Unplugged Kitchen: The Simple, Authentic Joys of Cooking

This is my favorite book because of its design. I use it in the graphic design classes I teach to show how a recipe, its arrangement on the page, and pacing of the pages in a book can transcend mere instructional information and offer wildly wonderful emotive experiences. The subtlety that the designers impart with a combination of hand-wrought text and typeset text in the colors of olive green and black, and shades of those two colors is a joy to behold. All this AND the best recipes ever, and the philosophy of using our senses to reawaken ourselves to life's beauties are folded into this truly wonderful and life-changing book!

Unplugged Kitchen is a romp through the Italian countryside. Viana La Place is not a pretentious culinary snob, but a down-to-earth woman you'd find behind an apron with olive-oil drenched hands. Her writing and her recipes are exquisite. I read the book for pleasure, and everything I've made is simple and clean and delicious. Forget the machinery and assortment of kitchen gadgetry. Get back to the food and the land--and this book will make this journey and elegant delight. It's one of my favorite cookbooks--stains and all. It's been well-used and well-loved.

Before I begin, let's get one thing straight: I don't cook. I HATE to cook. I grew up dodging my mom's requests for help in the kitchen, reasoning that if I never learned to cook, I'd never be trapped in the domestic drudgery of slaving over a stove for myself or anyone else. Eating disorders, weight wars, and a long ambivalent relationship with food ensued.This book was one of the best things that happened to me after I started healing myself from these woes. La Place pares down the processes of "cooking" to their essence: choosing, preparing, and enjoying the nourishment we all need to stay alive. She lists simple tools that bring the cook into direct contact with the lovely colors, shapes, smells, and textures of food --- a sharp knife replaces the food processor, for example --- and suggests a basic pantry of ingredients to have on hand for a nearly endless variety of delicious combinations. There are also shopping tips, ideas for reducing waste in the kitchen, wonderful memories of favorite meals, excerpts from classic writings on food, and more.La Place's writing is inspiring yet down to earth, and the recipes are lovely, wholesome, and extremely simple. This, I suspect, is why this book is out of print --- there's no hype here, no trendy ingredients or complicated gadgets required, and thus, not much to sell. Too bad. It's held a place of honor in my kitchen from the day I got it, and would no doubt add a healthy dose of simplicity to many more.If you're lucky enough to find a copy, get it.

What a refreshing presentation of foods in their healthiest and most delicious forms. This is just plain good reading, never mind great cooking. LaPlace lets the beauty of the foods shine through.