Italian Recipe Chatter

My mother is a living museum of great Italian recipes. Although she’s well into her 80s and occasionally forgets the names of her many nieces and nephews, she has a mind like a steel trap when it comes to cooking. A conservative estimate would be that she has memorized hundreds of pasta recipes in minute detail, and it seems that every time I bring my family to her house we are treated to something new.

While I definitely inherited my mother’s passion for all things culinary, my memory is nowhere near as impeccable. A missed ingredient or two won’t always spoil the dish, but it can affect the outcome so dramatically as to prove shocking at times. With this in mind, I’ve started a vast collection of Italian cookbooks and loaded each one with bookmarks for my favorite recipes. That way I can refer back to them as often as necessary and treat my family to a consistently delicious dinner experience.

When I get home from work, I like to unwind by clearing my head and filling the kitchen with the therapeutic smell of freshly cooked food. I cook so much, in fact, that I’ve begun to exhaust my personal repertoire of recipes. I have a photographic memory for recipes, and most of them have been firmly lodged in my mind since childhood. My Italian grandmother taught me everything I know about cooking, but still long to learn more.

As a result, I’m constantly on the lookout for Italian cookbooks. Just a few days ago, I paired a tender veal cutlet with a delicious scampi dish that never would have occurred to me otherwise. Cookbooks also provide me with pointers for baking desserts, which is my one true weakness in the kitchen. In general, cookbooks have made me a more well-rounded chef.

Having a few great cookbooks around the home is the best way to plan those last minute dinners when the usual just won’t do it. There are a few essential cookbooks all cooks should own. While it’s not proper to start with dessert first, a dessert cookbook is perhaps one of the most essential cookbooks to own. A proper dessert cookbook should have baking recipes for cookies, cakes, pies, and custards. For dinners, pasta cookbooks and seafood cookbooks are essential. For people who don’t like seafood, substitute this for a barbeque cookbook, although barbeque is more about technique than it is ingredients. It’s also a good idea to have at least one great cookbook for a favorite ethnic food group. For example, an old fashioned Mexican cookbook is great for fast dinners on the go.

No cook should be without at least a modest collection of cookbooks, and for people who know a cook that doesn’t have their own collection, make sure to think of a cookbook as a great gift for the next special occasion!