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Sicily: The Cookbook: Recipes Rooted in Traditions

Sicily: The Cookbook: Recipes Rooted in Traditions

Current price: $42.50
Publication Date: March 21st, 2017
Publisher:
Rizzoli
ISBN:
9780847848652
Pages:
336

Description

The first book to explore in depth the wonders of Sicilian cooking.
 
For millennia, Sicily has been a global crossroads, its cuisine marked by the different conquering groups drawn to its natural riches, from the Greeks and Arabs to the Normans and Spanish. The food is in essence Italian, but accented with exotic Mediterranean touches: pesto punched up with capers, gelato made with pistachios, pasta laced with saffron, and a penchant for sweet-and-sour preparations like caponata and strong flavors like wild fennel and oregano. Sicily tells the wonderful histories behind the classic dishes but also shows how contemporary chefs and home cooks are reinvigorating recipes in modern ways.
 
The product of years of careful research, Sicily gives a tour of the land’s culinary treasures, from the couscous of Lo Capo and the vines of Mt. Etna to the sea salt of Trapani and the black pigs of Mirto. The book gives foolproof instructions for all the cardinal dishes such as Arancini, Pasta with Sardines, and Swordfish Involtini, but there are also plenty of delicious contemporary recipes, such as Eggplant Parmigiana in a Glass, Butternut Squash Caponata, and Cannoli Millefoglie. Complete with travel notes and addresses to plan a trip, Sicily is sure to enchant readers everywhere.

“Melissa shares her lifelong passion for Sicilian food, through firsthand narrative loaded with recipes and beautiful photographs, giving us an insider’s view of this magical island.”
—Mike Colameco, host of Mike Colameco’s Real Food

About the Author

From a young age, MELISSA MULLER spent her summers in the Sicilian village of Sant’Anna, where her grandmother was born. She received a master’s in journalism from Columbia University and a diploma from the International Culinary Center. Muller has helmed three acclaimed Sicilian restaurants in New York and has been featured in The New York Times, Saveur, and La Repubblica, as well as on The Food Network, Martha Stewart Radio, and Mike Colameco’s Real Food. She now lives on a farm with organic gardens and orchards in the remote countryside in the heart of Sicily. 

Praise for Sicily: The Cookbook: Recipes Rooted in Traditions

“Melissa shares her lifelong passion for Sicilian food, through firsthand narrative loaded with recipes and beautiful photographs, giving us an insider’s view of this magical island.”
—Mike Colameco, host of Mike Colameco’s Real Food
 
Melissa’s book is like poetry to me. Her attachment and sense of belonging to her land and its heritage is palpable in every paragraph, captured in each picture, and summed up in a beautiful and delicious story. We share that bittersweet melancholy for our Italian land that is at the origin of our passionate work: being able to tell these stories is a privilege and an honor, and Melissa has done an impeccable job at it.”
—Gabriele Corcos, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Extra Virgin: Recipes and Love from Our Tuscan Kitchen
 
“Just about everything I’ve come to know and love about Sicilian food, wine, history, and culture is thanks to Melissa Muller. Now, with this captivating book, Melissa can share her ardor and wisdom about Sicily with the wider world of readers, cooks, and diners. Sicily: The Cookbook is a definitive work of culinary brilliance, family lore, and narrative writing. It announces the arrival of a new generation’s M.F.K. Fisher or Alice Waters.”
—Samuel G. Freedman, author of Letters to a Young Journalist and professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism

"Sicily is a center of fusion cuisine — spicing traditional Italian recipes with flair from elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Here Melissa Muller funnels summers spent visiting her grandparents on the island into recipes for antipasti, fish, meat and dessert in language even novice cooks can understand. It feels like learning family recipes in her grandparents’ kitchen. Her text also offers tips on finding great produce and attending festivals if you plan to visit."
Metrosource NY

"If I could give 100 points to a tomato sauce, I would give it to Feudo Montoni. Call me the Tomato Advocate. Fabio Sireci gives the estate its wine identity, and Melissa Muller its food identity (check out her beautiful book "Sicily: The Cookbook: Recipes Rooted in Traditions"). The Montoni farm has grapevines, grains, legumes, and vegetables. It makes pasta and the best tomato products I have ever tasted, such as sugo from crushed tomatoes, passata and tomato concentrate or paste. I got my hands on a few jars of their tomato sauce, and I can still taste it in my mind. Happily, I am reminded of that perfection every time I have the opportunity to taste these meticulous and beautifully crafted wines." —Robert Parker