Silver Spoon

English

ISBN: 0714845310

EAN: 9780714845319

Category: Cooking / Regional & Ethnic / Italian

Publisher: Phaidon Press Limited

Release Date: 12/20/2005

Synopsis: First published in 1950 and revised over time, Italys bestselling culinary bible, Il Cucchiaio dargento, is now available in English. The Silver Spoon boasts over 2,000 recipes and arrives in a handsome (and weighty) photo-illustrated edition complete with two ribbon markers. Its chapters make every menu stop from sauces and antipasti through cheese dishes and sweets, with many standout dishes like Genoese Pesto Minestrone, Eggplant and Ricotta Lasagna, Pork Shoulder with Prunes, and Chocolate and Pear Tart; the book also includes a number of eccentricities, likesections on patty shells and bean sprouts, surely not an Italian dining staple.Meant to be inclusive, the book also offers a wide range of non-Italian, mostly French formulas, supplemented by a few exotic and other non-traditional entries.Though the recipe range is vast, it must be said that American readers, anxious to cook this authentic fare, will encounter problems. Translating a cookbook from one language to another requires cultural recasting as well as word substitution, and in this the books editors have been lax. The problems include non-idiomatic usages, for example, calling for pans when pots is needed; awkward conversions from the metric system, resulting in requirements like eleven ounces of zite; and the inclusion of ingredients like cavolo nero (Tuscan cabbage), tope (a Mediterranean fish), andpancetta copatta (ham-stuffed pancetta) that are unavailable here and for which no alternatives are suggested. In addition, the recipes themselves are often insufficiently specific or detailed--even seasoned bakers will pause before cake recipes that dont specify pan size--and can also lack yields. Space considerations have also meant printing recipes in single, one-column paragraphs, which can make place-finding while cooking difficult, and there are typos and other goofs (one recipe for four specifies six cups of sliced scallions; another requires that a marinade be stirred frequently for five to twelve hours).All this said, many cooks--casual and serious alike--as well as cookbook collectors, will want The Silver Spoon. Its an essential document of the Italian table and as such a classic. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine a complete cookbook library without the book--a welcome evocation of a much-beloved repertoire by those who know it best. --Arthur Boehm

Awards: Gourmand World Cookbook Awards – null  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards – null 

Excerpt: Unknown Property Excerpt

Silver Spoon

Illustrated: Yes

Format: Hardcover

Height: 2.63 inches

Width: 7.75 inches

Length: 11.0 inches

Weight: 95.73 oz

Pages: 1264