Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

It is an absolute love affair between this book and myself. As I am in the process of learning how to cook and learning to like to cook, I fell instantly in love with this book. The recipe lists are short and the directions are to the point. The flavors here are so wonderful. Easy for a novice to make and wonderful for everyone to enjoy. I do.... Enjoy!

Will expand your appreciation, knowledge, and experience preparing and eating the wide variety of Italian foods from the various parts of the country. Explains everything clearly!! Really liked the instruction on roasting a duck, using a hair dryer. Have marked it with at least 20 post-its for recipes I'm eager to try.

Apparently this is a classic cookbook, but I only found it just before Christmas. I loved it so much I ordered several to give to family cooks and they all loved it. There is a section on the fundamentals of Italian cooking that is is helpful to all cooks. The recipes are from all over Italy and each has a interesting introduction. Ms. Hazen has stories to tell about food that are informative and educational. This cookbook should be in every cooks kitchen.

The Italian cookbook that started it all. I feel like an idiot offering review, this book is legendary. She has the kind of prose that really transports you, and on more than one occasion I found myself reading it just to hear her memories and experiences.

I discovered this book when reading the back of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, which is also an outstanding book. He wrote a list of 50 cookbooks he'd rather not live without and this was listed as his favorite Italian cookbook. Marcella covers quite a lot of recipes and gives fantastic instruction, making each recipe easily approachable for all cooking levels. I've recommended this book to many people and have given countless copies to friends and family. Marcella originally wrote two books on Italian cooking about 20 years ago and they became instant classics. With this book, she combined her first two efforts, added new recipes and cut the fat content in some of her original recipes. I now have a difficult time going out for Italian, since I've got an arsenal of brilliant recipes at home.

Lovely cookbook filled with wonderful recipes by one of the foremost authorities of Italian cooking. Her simple sauce is one of my most favorite recipes! As a collector of great cookbooks, I think this is one of my favorites!

The best Italian food cook book ever. Marcella really explains he use and importance of good ingredients and general cooking technique. More than just a cook book, she explains why and how for many ingredients and techniques,

We bought this cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Marcella Hazan, after being invited to dinner at a friend of ours. Was so impressed by the meal we ate (all from the cookbook) that we knew we had to have this in our home, too.

I was looking for a book that presented solid versions of the most common Italian recipes, as they are most typically served in their regions of origin. Something of an authoritative source on traditional Italian cuisine. This book was about 85% there, but unfortunately the author yielded to the temptation to make changes based on either her own taste preferences or what she imagined the English speaking reader would like. Examples: Adding tomato and basil to white clam sauce or using white wine and garlic in Carbonara. I'm not saying these variations are bad at all, or that they are never done in Italy, but they certainly don't represent the most authentic (and still standard in Italy) versions. I would have been fine if these were offered as optional variations, but just including these non-standard methods/ingredients without an explanation makes no sense for a book with the title "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking." I'm not going to return the book, as I purchased it in kindle version, and I think it's worth the $6.99 I spent. It's not what I was looking for, however, and I'm surprised by it's popularity considering its wavering faithfulness to traditional Italian cuisine. I do think it's a decent cookbook, which is why I didn't give it less than 3 stars. But there are many, many decent Italian cookbooks out there.

A well known outstanding classic. I read every page from front to back and immediately made a recipe from it which was also outstanding.

Why I did not buy all of her cookbooks years ago I will never know. Better late than never in this case.

This is an excellent cookbook. We used this last month as our Cookbook Club selection and we were not disappointed. Everything that was made was incredibly flavorful. The recipes include a lot of great personal anecdotes. Great book.

What can one say about Marcella Hazan the doyen of Italian cooking here in the USA!!--She is responsible for introducing Americans to the true cuisine of Italy!! I'm overjoyed to have it--and is most highly recommended!!

I didn't really know that Marcella Hazan was more or less the Julia Child of Italian cooking until she died and I saw the obituaries, so I got the book. There's a lot to learn about Italian cooking from it, but I also learned that she was rigidly opinionated about there being one right way to do things (hers). For instance, her fresh pasta recipe contains 2 ingredients: flour and eggs. She doesn't even mention that there are many people who also add water and/or olive oil, and why. She states categorically that you should NOT put any olive oil in the water when you are cooking pasta, unless it's fresh, stuffed pasta. Really? I've been doing it for years with commercial, dried pasta, and although maybe it's not necessary, it certainly does no harm. Anyway, I'm glad I bought it, and it's very informative, even if I feel compelled to Google recipes in it for second opinions.

This really is everything you need to know about Italian cooking.

I find the recipes easy to follow, accurate, and tasty! Like any sort of fine cooking, it always boils down to starting from scratch, spending money to buying quality ingredients, and spending the time; a lot of time. However unlike a lot of "yuppie" cook books, you will be very glad, for example, that you spent the 5 hours hanging around the house to simmer up a batch of Bolognese Ragu. Usual stuff, spend 20 or 30 minutes chopping, or slicing, or whatever, and then watch it rise, or simmer it, or whatever, for hours. How else is cooking from scratch going to go, and these are all from scratch.

Its honest about the time, and it will be better than anything your likely to be able to buy for less than a $100 / plate.

The authenticity of the recipes in this book make the results sing! The options in the recipes are great, easy to follow and the book is now dog eared and stained, my official homage to a well loved cookbook. Bella, Marcella!

Not only do the recipes produce wonderful meals, the book is very comprehensive. A great cookbook for the inexperienced as well as the experienced. I am constantly turning to this book to find new and different meals to prepare. So glad I puchased it.

Fabulous book. WE had just returned from Italy and missed the cooking, and this book helped me recreate the cuisine, while understanding the techniques and ingredients better. This appears to be, to Italian cooking, what James Beard's American Cookery is to American cooking

Marcella Hazan has written an excellent cookbook affording simple,but classic, entries to pasta, fish,risotto,etc. This is my most frequently consulted cookbook. The pasta sauces listed are varied, simple to make, and turn out wonderful. Fish receipes too are wonderful. If you have to have only one Italian cookbook, this is it!