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THE SOUTHERN ITALIAN FARMER'S TABLE

Name: THE SOUTHERN ITALIAN FARMER'S TABLE
Author: Matthew Scialabba
ISBN: 978-0-7627-7082-3

AUTHENTIC RECIPES AND LOCAL LORE FROM TUSCANY TO SICILY

by Matthew Scialabba & Melissa Pellegrino ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2012

A perfect guide to bringing home the traditional and unique flavors of Italy.

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A delicious journey through central and southern Italy through recipes.

In this sequel to The Italian Farmer's Table (2009), Scialabba and Pellegrino chronicle their travels to more than 30 farms and share the best recipes from each, using only what that farm produces. "We were deeply moved by the simplicity of cooking with ingredients grown and raised out the kitchen door," they write. “There was something that we connected with, that just seemed real and felt right about washing dirt off freshly picked vegetables, or noting the vibrant orange color of the free-range egg yolks we were using to make fresh pasta." At the beginning the authors provide basic recipes for pasta and crepes, and they include a charming history of the farm, how the family came to agritourism and, of course, the specialties of each house—usually at least one appetizer, entree and dessert. Home chefs can start with a beet carpaccio with pickled onions from Tuscany, move on to polenta with pork and sausage sauce from Umbria and finish with a poached pear and ricotta mousse tart from Basilicata. Some of the mouthwatering recipes are fairly simple, such as the farfalle with zucchini and mussels from Apulia, but others will take time, such as the chicken lasagna from the Michetti Convent in Abruzzo. Scialabba and Pellegrino also make adaptations for home chefs—e.g., replacing quail for Sardinia's indigenous partridges—and they include instructions on where to find wild boar in American and the contact information for all of the farms, among other points of reference.

A perfect guide to bringing home the traditional and unique flavors of Italy.

Pub Date: April 3, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-7627-7082-3

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Lyons Press

Review Posted Online: March 4, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

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

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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

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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

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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.