Ancona to the Midwest: A Culinary Journey

bookshelf

Ancona to the Midwest: A Culinary Journey

Name: Ancona to the Midwest: A Culinary Journey
Author: Paul Joseph Cortellini
ISBN: 978-0615898858

AN ITALIAN IMMIGRANT SHARES HIS STORY OF LOVE OF FAMILY, FOOD, MUSIC AND LIFE

by Paul Joseph Cortellini ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2014

bookshelf

Among long-winded bouts of personal history, Cortellini’s culinary memoir peppers a lifetime of mouth-watering recipes from across two continents.
Cortellini has led a well-traveled life—a fact reflected in the selection of alluring recipes featured here, ranging from nostalgic comfort food to higher-end cuisine. At a young age in the early 1950s, he migrated to the U.S. from Italy with his mother and brother to meet their father there. After first living in an Italian neighborhood in the Bronx, the family eventually settled in Indianapolis, where his mother continued to cook in the Italian tradition but with modifications to adapt to the ingredients available and affordable in America. Her culinary innovation means many of the Italian recipes included in the book have a distinctly American touch, such as lasagna that substitutes Kraft American cheese with pimento and Kraft Swiss cheese for besciamella sauce (Cortellini does admit, however, that “the traditional version using besciamella sauce is far superior”). As an adult, Cortellini had a career as a banking and finance executive, which uprooted him and his wife to several European countries, including France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom in addition to his native Italy. The international travel allowed him to expand his personal menu beyond his mother’s Italian home-cooking, with dishes such as avocats aux crevettes (avocado with shrimp and American sauce) from Luxembourg; still, hearty Italian remains the staple. The tempting recipes, even the more complicated concoctions, are approachable and well-explained thanks to Cortellini’s frankness and attention to detail. Those traits become a burden, however, in the time between recipes when personal history takes center stage. Here, the text becomes bogged down in lengthy discussions, such as one on the process of strengthening internal controls at a technology company. Names of seemingly every friend, acquaintance and one-time employee are dutifully offered as well—something that is sure to delight the author’s inner circle, though it makes for a laborious reading experience for anyone else. Readers might be tempted to skim these parts or simply skip them altogether and go straight to where the book really shines: the recipes.
A delicious buffet of family recipes with too generous a helping of memoir.

Pub Date: June 25, 2014

ISBN: 978-0615898858

Page Count: 328

Publisher: Cortellini Publishing

Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.