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Review of 

Adventures of an Italian Food Lover

With recipes from 254 of my very best friends

By Faith Heller Willinger, Watercolors by Suzanne Heller

Clarkson Potter/Publishers 256 Pages, $32.00

Last month I had such a great time as Sophia Loren that I wanted to continue my guise and explore another area of Italy with another cookbook and author. This month I “met” Faith Heller Willinger and 254 of her best friends in Adventures of an Italian Food Lover. Traveling through the chapters of Northern and Central Italy, Tuscany, and Southern Italy and the Islands; I was able to sample both the simple and the sublime cuisine of this complex country. This is a wonderful book not only for the resplendent recipes but for the valuable travel tips as well. For many years Willinger’s sister Suzanne Heller visited her to hide from the bracing New England winters. She now spends most of her time in Florence and contributed the beautiful watercolors that pepper the cookbook visually accentuating the essence of Italy.

It is easy to enlist Willinger as a tour guide. She begins her Italian culinary pedigree by mentioning a thirty year marriage to an Italian Florentine Etruscan engineer and continues with “…my passion for all things culinary has taken me all over the country, from the Alps to islands off the coast of Sicily, tracking down the best restaurants, wine makers, and food artisans…I’ve hung out in kitchens, wood-burning bread bakeries, wine cellars, butcher shops, dairies, farms, and markets. I’ve spent time and calories at the table, and traveled the back roads to reach towns most people have never heard of…. Along the way I’ve made lots of friends. Now in turn I’d like to introduce them to you through this book, a tribute to friendship.” For the Italian culinary tourist, Adventures of an Italian Food Lover is a treasure trove of people, places, food, and wine. Each entry has a side bar with extensive information including address, hours, phone, fax, email (when applicable) and credit card availability. Sitting down with a good map, this book, and a computer you can create a unique itinerary of Italy worthy of any tour guide.

The arm chair traveler and gourmet will appreciate that the book is divided geographically. When reading cookbooks I find this enlightening to glean regional ingredient combinations. Italians are very passionate about their home food and we Americans wrongly think of “Italian Food” as one cuisine and not food from Tuscany, Sicily, or Rome.

In the course of bringing her friends’ food to the American public, Willinger rolls up her sleeves and with her friends’ blessings interprets their recipes for the home cook. Eggplant Purée with Ricotta Cream and Tomato Tartar showcases Willinger’s creativity and innate understanding of the Italian palate. Based on some dishes from Il Calandrino, a restaurant owned by her friend’s Massi and Raf, Willinger creates a delightful appetizer centered with a spearmint scented eggplant purée, topped with a dollop of seasoned ricotta and garnished with a red tomato tartar. This is a dish that is simple in execution, high in flavor, and nutrition.

One of the joys of reading a cookbook is picking up stray techniques. In Tomas Rossi’s recipe “Little Meatball Salad”, Rossi uses paper bags to hold the bread crumbs for the meatballs and flour for the onion rings. I had completely forgotten this humble no-mess “tool” for coating food. The recipe itself can be served as an antipasto or as I did as a light summer meal with fresh fruit. Ground meat is mixed with mashed potatoes, (I had to make them fresh-there never seems to be any leftover mashed potatoes in my house.) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, parsley, and garlic. Next they are formed into little walnut-sized orbs then cooked in olive oil and drained. Sweet onions are thinly sliced, coated with flour and fried. To serve, a bed of mâche salad greens are dressed with aged balsamico and virgin olive oil then topped with the meatballs and onions. I’ll take crunchy onion rings over croutons any day!

Normally I take a vacation from my oven in the summer, and cook our food on the grill. But a few weeks ago I found myself chilled and the thought of a baked dish sounded comforting. Breadcrumbed Baked Fish and Potato Tortino was the meal of the evening and I know I will be serving it well into the cooler rainy months. To be authentic to Fabio Picchi’s recipe one should use “anchovies that are caught by lamplight and filleted by his fishmonger.” Well folks, that’s just not an option in the Pacific Northwest so I substituted thinly sliced halibut. Picchi also deems swordfish and tuna acceptable. An oven proof dish is covered with one layer of cooked bite-size potatoes dressed with oregano, lemon zest, fennel seeds, chili pepper and garlic. Tomato pulp is scattered (canned is fine) and the fish is layered to cover the potatoes. More herbs and tomato top the fish then fresh bread crumbs and olive oil. The dish is baked to perfection when the bread crumbs are browned and the fish is cooked through. I served this with green beans garnished with toasted garlic. Sofia was happy.

The next time I fire up my oven I’m going to make Tuscan Brownies, a favorite of the Willinger household, using bittersweet chocolate, walnuts, and extra virgin olive oil.  Then there are the Preserve-Filled Biscotti that sound perfect with an afternoon espresso. I’ve enjoyed my two months in Italy with Nancy Harmon Jenkins and her Cucina Del Sole and Faith Heller Willinger’s Adventures of an Italian Food Lover. With each recipe I try I’m sure I’m getting back to my Italian roots. If not, I’m having a blast pretending to be Sophia Loren and cooking summer’s bounty at its peek the Italian way!

Read! Eat! Enjoy!

Judith Bishop

www.ingoodtastestore.com

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