Antonio Carluccio's Southern Italian Feast

I have been watching the matching BBC video of this wonderful book and finally decided to purchase the original cookbook to accompany the series. I am pleased that I did so because Carluccio's book contains more recipes than the accompaning video and the anecdotes that he uses to introduce a particular recipe add an enriching extra fullness to the food. For instance, his desciption of the contents of a Sicilian shepherd's lunch and his explanation of why Sardinian cuisine is based on meat rather than fish even though Sardinia is an island [centuries of seaborne attack forced the people into the interior of the island for protection] make "Southern Italian Feast" a book to be read rather than simply referred to as a normal cookbook. The extent of the recipe collection is well matched to the Mediterannean climate here in southwestern Australia therefore the food fits perfectly into our larder and the resulting lifestyle is matched to that of southern Italy-except for the Anglo overlay. Any cook in any area of the world that lives in a Mediterannean climate would do well to seek out this superb book for it's recpes and Calucicio's writing.

This book contains everything that is good about southern Italian food, including recipes that contain vibrant, flavorful ingredients, which are indeed a feast for your senses. A chapter is set aside to explain what ingredients are in fact important to southern Italian cuisine, and the rest of the book is full of traditional recipes, which would appeal to novice or experienced cooks alike. Delicious color photographs of many of the dishes are sprinkled throughout the book. If you are interested in southern Italian cooking, than I think you'll enjoy this book.

Southern Italian Feast has captured the essence of Southern Italian cooking with enthusiasm and personality. The author, Antonio Carluccio, uses fresh ingredients in recipes that, though simple to prepare, are incredibly delicious. Before each recipe, he chats with us about the recipe, the region and gives other interesting information with a relaxed charm that added to my cooking experience. Mouth-watering photographs beautifully illustrate and tempt even further. Southern Italian Feast has quickly become my favorite Italian recipe book. This is a book you will really use. The most difficult thing is deciding which recipe to try next!