Autentico is a deep dive into the world of Italian cooking by Italian food importer and expert Rolando Beramendi. The book starts off with a tour of essential Italian pantry ingredients, not just the ones to have, but how to find the best and the most authentic among them, including resources of where to buy. Recipes are divided into courses (“To Begin With” “Now, For a First Course”) to give additional context and guide you through the progression of a typical Italian menu.
Autentico is equal parts serious and fun, with playfulness mixed throughout (Artichokes with a Hard-On, anyone?), and will make any person seeking deeper food knowledge rich with Italian food wisdom.Autentico is an introduction to the true flavors of Italy. From the bright notes of fresh olive oil to the hearty warmth of slow-cooked ragú, Rolando Beramendi, importer and connoisseur of the finest ingredients from Italy, has crafted a perfect guide to authentic Italian food.
Unlike many Italian cookbooks, Autentico goes far beyond pasta. In a world where culinary shortcuts, adulteration, misleading labeling, and mass production of seemingly “authentic” food rule, culinary archaeologist, innovator and cooking teacher Rolando Beramendi has kept centuries-old culinary traditions alive. That’s authentic!
In Autentico, Rolando details how to make classic dishes from Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe to Risotto in Bianco and Gran Bollito Misto as they are meant to be – not the versions that somehow became muddled as they made their way across the globe. Among the 120 recipes, you’ll find Baked Zucchini Blossoms filled with sheep's milk ricotta; Roast Pork Belly with Wild Fennel; Savoy Cabbage Rolls made with farro and melted fontina; Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe; Risotto with Radicchio; and a Lamb Stew with ancient Spice Route flavors that have roots from the times of Marco Polo and could have been served to the de’ Medici during the Renaissance. And of course, there are dolci (desserts): Summer Fruit Caponata, Meringata with Bitter Chocolate Sauce, and a simple, moist, and succulent Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cake. Colored by the choicest ingredients from the shores of Italy and beyond, the pages of Autentico offer a rich taste of the Italy’s history, brought to life in the modern kitchen.
The stunning photography will either make you hungry, invoke a deep longing to visit Italy, or make you look twice (there are some graphic but beautiful images of meat and fish in various states of butchering.) Most likely it will do all three, and have you flipping the pages again and again looking to discover more.
Of the recipes I’ve tried I’m running back to these to make again: Sweet-and-Sour Onions, Steamed Potatoes with Onions and Capers, and the Sausages with Lentils.
Buy a book for yourself, plus one for everybody in your life you lives to eat well! They'll love this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment