The Italian summer kitchen Timeless recipes for la dolce vita

Review by Booklist Review

A cookbook that's not only filled with recipes but also imbued with lots of insider information makes a happy foodie heart. Rather than blazing new trails in Italian cuisine, Portland, Oregon, chef Whims offers home cooks the sorts of details that will distinguish their offerings, such as: focus on prosciutto as the cornerstone of il tagliere (Italian for charcuterie plates). In cold temperatures, radicchio increases its natural sugar. Potatoes boiled in their skin do not get waterlogged. And focaccia is always (in Italy at least) served as an appetizer. After Whims' annotated list for pantry items and tools, nearly 100 recipes, all featuring charmingly drawn illustrations by Kate Lewis, fill out the expected categories: starters (zucchini fritters); salads, soups, and sides (eggplant caponata); pastas, breads, and pizzas (granchio pizza on a crème fraiche base with Dungeness crab atop); entrees (savory fruit risottos); desserts (granitas and semifreddi); and basics (garlic chili breadcrumbs). The piece de resistance? All the information Whims packs into sidebars, e.g., risotto done right, sausage from scratch, how to peel tomatoes.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

---

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Nostrana restaurateur Whims brings the tastes of a summer in Italy to home cooks in her appealing debut. Reflecting her philosophy that "delicious food doesn't have to be complicated," Whims offers unfussy, rustic dishes with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients and farmers market bounty. Zucchini reigns supreme throughout, in fried, stuffed, and layered forms. Starters include grilled eggplant caponata, several bruschetta variations, and fried squash blossoms stuffed with cheese and anchovies. A section on "Salads, Soups, and Sides" features seafood salad in an herbed vinaigrette, and classic minestrone soup. In the "Pastas, Breads, and Pizza" section, basil-marinated tomatoes shine in Pasta alla Checca ("Wait until the height of summer, when tomatoes are at their juicy best, to put this pasta on regular rotation" Whims advises). Entrées include savory and fruit-sweetened risottos and multiple fish dishes, among them grilled trout and baked halibut. For dessert, there's berry-topped panna cotta and almond granita. A final chapter on basics, including salsas, pestos, and other purees, offers versatile building blocks. Recipe headers charm with Whims's sunlit memories of Italy, while cheerily colorful illustrations throughout add to the fun. Instructions are clear and the dishes are simple yet tempting, resulting in a collection that's sure to find fans. (May)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

---

Review by Library Journal Review

For her debut cookbook, Whims, a six-time James Beard Award nominee and the chef/owner of Nostrana in Portland, OR, defines her own culinary philosophy as the idea that delicious food can also be easy and enjoyable to make. With this in mind, Whims uses the cucina povera of Italy as a culinary touchstone to create her toothsome interpretations of classic Italian dishes, composed from the freshest ingredients available to her in the Pacific Northwest. Arranged by course, the recipes include expected favorites such as bruschetta, artichokes alla Romana, and potato gnocchi, as well as Margherita pizza, pollo alla Romana, and torrone semifreddo. Whims generously dispenses culinary wisdom throughout the book--including a discussion of using salt-packed versus oil-packed anchovies--as well as offering her own clever twists on dishes, such as her use of yogurt in place of heavy cream in her version of fettuccine. In place of photographs, Whims opts for charming watercolor illustrations that help enhance the summery, dolce vita spirit the cookbook aims to capture. VERDICT While there is a plethora of excellent guides on this topic, including the indispensable Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan (with whom Whims studied), home cooks need Whims's whimsical, wonderfully informative take on the simple pleasures of Italian cooking.--John Charles

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

---