This Is Italy
Italian cuisine has stolen our hearts from the very first plate of spaghetti. No wonder it's the biggest genre in the cookbook industry. Yet there has been a negative sauce about it in recent years la kitchen. Because 'you don't need a cookbook for a few plates of pasta, do you?' The 13 (plus 1) cookbooks below prove the opposite, because as so often Italy is more than pasta and pizza and Italian cookbooks are real pearls in your kitchen cupboard.
You can buy most of these Italian cookbooks at your local bookstore or at bol.com. Some books are not available (at the moment). For that you will have to search on Marktplaats or in the second-hand bookstore.
Here they come!
Table of contents
- 1. The Silver Spoon
- 2. The Bible of Italian Cuisine
- 3. Cooking con amore
- 4. Let's Eat Italy!
- 5. Cinnamon and salt
- 6. The Pasta Man: The Art of Making Spectacular Pasta
- 7. Pasta Grannies
- 8. The Italian Deli Cookbook
- 9. Bittersweet Honey
- 10. Big Mama's Cucina Popolare
- 11. Jamie cooks Italy
- 12. Flour, water, yeast, salt, passion
- 13. Pasta from Carluccio
- 14. The Italian Baking Book
- What are the best Italian cookbooks in your opinion?
1. The Silver Spoon
We are all familiar with this Italian cookbook. No wonder, because The Silver Spoon has been the cookbook in and outside Italy for more than 50 years. Italians even get this book from their nonna with them when they leave home. Well, what else can you say about it.
The books are thick, but the recipes short and to the point. No special photos and large spreads, but everything from the Italian kitchen bundled in one reference book. And, I also move with the times, nowadays there are extras. There is a vegan (n) version and there will be one soon Silver Spoon with only baking and sweet recipes. That's going to be fun again!
2. The Bible of Italian Cuisine
Another general reference book with a lot of Italian recipes is the Bible of Italian cuisine. The name says it all: with this Italian cookbook you can put Italian meals on the table for months. Ossobuco, polenta, but also the standard pasta and pizza dough recipes are included. The book is somewhat like the Zilveren Spoon in terms of scope, but it is a bit more shrouded in a contemporary jacket. Nice colors, nice drawings and beautiful photos. Finally, the eye also wants something.
3. Cooking con amore
Cooking con amore by Sophia Loren. Yes, that actress. But he also knew quite a bit about Italian classic cuisine. And Italian cooking is best learned from an Italian chef. Even though she is not a television chef as we know it today.
This book came out in the 70s, so this cookbook is also for the classics. Not for modern dishes or innovative ideas. But what's good, you shouldn't change that. No slick modern photos here either, but the old-fashioned lousy food photography from the 70s. But with the beautiful Sophia Loren.
4. Let's Eat Italy!
Another thick, comprehensive Italian cookbook, but also a book that looks great on your kitchen table and moves to a different page every day. The book has recipes for the classic, basic Italian dishes, but above all gives a lot of (nice) explanation about all the food that makes Italian cuisine Italian cuisine. An explanation of the most famous pasta types, history of the Parmigiano Reggiano, where does the pizza really come from and so on.
5. Cinnamon and salt
If anyone should not be missing from a top list of Italian cookbooks, it is Emiko Davies. Follow tip on Instagram, if only because of her daughter who could have walked right out of an old Anne Geddes card. The book focuses on Venice and that's nice, because that kitchen is actually the disadvantaged child in the Italian kitchen.
Because if you now think of Venice and its specialties? Then you will most likely not get further than an espresso for €17,50 on San Marco square. Yet the Venetian cuisine is unique, because they serve the cicchetti. If you have to compare it with something, the best way to do it is with the Spanish pintxos: bigger, tastier and somewhat more refined tapas. The book is beautiful, the recipes are clear and correct and especially the results are delicious.
6. The Pasta Man: The Art of Making Spectacular Pasta
Anyone who has their Instagram in order will certainly know Matteo Zielonka. The chef who doesn't make normal pastas, but real works of art from his egg dough. Multiple colors of dough, fun patterns and unique flavor combinations. A feast for the eyes, but after some fiddling, certainly for your taste buds.
Zielonka's Instagram account became such a hit that an Italian cookbook couldn't be left behind. And so it happened. If you want to get started with special pasta creations, Matteo explains it in a way that seems super easy. And we love that!
7. Pasta Grannies
This book is not new, but it is also one that the Italy lover really should have in the cupboard. You can know the pasta grandmothers from their YouTube channel with special videos about super old recipes (and often equally old grandmothers). The recipes are not like those of The Pasta Man above eccentric and fusion pasta, but really traditional.
