The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens

by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

If you dream of Italy—and who does not?—be prepared to fall in love with this extraordinary cookbook. Written by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, author of The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food (winner of both the James Beard and Julia Child/IACP Cookbook-of-the-Year Awards), it is every bit the equal of its celebrated predecessor.

Read its exuberant pages, eat its lusty dishes, and you enter a landscape vibrant with rural life. You are one with the terrain. In some sense, you are home. That, of course, is the miracle of Italy—no matter where we come from, we want to be a part of it. And the miracle of The Italian Country Table is its ability to take us there.

And what a journey! You will never be as impatient to get into your kitchen as when you are planning a meal from this book. Two hundred recipes, personally collected from home cooks throughout the length and breadth of Italy, will keep calling you back.

Who could resist the “Gatto” di Patate, a mashed-potato “lasagna” from the Neapolitan countryside? Or a Tuscan Mountain Supper of warm beans tossed with an herbed tomato sauce and eaten with tart greens? Or Pasta of the Grape Harvest, a Sicilian dish of grapes, red wine, orange zest, spices, pistachios and linguine? Or Chocolate Polenta Pudding Cake?

Kasper, host of Public Radio's The Splendid Table, is a master teacher who thinks about cooking in a way that is radically distinctive. Her chapter on tomatoes and tomato sauces, a treasure by itself, will change the way you think about them—and cook them—forever. Her guide to buying and saucing pasta contains more useful facts than many books that devote themselves to pasta exclusively.

Kasper, the grandchild of Italian immigrants, describes herself as someone with a love of lingering “in places where life changes slowly.” This personal book abounds with stories of artisans, farmers and family. It is a portrait of Italian country life.

Where you read The Italian Country Table, cook from it or use it to plan a trip (there is an appendix that lists guest farms, country hotels, restaurants and museums), you have only to turn its pages to be transported to a rustic Italy that few of us know, but all of us long for.

-16 pages of finished dishes in full color

-50 black-and-white photographs of country life

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Italian Literature, Reference, Italy, Nonfiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 1999

About the author

Lynne Rossetto Kasper is an award-winning American food writer and radio journalist. She is the host of the American Public Media program The Splendid Table, whose targeted audience is "people who love to eat." The weekly program features a series of interviews with chefs, restaurateurs, and wine experts. Guests vary from week to week, but every show includes a segment with food travelers and authors Jane and Michael Stern.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to make everything in this book. But most specifically I want to make the Potato "Gatto". Even more specifically I want to make a Potato Gatto the size of my dining room, eat my way into it, curl up, and nap for six weeks.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love her stories and sensibility! One of my favorite recipes in this book is the sweet pear and rosemary pizza, which combines fresh pears with fruity olive oil, rosemary, orange zest, and freshly ground black pepper. It is delicious!

[Melanie Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Balsamico Chicken and Northern Mountain Dinner are really delicious. I also hear the chocolate coins are amazing. This cook book is VERY well done.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. Beautifully written.

[Domenica Galluccio · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book with heartwarming stories and delicious recipes.

[Karen Eades · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are recipes in this book that I have made over and over, they are so good I crave them. Specifically, the Potato Gatto, the braised pork and three peppers over polenta, and the balsamico roast chicken and potatoes to name a few. The minestrone is great, as is the linguine with pistachio almond pesto. In addition to the recipes, I loved just reading all the stories and cooking advice in this book. The pictures make my mouth water.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible read and incredible recipes. Rossetto Kasper is so good at explaining technique that the cookbook winds up being really accessible, even if you're not an experienced cook. For those who are, there's plenty there, particularly many old-time, family-style foods not normally written down. One of my favorite books (not just among cookbooks) ever.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kaspar's books are all excellent but this is my favorite. Being prejudiced towards rural cooking of any cuisine, I think she produces a series of recipes that are each memorable when prepared, clearly explained, and illuminated by anecdotes of the region. A real keeper.

[CH · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite cookbooks - I love Kasper's recipe for foccacia bread - in fact, she devoted an entire chapter to homemade foccacia bread - it is simply delicious. Following her recipes make you feel like a gourmet cook.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always like to listen to Lynne Rossetto Kasper on NPR. Her books are just as much fun.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authentic Italian meals -- love this book for it's recipes and stories.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'ma gonna cook amy waya through thisa book.

[Lisa]

perused this at Peg & Robb's. recipes look amazing. cook's notes are thoughtful. history is fun to read.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels like you actually visit Italy while reading this cook book.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best Italian cookbook I have ever seen. Will be making the "Crushed Buttermilk Potatoes". Yum Yum

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timbale!

[Eric Hines]

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