Why read The Talisman Italian Cookbook?

Book cover of The Talisman Italian Cookbook

Book description

Il Talismano is and has been for over 50 years the one great standard Italian cookbook. It is to Italians what Joy of Cooking is to Americans. Containing in simple and clear form the best recipes for all the foods that we associate with Italian cuisine, it covers all the…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Talisman Italian Cookbook as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Elisabeth Luard

Author

Ada Boni's culinary bible, Il talismano della felicità, first saw the light of day in 1928, six years after Benito Mussolini had succeeded in uniting Italy's quarrelsome regions under the banner of fascism.

Specifically targeted at the nation's housewives - ordinary folk on whose support El Duce rose to power in 1922 - this collection of nearly a thousand simple, practical traditional recipes for regional dishes became the dictator's favourite cookbook, as it did for generations of Italian women (still does).

I first came across it on an Italian friend's recommendation while researching European Peasant Cookery and attempting to unravel…

From Elisabeth's list on The best cookbooks published at moments of change.