From America’s best selling Italian chef, author, restaurateur, TV celebrity and all round ambassador of Italian cuisine, Lidia Bastianich, comes the definitive guide to Italian cooking; ‘Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine’ .
The grandmother of Italo-American cuisine has teamd up with her daughter Tanya to pen what she has called her 'milestone' cookbook in a tribute to nearly half a century's experience of cooking capturing ‘everything you need to know about Italian cookery.’
Budding Italian food enthusiasts round the world will find everything they need to embark on their Italian culinary journey in the 400 strong recipe book, including basic techniques and tools to a culinary glossary which will also come in handy for overseas travel to Italy.
“I want to impart every bit of wisdom I have” Lidia explains in her enthusiastic introduction. Her compelling love of Italian cuisine comes from her Italian childhood and helping her Grandparents with basic food preparation, tending the animals and garden.
Image: Inside the book
Lidia shares tips for 'buying and storing food' and the standard ingredients used in Italian cookery from meat and fish to spices and condiments though to the ‘delight of cooking and eating’ with the seasons' and the joy of sitting down to eat around a table with family.
Recipes include some of Lidia’s own original dishes like Bread and Prune Gnocchi and Beet Ravioli in Poppy Seed Sauce through to Italian classics like risotto alla Milanese and tagliatelle with mushroom sauce.
Lidia's Mastering The Art Of Italian Cuisine can be purchased online, and is due to publish 27th October 2015.
FDL caught up with Lidia last year to ask her about her food memories, favourite dishes and recipes from 1958, when she first moved to the U.S.A. from Italy with her family, until now. See what the inspiring chef had to say.