In Nonna's Kitchen: Recipes and Traditions From Italy's Grandmothers

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Description: In this much-anticipated book, Carol Field goes trolling through Italy's back roads looking for the true guardians of the Italian culinary heritage: the grandmothers. 

In Nonna's Kitchen is a beautifully written collection of anecdotes, folk wisdom, priceless secrets, and recipes from the kitchens of matriarchs throughout the peninsula. As ordinary life in Italy becomes increasingly urban and Americanized, the nonne are the last generation to preserve the unique dishes and tastes of the small towns, valleys, and hilltops in Italy's varied regions. 

The grandmothers reveal their recipes for such delights as La Genovese, in which meat, onions, and other vegetables are cooked almost to a cream, and 'Ncip 'Nciap, pronounced "n-cheep, n-chop," a delicious scramble of leftover chicken, red onions, and eggs that probably gets its name from the sound of the knife chopping up the chicken. 

The recipes are based on simple ingredients from a time when seasonality ruled life and when tradition and culinary folklore were clear and unchanging. Andreina Pavani Calcagni, a Roman, shares her secret for trimming artichokes for ultimate tenderness; nonna Maria Andriani creates an intensely flavorful version of the Apulian orecchiette pasta with sauteed broccoli rabe; and Gisa Sotis, from Gaeta, masterfully prepares a fish, stuffing it with garlic, parsley, and a single slice of lemon. Full of disdain for "sophisticated" food, Gisa says: "For flavoring I use whatever the earth provides -- garlic, onions, parsley, basil." 

In Nonna's Kitchen is a treasure trove of recipes deeply rooted in Italian family histories. The grandmothers of Italy beckon you into their kitchens, tempt you with delicious aromas, and spoil you with the best home cooking in the world. 

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Condition: Good condition.