Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages

Do not love this book...only happy that i paid so few dollars for it!! so many items are not avail in most states or grocery stores..YES you can sub..but who needs to try to figure it out..who has the time! I liked him..and yes.. i am disgusted by him, but i thought i would buy this..as it mentioned SIMPLE...lol I have the BAbbo cookbook..i should have known..would not recommend! understand the seller getting rid of it!~

I find it hard to be entirely objective about this book, as Mario Batali is my number one culinary hero. Through his show `Molto Mario' on the Food Network, he exposed me for the first time to Italian regional and microregional cuisines and the `if it grows together, it goes together' doctrine. This is called `terroir by the fans of cooking from `the F country', which Mario loves to hate. This also brought into full light the doctrine of `buy the very best of what is fresh today and that will determine what you cook tonight.' Mario does not give you the cerebral approach of someone like Paul Bertolli or Tom Colicchio or, ultimately, like Thomas Keller, but Mario gets all the important stuff right, in a way we can appreciate and use.I love the way Mario quite honestly confesses to having lifted most of his recipes from Italian grandmothers, as he believes that the best Italian cooking is done in the home and not in the Restaurante. In spite of his heart being with Italian cuisine, he is never disrespectful of American food and produce, especially when the American product is superior to the Italian.This book is comprised of recipes primarily from the extended three-year stage he served in a little trattoria in Emilia-Romagna, a stones throw from the border with Toscana. But, it does contain several recipes from other parts of Emilia-Romagna, Toscana, Lazio (Rome) and even Sicily. His two `villages' are Porretta Terme in Italy and Greenwich Village in Manhattan. The book has six chapters of recipes, these being:Antipasti, 43 recipes including crostini, bruschetta, polenta, pickled vegetables, mushrooms, and cured fish.Primi (pasta or rice), 49 recipes including recipes for fresh pastas, gnocchi, couscous, and risottos.Seconde (main dish) Pesce (fish), 27 recipes including scallops, calamari, prawns, crabs, lobster, snapper, and even frogs' legs. Carne (meat), 32 recipes including rabbit, pheasant, lamb, veal, beef, sausage, liver, and sweetmeats.Contorni (side dishes) 26 recipes including polenta, many vegetable dishes, grilled, fried, and pickled.Formaggi & Dolce (cheese and sweets) 27 recipes including fruit and confections with funny names.Each section includes pantry recipes for sauces and dressings not included in this count.I would recommend this book primarily for the reading of Mario's unvarnished enthusiasm for food and the Italian dedication to (relative) simplicity of method and freshness of your `prima materia'. I would also highly recommend his basic tomato sauce (I make it all the time) and his recipes using fresh pasta. As he points out, there is a big difference between the fresh pasta of the north and the dry pasta of the south both in the way they are made, in the types of flour used, and in the sauces appropriate to each. Mario's recommendations on making and dressing pasta are worth the price of admission. The black and white or sepia photographs of Mario and his colleagues at the trattoria lend a warm `gemutlichkeit' (sor

I'm a bit of a loss to read the less than stellar reviews of this book by Mario Batali. Yes, Mario uses some not-so-common ingredients... but if you want not-so-common food, you try your best to find those ingredients (hint: you can find hard-to-find ingredients pretty damn easy over the Web)... besides, there'sa common alternative to practically every ingredient that Mario uses.So far I've tried about a dozen recipes... *all* with stellar results. The artichoke/pasta and the calamari recipes are particular favorites. And while I was skeptical about the quick tomato sauce that he describes early on (hey... its *so* different than Marcella's quick sauce), when I tried it, it was amazingly good, especially for a 30-minute sauce.And... yeah... it does take a little practice to make your own fresh pasta. Overkneading/overrolling can make fresh pasta pretty tough. If you can't... you can always stick to Sicilian dishes. Sicilians prefer dried pasta. :)This is a good book (unlike other junk like Emeril's book... Emeril is a circus clown not a cook). Besides the simple (they *are* simple) recipes, you really learn quite a bit about simple Italian cooking that you can leverage in your other dishes.

"Mario Batalia's Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages" is the quintessential Italian cook book for anyone who wants to create their own Italian culinary masterpieces in the familiar surroundings of their own kitchens. This book is beautifully illustrated, very easy to read and provides the reader with the necessary basic's concerning the use of ingredients. Mario encourages us to use fresh ingredients from our own "villages" and not to be afraid to subsitute freely if a particular ingredient is not locally available. Follow the receipes, be creative when necessary and success will not be far behind. Bravo Mario.

Mario is fabulously eloquent, not only on his TV shows, but also in his book. And the recipes are great - everyone we have tried is a winner - great bruschettas, pasta, meat and more. Hooray to Mario for including fresh, unexpected (for Americans) ways to use artichoke too. Thank goodness for Mario, who has some integrity in this new world of TV chefs who sensationalize food preparation for ratings! -- Not Mario -- he sticks to food that is wonderful, joyous, simple, and wholly enjoyable. And, he is a great teacher. This is the book we pull out when we want a great pasta dish for a weeknight, as well when planning a three or four course meal for guests. Very versatile.p.s. The information about fresh vs. dried pasta was ENLIGHTENING! i.e. with which sauces dried is best, and when fresh is best.