Villa d'Este Cookbook - Hotel on Lake Como Italy

Additional Details

Description: The idea of starting a Cooking School on the shores of Lake Como goes back nearly twenty years and by 1973 when Villa d'Este celebrated its 100th anniversary as a Hotel, cooking classes were in full swing. The word got around and groups from the U.S.A. and Australia crowded the kitchens of Villa d'Este. In 1976, Julie Dannenbaum invited Luciano Parolari who later became our Executive Chef and Jean Salvadore our Public Relations Manager to appear as guests at her Cooking School in Philadelphia. 

So, thanks to Julie who got the ball rolling, Luciano and Jean travelled repeatedly to the U.S. on fund-raising tours, during the Winter months while the Hotel was closed, giving demonstrations for various Benefits. As was to be expected the Villa d'Este recipes were in great demand. Our first publishing venture was a Christmas Card with a full menu and then in 1981 we published the book "Cooking Ideas from Villa d'Este" which was sold only at the Hotel. Jean Salvadore put it together by adapting the chef's recipes and adding some of her own, all very easy and simple to make.

We continued to mail our Christmas menus and because we received so many favourable comments, we decided to publish this new cook book with beautiful colored photos for each recipe. 

We have also included photos of the Villa d'Este and its surroundings hoping that our guests will take home a copy of the book as a souvenir of their stay on Lake Como. During the last ten years there have been a lot of changes in the way people eat. We are all concerned about putting on weight and we seek to reduce the intake of calories. We also have to worry about our cholesterol level so our Villa d'Este chefs try to eliminate butter and substitute it with oil, they cook with wine and herbs to enhance the flavours and as a result the food is lighter and healthier. Italian food has become trendy and the innumerable Italian restaurants that are popping up all over the world, especially in the United States, are considered very "in. "

In the past, only 20-30 years ago, we were known abroad for our "spaghetti and meat balls" and it was only when tourists started flocking to Italy did they discover that Italians "at home" ate quite differently. Extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano), white truffles (only available in Alba, Piedmont), saffron risottos, porcini mushrooms, Florentine T-bone steak, the most tender veal, prosciutto crudo, baby lambs that have not yet tasted a blade of grass, red radicchio salad from Treviso, asparagus and artichokes are a few of the produce that are considered basic ingredients for the well-to-do in Italy. The truth is that we enjoy our food so much than we can be quite extravagant in preparing our meals. We never try to save money and proof is that we only use the best. Italian cooking is based on quality and that is why it is considered one of the most expensive in the gastronomic world. The recipes in our new book are still the traditional ones but great care has been taken in the presentation of the dishes. Giorgio Pizzi the photographer of our Xmas menus worked all Summer of '89 to take photos of the dishes selected by our chefs. The studio was set up in the cellars of Villa d'Este while Luciano Parolari, our Executive Chef and his assistants Cesare Chessorti, the Chef of the Grill and Natalino Michielli, the Pastry Chef, prepared the various plates. Jean Salvadore compiled the recipes. 

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Condition: Bookboards, interior pages and dust jacket are in nice condition. Dustjacket has minor shelf wear and a small crease in the bottom right corner.