Michael Chiarello (1962–2023)

A large cookbook w/ glossy pages, a smattering of photographs (but not always of the dish)more than one recipe on a page (so that some recipes appear on two pages), the name of recipe, explanation & ingredients are in large grey bold font, and the directions are in a plain serif font. Some recipes are less involved than others to make.

The book is broken down into: Introduction; Spring (5 sections); Summer (5 sections); Autumn (5 sections); Winter (5 sections); Tra Vigne classics; Desserts & cookies; Pantry; Glossary; Complete recipe list; Index; and Table of equivalents.

Spring: Anticipation; asparagus; Garlic; Fresh peas & shelling beans; and Potatoes

Summer: Pietro Rabbit; Corn; Tomatoes; Bell Peppers; and Summer Squashes

Autumn: Food hugs; Mushrooms; Greens; Onions; and Eggplants

Winter: Storytelling time; Broccoli, Artichokes; Citrus; and Winter Squashes

Each section/vegetable has an entire written page discussing the merits of each type of, cooking with and those ingredients that go with. The page after has a large B&W photo of the main ingredient, for example, zucchine and the list of recipes that follow: Suateed zucchihi batons w/ melon "Pasta"; Southern Italian ratatouille four ways; Crispy zucchini salad w/ tomato vinegar; and Saltimbocca.

This is not a vegetarian cookbook, although many of the recipes are meatless....

Do not get me wrong, it isn't that this is an "awful" cookbook, no, not at all. Many of the recipes sound very good to me, it is that the presentation simply does not pique my interest, which is why the 1/2 star.… (mehr)