Hazan

Although Marcella died, I truly wanted her to live forever. My wish will not come true, but her husband's publication of her last book will temper my grief.

Ingredienti feels like a work of love. Her husband is dedicated to remaining true to Marcella's voice, her direct approach to allowing the ingredients to speak clearly for themselves.The maxim, "less is more," becomes increasingly inspirational with each page turned.

Although this is not a cookbook, it does include descriptions of meals created with the ingredients. No exact measurements, just an organic orientation to creating simple meals with the ingredients.

Marcella and her husband guide the reader through the market, train the eye as to what represents the highest quality. At times, the reader is guided to internet sources. She combines the old world with the new.

This is a book that deserves a place of respect, along with her Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

Enjoyable, informative and well written.

Before you cook, you must first know how to shop and if your own parents have not taught you this, let Marcella Hazan step in for them. And even if you consider yourself a veteran in the market and the kitchen, I can guarantee there’s a few tricks you still don’t know about. Ingredienti, co-written and edited by her husband Victor after her death a few years ago is Marcella’s last gift to her fans. And what a gift this simple and elegant manual on how to shop for the best ingredients and prepare the most delicious meals is.

For over sixty years, Marcella Hazan made almost daily visits to the market in order to choose the ingredients of that day’s meal. Ingredienti is underpinned by her belief that in order to cook well, one must first develop affection for ingredients to the degree of seeing them as characters in a wider culinary narrative. There needs to be respect for one’s store cupboard which will then translate into greater confidence in the kitchen.

Ingredients are organized from A to Z and the book also includes sections such as how to store vegetables so they keep well and how the storage time indicates what kind of preparation and recipe they can be used for. The chapter on artichokes is a particular joy in this respect. There’s more advice about how to choose the best pasta and cheese, how to find good olive oil and even guidance on breadcrumbs, that most modest of ingredients which Marcella knew to be transformative when added to a dish of cardoon or baked endive. Her advice applies as much to the large British supermarkets as it does to our tiny farmers markets and the sumptuous markets we explore when on holiday.

The best food writers are able to magic up a conversation between themselves and their readers. Nigella has this ability and so does Marcella. It is to her husband Victors credit that he can continue this dialogue seamlessly. Her legacy lives on through this, her last prose book and the her wisdom which is now ours, to hand down to our own children.

This slim volume is so easily readable that I devoured it in less than 12 hours - a few hours waiting in the airport for my flight, a few hours on the plane, and then less than an hour to finish it. It took me a few hours of thinking to figure out what made it so easy to read: it was the friendly voice of the author. Even though Victor Hazan translated, compiled and edited his wife's many journals on the subject of ingredients, her own down to earth voice shone through. It was like listening to an Italian grandmother impart her innermost culinary secrets.

The book is basically divided into three sections: produce, the essential pantry, salumi. Across those three sections, it covers the breadth of ingredients that you would expect to find in Italian cuisine, including tomatoes, pasta, rice, herbs, spices, and Italian cured meats. Within each section, the material is arranged alphabetically by ingredient name. These chapters can include the origin, history and ancient use of the ingredient, the modern use of the ingredient, how the ingredient is grown or made, what to look for when buying the ingredient, how to clean the ingredient, how to cook with the ingredient, and how to store the ingredient. When included, recipes were given to highlight the versatility or simplicity of an ingredient. Recipes were given in a breezy paragraph format: take a little of this, add a little of that, cook it like this, serve it like that.

I recommended this book to my father, whose mother was born in Sicily, because the overarching philosophy of the book aligns with his culinary philosophy. Choose the best ingredients and cook simply to let the ingredients shine. The advice and themes that were familiar to me in the book resonated with me because I had heard them from him since I was old enough to "sous chef" for him in the kitchen as he cooked for large family holidays.

I bought this book for a thirty-something single girlfriend of mine who wants to learn more about cooking good healthy foods for herself. I felt it would offer the perfect balance to The Vegetable Butcher by Cara Mangini, which is heavily laden with instructional photographs of how to prep a universe of vegetables and offers one or two fairly complex recipes for each vegetable. The produce section of Ingredienti boils down the selection, preparation and cooking of vegetables to only the most necessary basics. It will provide her with a good place to start, and the ability to confidently look at The Vegetable Butcher if she needs more details.

Overall, I am extremely grateful for having read this book. I look forward to the opportunity to try a few of the recipes offered within, although I have yet to do so. When I do, I will update this review.