Synopses & Reviews
When Fabio Viviani was growing up in a housing project in Florence, Italy, the center of his world was the kitchen, where his mother, grandmother, and especially his great-grandmother instilled in him a love for cooking and good food.
Now he shares the best of Italian home cooking while telling the story of his hardscrabble childhood, his success as a chef in the United States, and the women in his family who inspired him. In more than 150 delicious recipes, Viviani takes us from his family home, where his great-grandmother taught him to make staples like Italian Apple Cake and Homemade Ricotta, to the kitchen of a local trattoria, where he honed his craft cooking restaurant favorites like Gnocchi and the Perfect Tiramisu, and then across Italy where he studied each region's finest recipes, from Piedmont's Braised Ossobuco to Emilia Romagna's Perfect Meat Sauce.
A gorgeously illustrated cookbook, Fabio's Italian Kitchen is a celebration of food and family that brings all the joy, fun, and flair that Fabio Viviani embodies to your kitchen.
Fabio Viviani was born in Florence, Italy, and became a sous chef at Il Pallaio, a trattoria in Firenze, at the age of sixteen. He now works as the owner and executive chef of Cafe Firenze, a renowned Italian restaurant in Ventura County, California, and Osteria Firenze, a Los Angeles Italian eatery. He has appeared on Top Chef (season five), Top Chef All Stars, and Life After Top Chef.
From growing up in a Florentine housing project to charming millions on Top Chef, Italian chef Fabio Viviani blends his amazing personal story with his favorite recipes from his home country.
Fabio shares the best of Italian home cooking while telling the story of his own, hardscrabble Italian childhood (and subsequent success upon arrival in US) and especially the women in his life mother and great grandmother who taught him to cook and inspired him. The book will feature photos and over 150 recipes with stories, including Viviani staples (Italian Apple Cake, 7 Flavors Meat), restaurant favorites (Gnocchi, the Perfect Tiramisu), and recipes from his travels and apprenticeships across different regions of Italy (Braised Ossobuco from Piedmont, the Perfect Meat Sauce from Emilia Romagna).
Review
Quinn, head of the food department for Martha Stewart Living and one of the hosts of the PBS series
Everyday Food, made her cookbook debut with
Lucinda’s Authentic Jamaican Kitchen, “an ode” to a place she loves. Her new title includes favorite recipes from her childhood: Italian-American classics like Fettuccine alla Carbonara and Grilled Calamari. The book has the same attractive format as her first one, with color photographs of many of the dishes, but the recipes are very familiar, and most can be found in any Italian cookbook. For comprehensive subject collections. (
Library Journal, March 15, 2007)
In this small but tasty collection of Italian recipes, Quinn, host of the PBS series Everyday Food and author of Lucinda’s Authentic Jamaican Kitchen, draws on her travels and ancestral past for classic home-cooked dishes. In bringing rustic Italian food to the busy American table, Quinn cuts out several steps such as homemade stock and freshly rolled pasta (although she does include a recipe for pizza dough that can be topped with escarole and Gaeta olives or served Margherita-style). Technique is perhaps not as important as ingredients: Her “Notes to the Cook” section covers some basic territory such as how to control the flavor of garlic, the merits of salted capers, and her secret dredging weapon, Wondra flour for gravy. Though selections like Carolina’s Wine Taralli (cookies) and Tuna Gremolata Dip have a sophisticated flair, there are plenty of earthy, elemental pleasures, like Polpette (“meatballs” in Italian, but Quinn turns them into a meatloaf), which is baked with mortadella slivers and pistachios, and Tuscan kale sautéed with olive oil and seasoned only with salt and pepper. Along with plenty of color beauty shots by Quentin Bacon, Quinn’s book demonstrates that even at its very humblest, Italian cooking yields extraordinary flavors. (Apr.) (Publishers Weekly, February 19, 2007)
Synopsis
Amazing and simple Italian recipes from the host of Mad Hungry on the Hallmark Channel
Synopsis
Amazing and simple Italian recipes from the host of Mad Hungry on the Hallmark Channel Lucinda Scala Quinn, author of Lucinda’s Rustic Italian Kitchen and long-time executive food editor for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, has been a frequent guest on Martha, co-host of PBS’s Everyday Food, and host of her own Martha Stewart–produced TV show on the Hallmark Channel, Mad Hungry. The down-to-earth, home-style Italian recipes in this cookbook are the kind of food she grew up on, making this book a favorite of hers. Now available in paperback for the first time, the book has stunning photographs by acclaimed photographer Quentin Bacon along with mouthwatering recipes, like Gnocchi with Pesto, Bucatini Puttanesca, and Linguine with Clams, which readers are sure to visit again and again when making Italian classics at home.
About the Author
Born in Florence, Italy, Fabio Viviani began working at Il Pallaio, a Trattoria in Firenze, at the age of 14. Viviani thrived in the high pressure environment and managed to become sous chef two years later. He moved to Ventura County, California at the age of 27 and now works as the owner and executive chef of Cafe Firenze, a renowned Italian restaurant in Moorpark, California, and Firenze Osteria, a popular Los Angeles Italian eatery. He appeared on season 5 of Top Chef and earned a place among the final four contestants. Before he was eliminated from the competition, he was named "Fan Favorite." Viviani returned to Bravo in 2010 to compete in their Top Chef All Stars edition and will appear on Life After Top Chef in fall 2012.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.
Introduction.
Notes to the Cook.
Drinks and Appetizers.
Pasta.
Vegetables and Salads.
Soup, Pizza and Savory Pies.
Chicken, Meat and Fish.
Desserts.