchasing a physical copy.

This book was received as an ARC from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.
I am an absolute fan of Nancy Silverton, her restaurants and her dishes due to her multiple appearances as a guest judge on Top Chef. I could not help but fall in love with the back story of Chi Spacca and how she was inspired by the butchers of Italy including her very good friend Dario Cecchini whom made an appearance on Top Chef by butchering the major cuts of the cow and loved how he always said the word CARNE after he was done. I am so inspired by the recipes featured in this cookbook and can't wait to try them. Hopefully this will be a potential candidate for a future cooking demo.
We will consider adding this title to our TX Cookbook collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I was immediately caught by the inclusion of the garam masala spice mix, preserved lemons, ras el Hanout, and Za'atar -- I'm all for that. Unfortunately for me, the instructions aren't numbered (yep, I need my hand held), but I'm so excited to try some of the unusual pairings/recipes/ingredients that I've not come across before (puntarella, lipstick peppers, pork tonnato, etc) and a few recipes that I think my family would really enjoy. While the design is not my preferred (really, hold my hand), it's easy to follow, the photos are great, and I can't wait to go on the hunt for some of the ingredients I've never tried before. #ChiSpacca #NetGalley

A staple cookbook by a famous chef but in terms of accessibility this book went over my head with the recipes and Ingredients - it’s definitely for a more advanced cook or a Nancy silverton fan.