Nothing significant exists under Italy's sun that is not touched by art. Marcella Hazan

{HISTORY}

A culinary icon, a beloved instructor and a gracious host, Marcella Hazan is the most well respected expert on Italian cooking in American kitchens that our country has ever known. Like Julia Child was to French cooking, Marcella was a trendsetter - the first to bring practical technique, cultural provenance and authentic recipes to home cooks seeking to replicate the traditional foods of Italy. 

Born in Italy in 1924, she came to the United States as a young married woman faced with the task of cooking for herself and her husband for the first time in her life. Growing up in a household where everybody cooked for and around her, Marcella was suddenly a new cook in a new kitchen in 1950's New York City, a very different landscape then the pastoral one she knew as a girl. Uncertain as to how to replicate the experience of food and feast in her new country, she began cooking via memory, recollection and some old family recipes.  One by one, Marcella began to recreate the dishes of her home country, capturing the essence of Italian eating in her new city lifestyle. In the late 1960s, confident in the skills she had acquired via trial and error, she opened a cooking school. Next, she embarked on writing her first cookbook - this one - The Classic Italian Cook Book, which was first published in 1976. A runaway best seller - Marcella's easy to follow instructions and wonderfully engaging voice, seduced readers into the charming, symbiotic relationship between food and feeding that comes so easily and naturally to the traditional Italian table. 

In this wonderful cookbook, she delights in teaching simple recipes made by hand using fresh, whole ingredients while sharing detailed preparation notes (including drawings!) to ensure authentic and accurate results. Along the way, she tells stories about Italy, about specific foods and people and about how they have affected certain dishes. It is so full of interesting thoughts and remarks, we could have quoted 80 million different lines from this book highlighting all of Marcella's wisdom and perspective on food, on life, on family. Fascinating to read from cover to cover, one of the things that we loved most about this cookbook is its simplicity. There's no need for fancy equipment, special machinery or complicated processes here - it's strictly accessible food suitable for all skill levels. 

This is the 14th edition of The Classic Italian Cookbook which was published in 1983.

{SPECIAL FEATURES} 

- 483 pages

- Contains over 250 recipes 

- Illustrated throughout with drawings by George Koizumi

- In addition to specific recipes suggested menus and/or companion dishes are offered throughout each chapter

{CONDITION}

In lovely condition. All pages are clean and bright, with the exception of a few small errant cooking stains in the gnocchi section. The dust jacket is fully intact. 

{SIZE}

Measures 9.5"inches (length) x 6.75" inches (width) x 1.75" inches (thickness)

{FOR THE COLLECTOR}

Looking for other traditional Italian cookbooks? Find these here.