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Books: Cooking by Cuisine -> Cooking Italian
Cooking with My Sisters : One Hundred Years of Family Recipes, from Bari to Big Stone Gap
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by:
TRIGIANI, ADRIANA
TRIGIANI, MARY
TRIGIANI, LUCIA ANNA
TRIGIANI, ANTONIA
TRIGIANI, FRANCESCA
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Publisher:
Random House
Published: October 5, 2004
ISBN: 1400062594
Format:Hardcover
Pages:192
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Book Description
From Publishers Weekly
Trigiani, author of the Big Stone Gap trilogy, Queen of the Big Time and other novels, offers a scrapbook of homey recipes and reminiscences. While it'll undoubtedly please her family, friends and biggest fans, readers outside
that circle may tire of endless photographs of Trigiani family parties and tales of mothers who wanted their children to eat plenty of greens and grandmothers who were loath to share recipes. There are many parallels between the author's family and her
fictional characters, and the anecdotes Trigiani shares sometimes resemble incidents from her books. Handwritten notes from Trigiani's grandmother ("Congratulations on your engagement.... the Prince of Wales wouldn't be good enough for my
granddaughters") and memories of Trigiani's mother's "warm, inviting, creative" kitchen are sweet, but hardly compelling or unusual. Similarly, the recipesandmdash;contributed by Trigiani and her sistersandmdash;are for well-worn (if delicious) Italian
classics: Gnocchi, Basic Tomato Sauce, Meatballs, Sausage and Peppers, Braciole, Trigiani Lasagne with Meat and Cheese, and Mom's Stuffed Peppers. Authentic, yes. Interesting? It depends. Beginning cooks stand to gain the most from this collection, but
those already familiar with standard Italian-American fare won't find much of interest, making this a "for fans only" cookbook. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From
Booklist
For decades, the women of the Trigiani family have expressed themselves through their cooking. The sisters of the present generation, whose heritage stretches improbably from the mountains of Italy to those of western Virginia, have set down
the family's culinary tradition as they learned to love it. This is a typically simple cuisine, a basic dough recipe turning into all manner of pasta. Sauces begin with tomato puree and explore different seasonings to complement assorted pastas. Their
festive oil-and-garlic sauce takes on special character from plenty of lemon juice and grated zest. Veal cutlets, braciole, and sausage and peppers compose the basic meat offerings. Northern Italian influence manifests itself in cinnamon-scented chicken
and tomato sauce over polenta. A simple salad of oranges dressed in olive oil and black pepper appeals to contemporary tastes. As much family memoir as cookbook, this volume documents the nurturing relationships of grandmothers, mother, and daughters.
Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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