Marcella Cucina

by Marcella Hazan

Since the publication of her first book, The Classic Italian Cookbook, more than 20 years ago, Marcella Hazan has been hailed as the queen of Italian cooking in America. Marcella, whose name conjures up a splendid world of food for the devoted millions who love her books and attend her cooking classes, is back again with her finest book yet, Marcella Cucina. Filled with the passion and personality of its author, it is a book not only of fine food and its careful preparation but of personal reminiscences and penetrating commentary about the sensual pleasure of food and its place in our lives. In vivid introductory essays and seductive headnotes, the narrative of an extraordinary culinary life unfolds. With each memory of a trip, a meal or a flavor, we are treated to the perspective of a great cook and teacher--one who believes that the finest Italian cooking is found in the home. In Marcella Cucina, she focuses on regional cooking, turning her sharp eye to every area of Italy and offering a rich array of flavors and textures from cities and villages alike. Best of all, Marcella cooks at your side with easy-to-follow instructions and lavish full-color photographs that teach you her techniques--from preparing homemade pasta to cleaning artichokes--and allow you flawlessly to re-create her magic in your own kitchen.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Italian Literature, Italy

480 pages, Hardcover

First published August 19, 1997

About the author

Born in 1924 in Italy, she later moved in New York where she founded a cooking school specialized in traditional Italian cooking. She published her first cooking book, The Classic Italian Cook Book, in 1973.

Reviews

[Kim Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it and now I want all her cookbooks!

[Mj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. I'm a cookbook reader/junkie/collecter/user and picked this up at a used bookstore and find I go to it quite often for fricassed chicken and/or lamb recipes for family dinners. In the first few weeks tried about 6 of the recipes. They use a few ingredients, are simply prepared and are very tasty. I digress but I like watching Lidia's Table on tv and her cooking style and food philosophy seem quite similar - my guess is "authentic" Italian. Use only the best and freshest ingredients and cook them simply. Enjoy Marcella's intros and background information. It's one of those cookbooks you love to read not just cook from because of what you learn and the ambience it creates. It really makes me want to visit Italy and soak up all that food and culture

[Hannah Prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Marcella All Da Time

[Damon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must have basic if you like to cook Italian food. It has pretty much every sauce, every pasta, and every recipe that you'll ever need, plus insightful commentary on what you can do to improvise. This woman is the Queen of Italian Sauces.

[G.G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite of Marcella Hazan's cookbooks: quite apart from the wonderful recipes, the photographs of Venice, of the Rialto markets, of Victor Hazan dragging the shopping cart up the stairs to their flat, take one straight back to life in that magical city.

[sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just bought this cookbook and am getting going on trying a few recipes but everyone i talk to loves it. Great for beginning italian chefs.

[LorCon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have all of Marcella's cookbooks. This is hands-down my favorite. Every recipe is a keeper and it is beautifully illustrated.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written. I didn't find myself inspired to try any of the recipes, though (probably my fault rather than hers).

[Clwseattle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My maternal grandparents came from Italy. My Grandfather was a master chef. My grandmother cooked for the family every day of every year. When Grandpa grew sickly in his advanced age, he required a nursing home. He refused to eat their food. Grandma brought him three meals a day, as it was the only he would eat.

Marcella reminds me of Grandma. Marcella speaks what she thinks in a no nonsense way, and as Grandma, with her limited English, would say, "That's it.".

In Marcella Cucina, she gives us a master class in common sense. Imagine how it will taste, then pursue that. Buy the best and freshest ingredients you can. Trust your palate. I have no doubt she's giving my grandparents what for in heaven about my preference of Pecorino Romano over Parmigiano, no matter that I buy, nibble on and use them both.

"A few pecorinos, in particular some of those produced in southern Tuscany and on the island of Sardinia, are in the front rank of whatever grouping one likes to make of the world's great table cheese. Romano. with the sharpest bite of any hard grating cheese, is not among them."

Such are Italian Grandma's.

I'm intimidated by some recipes in Marcella Cucina which I read like a story book. My favorite story was about Osimo's Easter Cheese Bread. We grew up eating Crescia the way other kids snacked on cookies. I still make Grandma's recipe today. The recipe comes from Marches, the area from which she came.

Marcella Cucina is a treasure for memories of my childhood and more so with its trove of deliciousness. Marcella explains each recipe in detail for the beginner cook to produce great Italian feasts. How she, and Grandma, did it every day, I'll never know.

5 Stars

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great storyteller! I came late to Northern Italian goddess.but I read this cookbook like a biography.

[Vicki Cisneros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best Italian cookbook I have ever read, or used!