"It's the Italian Way"

Earlier this week the Grande Dame of Italian Cooking, Marcella Hazan, died at the age of 89. Never has anyone I didn't actually know influenced me so much. I love her book and her cooking.

This is THE standard for Italian cooking. Worth every penny. 

I think what I like most about her is that she is unflinchingly old school. She'll tell you how to make pasta or bread with a food processor... but she'll also tell you it won't be as good. I love her cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - it's really the only one that I use for Italian food. Sometimes I'll check out Mario Batali's recipes.. but I know like him, most of the new Italian masters learned from Marcella. 

This is a great article here and also David Lebovitz had a some funny memories on his facebook page.

What did I learn from her cooking?  Don't be afraid to do it the old way. You don't need garlic in everything. Fresh is best. Layer your flavors.

Thanks, Marcella, for everything.


Editor's note: The link to Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking is an affiliate link to my Amazon store....  So yes if you order by clicking on these links - or anything else thru my Amazon store or from the Amazon search box on the right side of this page - I get a small percentage of the sale. It doesn't cost you one more cent and it helps support this blog.