Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Frequently bought together
$19.99
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 2
Only 16 left in stock - order soon.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Similar items that may ship from close to you
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
From the Publisher
A Culinary Journey
Hunter's Style Chicken
Why this recipe works: In Italy, anything cooked alla cacciatora is cooked 'the hunter’s way.' Hunters in central regions like Le Marche would braise their fresh-killed game simply, until super tender and enveloped in a savory sauce. Given the dish’s throw-together nature, there isn’t one recipe. What is always standard: The meat (typically rabbit or poultry) is first sautéed and then cooked slowly with a selection of vegetables, which are often foraged.
A Marriage Made in [Culinary] Heaven
What better source for Italy’s heavenly cuisine, culture, and landscape than National Geographic (culture and travel experts) and America’s Test Kitchen (of food and cooking fame)? Here they team up to bring you 100 authentic regional recipes, 300 gorgeous photos, and the origins and stories behind the taste.
Rich excerpts feature the origins of celebrated cheeses, the nuances of different wine growing regions, the best farmer's markets in Venice, and more.
Geography and Products of Northern Italy
Here geography dictates cuisine: mountains yielding superlative cheeses and meats, foothills hosting nut and fruit trees and wine grapes, and forests famous for mushrooms. The huge Po Valley remains a prolific producer of DOP grain and vegetable crops, freshwater fish and seafood along the littorals.
Tangy Bleu d’Aoste
Geographically, Valle d’Aosta is the foyer of central Europe. It’s where cultures meet and eat, where travelers have historically filled up on meals such as potato gnocchi or milk dumplings draped in a creamy robe of melted cheese, or ibex bresaola, sliced thin and eaten with black bread, butter, and a drizzle of the region’s superb honey. Tangy Bleu d’Aoste is one of many exceptional cheeses produced in the valley.
Nutella, A Worldwide Addiction
The hazelnut cocoa spread Nutella is the peanut butter of Italy, produced by the multibillion-dollar Ferrero Group, maker of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Just after World War II, Italy experienced a period of hunger and deprivation. Chocolate was a rare treat, but there were hazelnuts growing in the Langhe. A century earlier the chocolatiers of Turin had developed an expensive concoction of chocolate and hazelnuts; Pietro Ferrero, Ferrero Group’s founder, reimagined this confection with a lot more hazelnut, making it more affordable, and founded a company to sell it. In the 1960s the paste was reinvented again as a soft cream, renamed Nutella, and the product took off. Today one jar of Nutella is sold every 2.5 seconds.
The Frasca Table
With their language and traditions forged in isolated mountain valleys periodically overrun by marauding invaders, it is no wonder the Friulians are tough customers. But one way they welcome visitors is by sharing wine and traditional foods at the frasca table. Frasca means “branch,” from the tradition of hanging a laurel branch at an intersection of roads pointing the way to a vineyard with new wine to sell. Frasche are working vineyards and farms, mainly in the hill country, with a special license to sell wine and food. The good news is the food they serve must be produced on the premises: cheesy frico made with their own cheese, featherlight gnocchi, fatty sausages (from their own pigs) cooked in vinegar and onions, grilled wedges of polenta, and pitchers of fizzy new wine.
Sweet Somethings
Traditional sweets are often related to religious holidays (rice fritters for St. Joseph’s Day), ritual occasions (rings of leavened, fruit-studded doughnuts that hark to courting rituals), or the harvest (cookies flavored with grape must). Others reflect the local landscape and history. Among these is ciaramicola, Perugia’s red-tinted cake. Some say it is a Valentine’s Day tradition, strong here since St. Valentine, one of Umbria’s 20,000 saints, was born in Terni. Others say the color represents the red griffin, the city’s emblem. Another to try is torciglione, a rich almond-flour cake shaped like Trasimeno’s prized eel. Find it at Pasticceria Sandri, in Perugia.
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Reviews with images
What a gorgeous book!
I attended a lecture with Jack Bishop [from America's Test Kitchen], and Eugenia Bone [nationally known nature and food writer, and author who wrote essays in this book] and was compelled to buy this book. So glad I did. The photos from National Geographic are stunning [my photos of their pictures do not nearly do them justice]! The history and essays are beautifully written and informative; and the recipes are wonderful and are adapted to what we have available in the States. How refreshing and useful! I've already given one of these as a gift. An interesting story from those involved was that in looking for a cover, there were a number of locations being considered. Whereas normally the food could be superimposed on any beautiful background, National Geographic would hear none of it! That pasta on the cover had to be made fresh and photographed on location. What a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon!
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2019
I attended a lecture with Jack Bishop [from America's Test Kitchen], and Eugenia Bone [nationally known nature and food writer, and author who wrote essays in this book] and was compelled to buy this book. So glad I did. The photos from National Geographic are stunning [my photos of their pictures do not nearly do them justice]! The history and essays are beautifully written and informative; and the recipes are wonderful and are adapted to what we have available in the States. How refreshing and useful! I've already given one of these as a gift. An interesting story from those involved was that in looking for a cover, there were a number of locations being considered. Whereas normally the food could be superimposed on any beautiful background, National Geographic would hear none of it! That pasta on the cover had to be made fresh and photographed on location. What a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon!
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2020
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2022
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2020
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2018
Top reviews from other countries
Louise LeBlanc
A travel book, cookbook and coffee table book all in one.
Reviewed in Canada on August 4, 2019
pip
Beautiful and good cookbook, but not always fully authentic recipes
Reviewed in Germany on February 20, 2020Toni Gray
Lovely book with lovely photos.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2019Brent Jones
Wonderful recipies. Beautiful pictures.
Reviewed in Canada on December 13, 2019Ross J Slade
Another great Italian cookbook
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2019