Seasons of the Italian Kitchen or Dimensions of the Meal

Seasons of the Italian Kitchen

Author: Diane Darrow

Italian cooking draws its inspiration from the roll call of seasonal ingredients that pass through its kitchens, and in this splendid volume Diane Darrow and Tom Maresca share the simple secrets of making the most of the best fresh, top-of-the-season foods from farm and woodland, lake and sea. The Seasons of the Italian Kitchen presents two hundred recipes according to the four seasons and the traditional courses of the Italian meal: antipasto, primo, secondo, contorno, dolce. All are wed (as they always are in Italy) to the wines that best match them, and the recipes have been tested and adapted to seasonal ingredients readily available in the United States. Richly stocked with delightful anecdotes and culinary lore gathered from the authors' long love affair with Italy, they invite both amateur and expert to experience the Italian genius for making the most of the moment.

Library Journal

Darrow, a food writer, and Maresca, a wine authority, are also the authors of La Tavola Italiana (LJ 2/15/88), a regional Italian cookbook with an emphasis on wine. Here they offer more of their favorite recipes, this time organized seasonally, each with a wine suggestion. Lengthy headnotes and boxes include culinary history, preparation, notes, and information on ingredients and Italian specialties such as gnocchi and granitas. Many of the recipes are exquisitely simple, while others are more involved and time-consuming. Italian cookbooks abound, and some of these dishes will be familiar, but the authors' text is well written and informed, and there are some unusual regional specialties here, too. For most collections.

BookList

This culinary collection, arranged by season, offers much more than 200 recipes. With wit, humor, and enthusiasm, each dish is prefaced with a note about ingredients, comments on its name, and/or asides about just-in-time preparation. Plus, each includes specific recommendations for wines. The essays interspersed among the recipes provide inspiration for the mind as well as for the kitchen: a three-page discourse on tomatoes, for example.

Interesting book: 101 tecnica di soluzione dei problemi creativa: Il manuale di nuove idee per il commercio

Dimensions of the Meal: The Science, Culture, Business and Art of Eating

Author: Herbert L Meiselman

The food industry, and those with interest in it, will want this book about the influences on people's eating habits, and how these influences affect behavior——particularly purchasing behavior. This book analyzes the meal as a critical eating occasion from a multidisciplinary standpoint. Readers will benefit from a uniquely practical overview of the subject and a thorough review of its large and growing literature.

Booknews

Sixteen contributions explore a range of questions about the biological, psychological, cultural, and business aspects of human meals. The chapters are organized into sections on cultural and nutritional definitions of the meal, sensory and physiological controls of meals, social aspects of meal interaction, differences among cuisines, and the design and production of meals in business establishments. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)