Giorgio Locatelli's Made in Italy, Food and Stories

There are quite a few new cook books out at the moment, I reckon it must be the pre-Christmas rush.  Tom Aikens has brought out his first work, David Everitt-Matthias from Le Champignon Sauvage has brought out his first book, Mark Hix has brought out his seventh, as has Jamie Oliver.

But it is Giorgio's second book, Made in Italy, Food and Stories that I want to talk about.  It is essentially his magnum opus, it seems to be the book where he spills his guts on food and cooking.  There are fascinating biographical essays through which we see him mature as a chef, working his way up from his family restaurant, through the best kitchens of London and Paris and finally walking through the door of his own establishment.  Along the way we learn the influence of his grandmother, how competitive chefs can be in cycle races and his version of what happened when he left Zafferano.

There are also essays on particular favourite ingredients, such as truffles or vinegar, as well as lengthy essays at the beginning of each recipe section.  The recipes in the book are divided into sections mirroring a traditional Italian menu - antipasti, soup, pasta, risotto, fish, meat, dessert.

So far I've only made one dish, the caponata.  Previously, I have made this dish using a different recipe and what resulted was little more than a ratatouille.  What I made from Locatelli's book was a beautiful, light, deeply flavoured vegetable dish.  It's a bit like a stew, the longer you leave it, the better it tastes.  The deep fried aubergines, left to steep for a couple of hours in salt to draw out the moisture, are a revelation.  I served the caponata with some chunks of seared tuna, as Giorgio recommends, and it was a great starter.

Silverbrowess was talking about making a minestrone before the Yom Kippur fast and I suggested she use Giorgio's recipe.  For once she listened to me and here is her take on it:

Giorgio's book looks very intimidating and I was slightly concerned Silverbrow was trying to catch me out when he suggested I use it.  That would have been particularly cruel given the imminence of the pre-fast meal.

It took me a long time to chop all the vegetables up (Silverbrow attributes this to the chopping board I was using) but the volume and quantity of ingredients paid off. The minestrone was delicious. I didn't follow the recipe to a T - I put some of the ingredients in the wrong order (slightly concerned Silverbrow would know) and I added in fennel. I also added water (cardinal sin) instead of stock (no time for that).  I didn't what cavalo nero was - maybe there was a glossary but I didn't have time to use it - however, Silverbrow suggested I use cabbage instead.

I was initially put off blanching the tomatoes - when do I spend time blanching tomatoes? A bit of skin never did anyone (or Silverbrow) any harm. However, it was very easy to do (although I had to jump to another page for instructions) and I even found myself deseeding the things - felt very proud of myself and will certainly blanch again!

I will definitely use the book again - the instructions were generally clear and easy to follow.  Incidentally, I didn't see any information regarding how many each recipe serves. (Ed: All recipes serve 4 unless otherwise stated, or so it says in the intro at the front.)  The book is so beautiful, you almost don't want to use it - I was a bit worried about the soup splashes on the pages....

There you have it.  It's a great book.  I can see it will become invaluable in our household.  Silverbrowess loves his cooking and he writes clearly, I reckon the back cover broody picture of him (by Dan Lepard, natch) helps somewhat as do the other stunning photos.  I'm fascinated by learning how to combine French best practice with the more relaxed cooking of Italy, that I prefer to cook and love to eat.  I'd suggest this is one of those books no kitchen should be without, I would also urge you to go and buy it if you were solely let down by the promise of The Silver Spoon.  I haven't heard of any glaring errors in Made in Italy, the paper is nice and thick and there are photos that not only look fantastic but are great illustrations to the food.  It is well worth making space on your shelf for this 512 page behemoth.

Locatelli G, 2006, Made in Italy, Food and Stories, Harper Collins (ISBN: 1841157015)