Ciao Sicily: Recipes from the PBS Series Cucina Sicilia (Ciao Series)
The hosts of the PBS cooking show Cucina Sicilia return with another colorful volume of hearty Sicilian fare (after 2003's Ciao Y'all). From Antipasti to Dolci, Mandola and Carrabba offer rustic, intensely flavored dishes like Bruschetta with Olive Spread, Sicilian Seafood Soup, Pasta with Sardines and Fennel, Pork Chops with Caper Sauce, Lamb Stew and Blood Orange Cake. Quotes from these "real eaters" after many of the recipes evoke the chatter on their show ("There's nothing better than lamb stew to make a man feel Sicilian," Mandola notes; "Well, I feel Sicilian already, but everybody needs a booster shot every now and then," responds Carrabba). This isn't the most beautifully designed cookbook, but anyone who makes the piquant Swordfish Stewed with Tomato, Potatoes, Olives and Capers, the comforting Pasta with Sicilian Squash and Fava Beans, or anything of the other winning dishes, will be too sated to care.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.