Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The Best Italian Cook Books?

Which is the best authentic Italian cook book? This is a question I am asked a lot. I have lived in Italy for ten years and many of my family and friends living in the USA, Australia and the UK have in the past asked me for advice as to which Italian cookbooks give you a real "taste" of Italy.

English language "Italian cookbooks" are everywhere but in my opinion very few have much in common with genuine authentic Italian cuisine. My wife, who is Italian and an excellent chef, is in full agreement.

There are some notable exceptions however and I hope to be able to present these in a short series of articles. The books I have selected fall into four categories. The first category is devoted to those books that give an overview of Italian cooking and feature recipes from all the regions of Italy. The other three categories focus on some of the lesser known but exceptional gourmet regions of Italy.

Well let's get on with the first of my picks:

Cucina of Le Marche: A Chef's Treasury of Recipes from Italy's Last Culinary Frontier

Le Marche has very few good English language cookbooks focusing on the cuisine of the region. This is the best; the author is a native of Le Marche and is an award winning chef. The recipes are 100% authentic. A refreshingly unpretentious book by a chef who will no doubt become a lot more famous in years to come.

For the other essential Italian food books you can wait for my next article or visit:

Andrew J Smith - EzineArticles Expert Author

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