I found the book quite readable, and I agree with the reviewer below who praises the book's "detailed, insatiable descriptions of the regions, and history of the recipe at hand." Also worthy of praise are the sections on the fundmentals of baking, which were particularly helpful to me when I was learning to bake. By covering the fundamentals and the various techniques used in different regions of Italy, the book gave me a good idea of what aspects I could experiment with comfortably, and which steps were more or less prescribed.

Our baking program turned out to be a success. Diners were especially fond of the scroll-shaped loaves that we learned to make from "The Italian Baker." Later we started making sourdough bread at the restaurant, based on techniques learned from this book. One night after we had been at it for a few weeks, one of our waiters came back into the kitchen to pass on compliments from a diner from San Francisco who said that our sourdough bread was as good as any she had had at home in SF. We were ecstatic. Only a few months before my cooking expertise had been more or less limited to heating up canned soup!

So I give this book a very enthusiastic recommendation for anyone wanting to bake Italian bread and then possibly go on to improvise their own loaves. In addition to being well-written, it is also a very handsome volume.

32 of 33 found the following review helpful:

My favorite bread recipes come from this book  Aug 26, 1998

I checked this book out so many times my husband finally got the hint and bought it for me five years ago. A wonderfully written book with fabulous recipes. Here are our favorites: Focaccia (any), Pizza (any), Panforte (this is better than the stuff you buy in Siena. I could eat the whole thing), Panettone (easy, light, wonderful), Raisin Rosemary rolls, the Rosemary bread (I've made this many, many times and it is unbeatable--gorgeous and delicious), the little herb rolls, the ciabatta, the breadsticks (so so easy and terrific), and I can't remember what else. Oh, several cookie recipes, and the incredible, incredible tarts with pasta frolla (rice tart....). And on and on. Highly, highly recommended. Six stars if I could.

36 of 38 found the following review helpful:

Number One Cookbook in My Kitchen  Dec 23, 1999
By Linda C. Braddy
I am enjoying two weeks off at Christmas and went "crusing" on the net to find recipes for Panetone (festive Italian Christmas Bread) and found this site with the lavish comments and laudatory praises for Carol Field's book. I also found a "doable" panetone recipe I could conjure up. After a visit to a local bookstore and finding this "treasure" I am hooked! I bought it on Sunday and it's now Thursday and I have read over 100 pages--not only for the tasty recipes, but the detailed, insatiable descriptions of the regions, and history of the recipe at hand. Never have I had a cookbook that I could rave about like this one. After spending 10 years in Vicenza and Napoli with my Army husband, I recognize the regions she so adeptly describes and the foods that complement the plates on the table. Do not miss this one, it is a rare jewel. Thank you Carol for the best christmas present I got this year!

14 of 14 found the following review helpful:

Not For Beginners  Aug 25, 2006
By jerry i h
When the author wrote this cookbook 20 years ago, one always thought of French cooking when it came to bread and pastry. Since then, many businesses and culinary careers have been based on this pioneering book. Yet, this book remains pretty much the only game in town when it comes to Italian baking. Some things like focaccia and tiramisu have entered into our culinary consciousness, yet there remains much that is as yet unexplored, viz. a rich dense almond cake baked in a sweetened pasta frolla, pandoro, or vegetable breads.

The main problem with this book is the intended audience: experienced home bakers. If you are a beginner, it is best to avoid this book until you have gained a little bit of skill. The book does have quite a nice section on baking basics, but these are rather generic. Recipes themselves tend not to have enough detail for the beginner: info on when something is properly baked, how to tell when a dough is properly proofed, how to form some of the more unusual shapes, etc. are often lacking. This is not a problem for someone who already knows how to bake, but can be a problem to a neophyte.

Note that the recipes have all been carefully tested. I have no problems when I bake from this book, lack of specific procedures in some recipes not withstanding. All recipes have separate instructions for hand, processor, or stand mixer. If one of these methods is not appropriate for a specific recipe, the author will clearly say so (unlike some others books I could name that says that any of the 3 methods will work equally well for all recipes). Another touch I appreciate is that the measurements for flour are listed in both cups and weight (hurrah!) (one cup of AP flour is listed as the same as 4 1/2 oz or 135 grams, implying that she uses dip and sweep).

Unlike some current bestselling baking cookbooks which seem to have been invented at the computer keyboard, the author spent considerable time traveling and learning in Italy what it means to be baker. She collected many traditional and popular baked goods as they are actually baked in Italy, and successfully translated their recipes for the American home kitchen. If you have some baking skills, you should have this book. You will enjoy baking from this book, in as much as the Italian flavors will, in many cases, seem to be new, exotic and special, at the very least a surprising departure from their French cousins.

Here is how the page count breaks down: reminisces (20 pp.), baking basics (70 pp.), traditional bread (50 pp.), new breads (30 pp.), leftover bread (20 pp.), sweet breads (50 pp.), rolls (20 pp.), pizza (40 pp.), laminated doughs (30 pp.), tarts (30 pp.), cakes (20 pp.), cookies (30 pp.). It seems to cover all the bases as she found them in commercial Italian bakeries. According to the author, Italians, like their French counterparts, never bake at home since bakeries are so common in every town no matter how small or large. So, you will not find baking recipes from the home kitchens of Italy.



21 of 24 found the following review helpful:

The Best Italian Baking Reference Book There Is!  Jan 22, 2000
By Deb Mele
If you love baking Italian, whether it be breads, tarts, cakes or cookies, then you'll love this book. As the Italian Online Cooking Host @ Bella Online, this book is my personal best reference when baking traditional Italian breads and sweets. Carol Fieslds manages to teach traditional Italian baking skills while still making it possible for even a novice to create quality breads and sweets. I would advise anyone interested in both baking and Italian cooking to add this one to their cookbook collection.

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