In addition to all types of pasta, divided into different sections (with meat, stuffed, with fish, vegetarian, etc.), the book also contains basic recipes. For example, how do you make a killer broth for your cappeletti? Besides the recipes, the stories in the book are perhaps the best thing about it. While reading you learn the nonnas really get to know you and imagine yourself in a different old Italian kitchen with each story.
8. The Italian Deli Cookbook
Yes, when we talk about smashing Italian cookbooks, chef Theo Randall (InterContinental) with his mischievous face should not be missing from the list. Not necessarily your usual Italian cook like a Gennaro, for example, but he is such an only man.
And then that book! Beautiful photos (also important), delicious recipes and most of them are also nice and easy. We love that! His new cookbook will be released at the end of August The Italian Pantry from. A book with 100 (!) Recipes all consisting of 10 the same ingredients. We can not wait!
9. Bittersweet Honey
Bittersweet honey is another Italian cookbook that you can keep leafing through. The up-and-coming Italian 'chefs' (who are best known from Instagram) generally do better and cozier in terms of cookbooks than those old silver spoons. But! That is of course just what you like: classic or something hipper.
In any case, Letitia Clark does it in a traditional, but hip way. In her book Bittersweet honey (also available in English) she dives into Sardinian cuisine. And that's one for me! The recipes in this book invite you to take your time and enjoy fresh meals, friends and family.
Think roasted aubergines with honey, mint, garlic and burrata, or a fresh, spicy salad of celery, blood orange, anchovy and hazelnut. Of course the Malloreddus will pass by (the shell-shaped pasta from the region), but what is certain is that the recipes and the story behind them will take you to the glistening waters and quiet lifestyle of this Italian island. Her new book La Vita è Dolce has also just been published. In this are Italian-inspired deserts. So the complete meal!
10. Big Mama's Cucina Popolare
'Italian classics with a contemporary twist', says the book. And when you look at the cover, you think it's a cookbook from the local chicken farmer, but you have to look over it. There are more than 130 recipes in the book, all of which are easy to prepare and give you a slightly different look at Italian cuisine.
The cookbook was developed by the chefs of the restaurant chain “Big Mamma” and they all threw recipes from their mother into the group, where this Italian cookbook was eventually rolled out. Cook with the new generation of Italian chefs and make 'poulpilove' – octopus and potato with chimichurri. Prepare a 'risotto pera'more' with gorgonzola, pear and walnut, and tiramisu with a twist.
11. Jamie cooks Italy
He should not be missing from the list, but we could have missed him. Although Jamie Oliver and his friend Gennaro Contaldo have toured the Italian kitchens a number of times already, his cookbooks about Italy remain a bit flat. Can we say that, yes we can say that. Because! Jamie fans will think otherwise and with a cookbook with more than 140 recipes, there is always something delicious with it.
But - be warned - don't expect unique recipes with nice, little ingredients that you really have to search for and that would put a special meal on the table. Yes, it's tasty and it really is a twist on Italian cuisine. But if you want something special, I would choose another book from the list. Sorry Jamie and fans!
12. Flour, water, yeast, salt, passion
For pizza it is best to go to the Italian square cookbook. They have translated the official pizza book of the Neapolitan Pizza Association and this is the classic work for which the Italian himself is famous. Flour, water, yeast, salt, passion. That's the name of the book. Even if you don't have a wood oven at home, it's great fun to get started with good, surprising recipes.
13. Pasta from Carluccio
Attention pasta lovers! For pasta it is best to go to Carluccio. His book is simply called Folder. It is one of the best Italian cookbooks you can get for preparing pasta.
Many Dutch people think of that when it comes to Italian cuisine. Carluccio is a well-known TV chef. He made programs on the BBC with that other top chef Gennaro Contaldo who unfortunately did not make it in this list.
14. The Italian Baking Book
The last cookbook is half Dutch, half Italian and it is Italian baking book van Serena Solaria† One of the winners of All of Holland Bakt† She made a cookbook full of real Italian cakes, cookies and bread.
Since she won this competition, she also gives baking workshops and organizes culinary trips to Italy. My favorite cakes: the torta di rose and the almond amaretti pie.
What are the best Italian cookbooks in your opinion?
Do you also have one or more of these Italian cookbooks on your shelf? Or do you have any other Italian cooking bibles that you think should have made this list? Let us know in a comment!
With contributions by Martine van Groenigen and Lotje Lomme
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