Back in the ‘90s, by the time the late Dr. Atkins had declared carbohydrates the Great Satan of weight gain, an obtuse book editor rejected my proposal for an Italian cookbook by saying, “Nobody’s eating pasta anymore!” Since then about a thousand Italian cookbooks have been published, and there seems no end in sight, for good reason. Fad diets aside, people everywhere just out and out love Italian food, and, Grazie Dio!, more and more authentic regional Italian cookbooks are coming out. Here are some new ones I like very much, most of them first published in Italy, so they have some backbone.
AUTENTICO: Cooking Italian the Authentic Way by Rolando Beramendi (St. Martin’s Press, $35)—Despite the simpleminded translation of the title into a subtitle, this sturdy volume pretty much lives up to its claim. Beramendi has a refreshing viewpoint: He’s founder of the Italian fine food importing company Manicaretti, so he’s wholly familiar with the best and the worst products available to make authentic Italian cuisine, both the familiar, like cacio e pepper and farro soup, but more unusual dishes like canaroli rice custard wrapped in chard leaves and Abruzzese fish stew. The instructions are clear and concise, the photographs excellent.
I HEART ROME: Recipes & Stories from the Eternal Cityby Maria Pasquale (Smith Street Books, $35)—Another dubious title, but Maria Pasquale’s passion for Rome is palpable in this finely illustrated volume that sticks to real Roman dishes, from fried artichokes and puntarelle to coda alla vaccinara and cassola cheesecake. There is good advice on Italian markets and lively profiles of expert cooks and purveyors. The cooking directions are longer than they need be, which can be off-putting for simple biscuits like brutti ma buoni.
SICILY: The Cookbook By Melissa Muller (Rizzoli, $40). Now, there’s a straightforward title, and the book delivers. The author has opened three Sicilian restaurants in New York and has migrated to a farm in Sicily to pursue her great love for the vast, fertile island. She wisely shows how Sicilian cuisine and chefs have come squarely into the 21st century without losing any of the region’s soulfulness, so you’ll find recipes for grilled octopus and chickpea puree, seafood risotto with mint pesto, grated pasta with pumpkin and ricotta, and sweet and sour swordfish. Typical of Rizzoli, it’s a beautiful work.
SICILIA: The Cooking of Casa Planeta By Elisia Menduni (Mondadori Electa, $35)—How many Sicilian cookbooks do you need? One or two or three or more. The Planeta family has a long heritage—their award-winning wines and olive oils are described in the appendix—and Italian journalist Elisia Menduni has a deep respect and affection for the family’s traditions, especially the cooking of the Planeta women, evident in simple dishes like eggplant cutlets and chickpea fritters, stuffed peppers and stuffed meatloaf. The pastas, like caserecce with fava beans and ricotta, are hearty and seasonal, and the pastries show the versatility various food cultures brought to an island as Greek and Moorish as it is Italian.
CORSICA: The Recipes By Nicolas Stromboni (Smith Street Books, $40)—Yes, I know, Corsica is a French territory, but only because they robbed it from the Corsicans, who themselves freed it from centuries of Genoese rule. So, the island is much more Italian in its cooking than it is French, as Nicolas Stromboni, a wine merchant based in Ajaccio, clearly shows in a volume that begins with charcuterie like coppa, prisuttu and pancetta. Vegetables figure largely in Corsican cooking, as in lentils with figatelli sausage, and the cheeses of the region are highlighted. Corsica is an island, so seafood abounds in wondrous dishes, like fish soups and mussels with peas and artichokes. Pastas, however, are few--cannelloni with whipped brocciu cheese is very local. And, once you make the very simple Corsican cheesecake called fiadone, it will become a treasured favorite.