The River Cafe Cookbook

`The River Cafe Cook Book' authors Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers are two English chefs who carry a lot of weight in the community of writers on Italian Cuisine. They are one of the first employers of Jamie Oliver and were, I suspect, a strong influence on his style and choice of cuisine. Gray and Roger owe nothing to Oliver's current celebrity. Their reputation is firmly based on doing good Italian food before Jamie came to the limelight.This is their first and most highly acclaimed book, and the last of their three readily available volumes that I am to review. The book can be viewed on at least three different levels, depending on the reader's level of knowledge of Italian cuisine.The reader who is innocent of any Italian cuisine outside what they may have seen in the local American Italian restaurant will be quite surprised by the absence of the Italian-American classics such as spaghetti and meatballs, veal Parmesan, lasagna, and chicken Marsala. The better informed reader who has read Lydia Bastianich and watched `Molto Mario' will recognize many true Italian standards such as Panzanella salad, osso bucco, slow-cooked lamb shanks, artichokes alla Giudea, and lots and lots of risotto and polenta recipes. This reader may feel slightly disoriented in that there are very few hints and reminders and pointers about how to complete the various recipes. A perfect example is the Roman recipe for `Carciofi alla Giudea' (Fried artichokes, Jewish style). The recipe in David Downie's authoritative `Cooking the Roman Way' covers three pages while Rogers and Gray take three short paragraphs, occupying a quarter of a page to give the recipe with almost exactly the same ingredients. Part of the difference is that Downie's recipe includes detailed instructions on dealing with and cleaning an artichoke and details on techniques for frying with olive oil. Rogers and Gray dispatch this task in four sentences. In dealing with this book, a second paradigm shift is needed to move from the view of culinary newbie to experienced user of Italian recipes.As with the fried artichoke example, tips on cooking technique are rare in this book. What is not rare are tips on the selection of ingredients. I can honestly say that this is truly the first book I have seen where the recipes are so simple and the ingredients lists so small that the choice of the proper ingredients is essential to achieving the expected results. Some recipes are so specific that they require olive oil fresh from the harvest in December and January. Oil aged as much as six months will simply be too mild to give the proper brightness to the recipe.The name of the book `Italian Country' was given to `The River Café Cookbook' when its publication was transplanted from the United Kingdom to the United States. This new title and some few statements in the book give a somewhat misleading picture of the book as a collection of `authentic' recipes from rural Italy. I will just point out that two classic artichoke

Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers can acheive the most delicious dish with basic ingredients. The emphasis is always put on using the freshest products of the best quality. You can almost feel and smell the dish just by reading the recipe. Like all their books, this one is a must have for every italian food lover.