Review: Cucina casalinga classics - For Free!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 13, 2014
The free e-book cookbook is a back-to-basics, farmhouse-style recipe book that features all the classic recipes of the Italian cucina casalinga, Italian housewife cookery.The Preface stresses that the Italian cuisine is "palatable, nourishing and economical".  It also affirms that Italians are:  ...among whom the art of living well and getting the most out of life at a moderate expense has been attained to a very high degree.  There is also an odd mention of the "splendid manhood and womanhood of Italy".Without a Table of Contents, it is the hyper-linked Index at the back of the book that offers the best oversight of the simply-explained 221 recipes.The organization of the recipes is at times haphazard.  The measurements are most often given in weight, rather than cups, like today's recipes.  The instructions are minimal.  But these things do not detract from the overall breadth of the recipes.  All the basics of Italian cooking are here, for free!Here is an unofficial Table of Contents to give you an idea of the every-day Italian recipes in this book:1. Soups2. Pasta and Sauces3. Rice Dishes4. Artichokes5. Misc. Egg and Chicken Dishes6. Fowl7. Game8. Sauces9. Meat10. Zucchini and other Vegetable Dishes11. Fish and Eel12. Roast Meats13. Kidney and Other Parts14. Onions, Celery & Stews15. Trout16. Eggs17. Puddings18. Cakes19. Biscotti20. Syrups & Preserves21. Frozen DessertsThe Italian Cookbook was fist published by the Italian Book Co. New York in 1919.The Italian Cookbook is in the public domain so it is offered for free, in various e-book formats, from Project Gutenberg, the grand-daddy of free e-book websites.The Italian Cookbook is also available from the Internet Archive in various e-book formats, including a PDF of the scanned book.You can also download a free Kindle version from Amazon.com.My full review with all the links is at Italophile Book Reviewshttp://italophilebookreviews.blogspot.nl/2014/05/the-italian-cookbook-by-maria-gentili.html