To learn more about The Silver Spoon, please read our review of this fine work. Silver Spoon
"Eating is a serious matter in Italy. Cooking and food are among
the finest expressions of Italian culture, vividly portraying the
country’s history and traditions. Like all other arts, cooking is
based on measures and proportions,on the balance and fusion
of different elements. It blends ancient traditions with contemporary innovation and evolves constantly, even in the twenty-
first century, as a result of its position at the center of Italian
family life. At home with family or friends,for a special occasion,
in a fancy restaurant or in a humble trattoria, or even when
preparing a simple everyday meal, for Italians, cooking is
synonymous with good food, good wine and good company.
Whether rustic or sophisticated, Italian cooking is traditionally
based on excellent, fresh, seasonal ingredients. This is one of
the main reasons why Italian food varies so much from region
to region and even from village to village. In the north, where
cattle and dairy farming are prevalent, we find a cuisine based
on butter, meat and Parmigiano, while travelling towards the
south we encounter olive oil (extra vergine, of course), ripe
tomatoes, gorgeous eggplants and fresh fish. Italian cooking is
based on Italy’s rural traditions and depends very much on the
vast variety of the country’s agricultural produce. Yet even if
nowadays you can find almost any kind of food at any time of
the year, Italians still follow the rhythm of the seasons and will
wait until spring to enjoy asparagus, or the summer for a fresh
Insalata caprese. But as soon as the temperature falls in the
autumn, everyone is ready for a warming plate of Braised Beef
with Barolo. In Italian families, special occasions are still celebrated at home with a five-course meal (antipasto,first course,
main course with vegetables, cheese and dessert). But, when
eating everyday, a one-meal dish such as lasagne, pizza or
ribollita will satisfy even the most demanding of appetites.The
country’s infinite variety of dishes allows Italians to create an
excellent and healthy meal whether they choose to spend their
entire day cooking, putting together a stunning Brodetto
Marchigiano (a fish soup made using several varieties of fish
and shellfish), or if, instead, they go home and make a simple
but authentic dish of Spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino,with its
four ingredients never missing from any Italian kitchen.
Authentic Italian dishes are very often based on just a few, humble ingredients.What makes them so tasty and delicious is that,
over the centuries, Italians have discovered exactly how to
achieve the perfect mix of flavors. It sometimes seems that
Italians learn to cook before they learn to talk and their skills are
handed down from one generation to the next.The perfection of
Italian cooking has been achieved through centuries of testing
in family kitchens, with millions of dishes served to the most
discerning of critics. The Silver Spoon is the result of a labor of
love, with only the very best recipes from Italian families and
cooks within its covers. This is the one cookbook every Italian
passes on to their children,teaching them the skills of their parents and grandparents, and allowing them to understand what
Italian cooking is really about. It shows them how to prepare a
healthy and delicious meal by, firstly, choosing the right ingredients and then by following a variety of recipes that may be
either simple or complicated,but always explained in the clearest and simplest of ways.For these reasons The Silver Spoon is
the most successful cookbook in Italy, the book that has its
place in every family kitchen, the one that many brides have
received as a wedding gift."
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