Cover Image: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

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Member Reviews

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A very informative cookbook, but seriously lacking pictures.

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Classic recipes that are easy to recreate! What a wonderful addition to our collection. I first heard of the infamous tomato sauce online and was thrilled to be able to see it in print. This title is on my list for Santa.

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This was such an interesting read! I really enjoyed reading through this book and I can't wait to try some of what I read. Great book!

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Great title, good display of recipes. Found it very helpful and will purchase copies for gifts. Artfully done. Recipes easy to follow.

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My copy of Marcella Hazan's The Classic Italian Cookbook is well-worn, sauce stained, and much loved. Passed down to me by my mother, I've use this book so often there's no way I can pass it down to someone else. The world needed a new copy, with an improved appearance over the encyclopedia-like look of the original. The recipes hold true, but the forward and improved readers advisory materials make it a worthwhile purchase, even if you haven't used your copy to the point of no return.

I'm buying a copy of this for my library and myself.

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ESSENTIALS OF CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKING by Marcella Hazan is coming out with a 30th Anniversary Edition. In its 1992 review, Booklist called this cookbook "the definitive resource for Italian cuisine." Hazen, who died in 2013, was born and raised in Italy and taught cooking classes for many years. She split the cookbook into roughly two dozen chapters with recipes for Risotto, Gnocchi, numerous types of meat and so much more. To get a sense of the contents for ESSENTIALS OF CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKING, use the "look inside" feature on amazon. The index gives an idea of the type of recipes included and other pages show that this cookbook is heavy on text and has no photographs, only line drawings.

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From someone who went to culinary school I was absolutely in love with this cookbook and will be purchasing my own copy for home.

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I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I wanted to read this as I have an Italian background

This has a great background of fundamentals of Italian cuisine.

At the beginning it has great information re ingrediants and then moves onto some fantastic information regarding recipes

The only improvement I could suggest is that I wish there had been pictures of the recipes, although I appreciate this would affect the cost of the book

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This republication of the Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking is a necessity for any kitchen. The new edition has new forewords by Lidia Bastianich and Victor Hazan, but other than that - it's the classic recipes as they originally were released in 1992. The recipes hold up and are delicious. You'll find many classic dishes and even some that you may be discovering for the first time - that'd be the crisp fried zucchini blossoms for me. Yum! Highly recommended to anyone looking to explore Italian cuisine. The recipes are easy enough for anyone to accomplish.

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I love cooking classics, AND essentials, so this caught my eye. As I flipped through, I saw some pro tips for using balsamic vinegar and basil, that will definitely up my game. Also included are some recipes that look simple yet delicious, so it makes sense these recipes are classics. In particular, I look forward to trying the Butter and Parmesan Cheese Sauce. Butter, cheese and pasta, yum. :)

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This 30th anniversary edition of a Hazan’s classic Italian cookbook includes new forewords, but otherwise appears to be a republication of the original 1992 cookbook. As it is indeed a classic, a republication to bring it to the attention of new generations of cooks seems fitting. This is not “fast food” Italian, yet the recipes aren’t complex. The focus is on fresh ingredients, cooked simply.

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This is a great cookbook for people who want to learn the foundations of Italian cuisine. The recipes are delicious and there is something for cooks of all levels!

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