{HISTORY}

What happens when two Italian food icons come together in the kitchen? You get this special edition cookbook collaboration - the classic Talisman Italian Cook Book enhanced with references for America's famous long-standing pasta brand, Ronzoni Macaroni. Both have been at the heart of Italian cooking since the early 1900s.

To start at the beginning of this cooking adventure you have to travel all the way back to 1928. That's when Italian fashion editor and foodie Ada Boni (1881-1973) published her cookbook - Il Talismano in Rome. It was a behemoth - 866 pages - and it quickly became the favored book of recipes for all of Italy.

In the 1920s, Ada was inspired by the precise cooking techniques and instruction of America's Fannie Farmer and wanted to create something of equal value for her own country. Most Italian women in those days learned to cook from their mothers, aunts and grandmothers using passed-down recipes. They prepared local food gathered from their local region, and when set to cooking in the kitchen, most ingredients and the measurements of them, came together in an intuitive fashion. Then, It was all about a pinch of this, a handful of that, and there was an unspoken level of trust and assurance that the traditional Italian home cook knew all the ins and outs and nuances of preparing an authentic dish from scratch. Who needed a cookbook when you had actual family members to consult?

But Ada wanted to bring all those multi-generational recipes from all over Italy together into one book so that every cook would have access to tried, trusted, and true recipes. She wanted to make a cookbook that was a complete taste of her beloved country from the top of the boot all the way to the tip of the toe.

In the 1950s, Ada's cookbook hopped over to America thanks to Columbia University translator, Matilde Pei and Ronzoni Macaroni. An instant success again, that first American debut inspired U.S. home cooks across the country to replicate authentic Italian cuisine exactly the way it was prepared in the old country. 

In 1915, Emanuele Ronzoni, a young Italian immigrant started his own pasta factory in Queens, NY. Like Ada's book, The Ronzoni Macaroni Company was practically an instant hit upon opening, and in just a few short years it was on its way to becoming a trusted pasta brand in America. Over 100 years later, Ronzoni is still going strong.

When Ada's book debuted in the US in the mid-20th century it was paired down from its original 880+ pages to just under 300 pages. It was adapted to American kitchen measurements and oven temperatures.  But its ingredients, techniques, and cooking processes remained the same. It's an Italian cookbook meant for Italian cooks in America, not an Italian-American cookbook meant for Americans. That difference of distinction lies in its authenticity of execution. Here, you'll find recipes for Neopolitan-style pork chops, Roman-style broccoli, Genoa Swiss Chard, and Milano Panettone. You'll travel the country via taste, via town, via budgets large and small, via local ingredients and via their availability. 

Enhanced with vintage ads for Ronzoni pasta, this unique cookbook becomes both a time capsule of 20th-century culinary achievement and also a delicious romp through the kitchen landscape of Italy. Ada's book is still considered the best resource of Italian recipe curation and is beloved by both professional chefs and home cooks in Italy and abroad. 

This is the hard-to-find 6th printing of the 1950 original, which although unstated was published in 1954.

Photo of Ada Boni (pictured at center) courtesy of Maga Maghetta.

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- This is the sixth printing of the 1950 original published in 1954 (year unstated)

- 292 pages including a detailed index

- includes a vintage black and white Ronzoni advertisement, product placement and pasta diagrams

- special sections on  an Italian-to-American wine equivalent list and an Italian-to-English glossary

{CONDITION}

In beautiful vintage condition, this book looks practically brand-new. The interior is very clean and bright with no spots, stains, or notations. All pages are intact. The spine is tight. And the dust jacket is completely intact with no rips, tears or bumped corners. 

{SIZE}

Measure 8.5" length x 5.75" inches (width)  x 1" inch (thickness) and weighs 1 lb.