If you are looking for authentic Italian food that you could feel proud serving, get this book. It also has a good number of vegetarian dishes and pastries and ices.

I just used it for dinner tonight...

Her other cookbooks are excellent, as well, although they have beautiful pictures and the Talisman doesn't

20 of 22 found the following review helpful:

as compared to the original...  Jun 13, 2005
By C. Craig
it has some weaknesses due to the greater availability of genuine ingredients in either supermarkets or italian markets..

the translation lacks some of the delightful formality in the original..the recipes however, are the same as the ones I grew up with in my Nonna's kitchen in Rome..and still consult in my own homes 40 years later...when I compare the recipes in Il Talismano to the dog eared and stained ones handwritten when I was learning to cook..they are right on the money! Enjoy and Buon Appetito a tutti

17 of 19 found the following review helpful:

quick easy Italian cooking, mostly authentic  Apr 18, 2006
By Amalfi Coast Girl
A passionate home cook that has been honing her cooking skills for the last 25 years, concentrating on Italian cooking for the last 10 years, writes this review. My favorite cookbooks are "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute and "Culinary Artistry". With more than 500 cookbooks in my collection I am usually disappointed in my recent cookbook acquisitions. I am also very tough on Italian cookbooks in particular.

This book is a wonderful addition to any Italian cookbook library. If you were looking for a good basic Italian cookbook to begin your Italian cooking library this would make a wonderful start. This cookbook is simple Italian cooking at its best. Most of the recipes in this book are quick (Panettone excluded). I always use the cannoli recipe from this book, with a little creative license taken here and there.

The author also does a nice job of highlighting the regional differences in preparing dishes. I highly recommend this book for anyone that is interested in learning more about Italian cooking.

The book is subdivided as follows:
1. Antipasto
2. Soups
3. Egg Dishes
4. Cheese
5. Fish and Shellfish
6. Meat
7. Poultry
8. Game
9. Macaroni, Spaghetti and Rice
10. Pizza
11. Vegetables
12. Salads
13. Desserts
14. Beverages

My one criticism of the book is in the directions themselves. If you are an accomplished cook the directions are more than adequate. However, if you are a cooking novice the directions are a little lacking. I think this is due to the original publishing date of 1950. This book was written in a time when all women had been taught to cook by their mothers. Sadly, this is not the case today. However, if you have any level of proficiency in the kitchen you should be able to follow the recipes.

This little book is much more complete than I expected it to be when I bought it a decade ago. The book does not give a recipe count, but I would say that it contains a minimum of 500 recipes and probably more than that.

I always turn to this little volume when I am looking for a recipe and then compare other cookbooks to what I find in this one. If you are need to expand your Italian cookbook collection you can't go wrong with this little book. Don't expect photographs though, the book is just text.

7 of 7 found the following review helpful:

Before its Time  Dec 31, 2006
By Lynn Hoffman, author:The Short Course in Beer
This book-an adaptation, not a translation of an Italian

cookbook was published in 1950. This was a time when

many Americans still held to various dumb and demeaning

stereotypes about Italy and Italians. If there was any

knoweldge of Italian food at all, it was based on an

experience at a few southern Italian-styled restaurants

that had opened in major American cities.

This book and the television show that accompanied it were

useful correctives to the few Americans who were aware of

them. The TV show was a pioneering 'food-tv' effort by a

husband and wife team called the Bontempi. The book itself

was sponsored by the Ronzoni Pasta Company in Queens, New

York and was sold for $3.00 on the show.

Fifty-five years later, the recipes look remarkably soph-

isticated. The only tomato sauce recipe is on the fourth

page of the sauce section and rice dishes get almost as

much space as pasta. Classic dishes-like Saltimbocca and

Osso Buco Milanese abound and Lasagne are prepared in

both Northern and Southern versions. There are a few Italian-

American dishes included-you can have two different

versions of spaghetti and meatballs, but the recipe listed

under 'meatball' is for a one and half pound loaf,

simmered in stock.

The introductory essay by the linguist Mario Pei is priceless.

He explains in the most gentle terms the difference between

American stereotypes and Italian reality.

For a snapshot of Italian food before it became modernized,

this book is irreplaceable. It is also the source of

the kind of simple and elegant recipes that made Italian

food both wildly popular and strongly influential. For

many cooks it will be the only Italian cookbook they'll

ever need.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and

the forthcoming novel bang BANG from Kunati Books.ISBN 9781601640005

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