Marcella Hazan

It is with great sadness that I report the death of Marcella Hazan yesterday at age 89.  She was the writer of the greatest of all Italian cookbooks in English, and in my opinion one of the greatest cookbooks ever.  Originally published in two volumes, The Classic Italian Cookbook and More Classic Italian Cooking, it was republished in a single volume as Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.  Rather than a picture of Marcella, I will show you a picture of this book, which belongs on the shelf of anyone who cares about Italian food:
What is amazing about this cookbook is that everyone, from beginners to experienced cooks, can find things to make in it, and unlike any other Italian cookbook I have ever seen, the results invariably taste exactly the way they do in Italy.  If you've only eaten Italian food in this country, chances are her recipes for such classics as Ragu Bolognese or Minestrone ala Romagna will be a total revelation to you.  I cannot recommend it too highly.

Comments

Cirze said…
Thank you.

My favorite cook book.

What a loss.

She was a truly great lady (and cook!).
October 2, 2013 at 4:47 PM
Poll P. said…
I have enjoyed the results of these recipes for years, and can attest to their excellence. RIP.
October 2, 2013 at 5:53 PM
(O)CT(O)PUS said…
Thank you for the cookbook tip. I don't have it on my shelf but I will look for it.

Cooking is important to me, not just because I like great tasting food, but because it affords an opportunity to bring family and friends together.
October 3, 2013 at 7:19 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's Okay, Never Mind

Image
The woman in this picture, equipped with the weapons and ammunition shown, was found outside a National guard base. She is apparently a big Glenn Beck fan, and believed that the base was a FEMA concentration camp. Think she's the only one out there? You just know this sort of thing is not going to end well.
Read more

Wingnuts Slightly Annoyed about that $83 Million

Image
How can you look like a decrepit old geezer and an out of control two year old at the same time? I thought it might be nice to look in on wingnut world to see how they are taking yesterday's $83 million dollar Trump legal loss.  You kind of know that they will decide it shouldn't affect their opinion of him in any way, but it might be helpful to see just how the Republican party has trained them to reject any fact they don't like.  Not that surprisingly, a lot of the usual wingnut suspects didn't touch this loss at all, preferring to just ignore anything that interferes with their hateful daydreams, but here are a few excerpts from an article at Gateway Pundit, along with a sample of the hundreds of comments it received.  Enjoy.  Or not. "Trump attorney Alina Habba WENT OFF after the crooked New York City court slapped President Trump with an $83 million judgment for speaking out against the disgusting lies of a crazed woman who said he lured her into a Bergdorf Go
Read more

If a Tree Falls In the Woods

Image
 And nobody hears it, is it really running for President at all? First of all, a note about my absence lately:  My wife got me to sign up for an account at Threads, which is sort of like X without the assholes.  I've spent a little time establishing myself there, and I have to say, I do like the relatively immediate exchange of views, but I don't mean to give up my blog- there are still so many things that can't be dealt with in a couple hundred words, so, perhaps to your dismay, I am back. So, what motivated the above question is the fact that the Sunday New York Times today had seven articles about Trump, and absolutely zero about Kamala Harris.   The Republicans have a problem with Harris, in that virtually everyone who sees her likes her and immediately understands how qualified she is to be President.  They have tried mightily the last month to find some way to smear her, but have been spectacularly unsuccessful- the tactics of character assassination that worked so we
Read more