On Foods I Usually Have Practically Every Day These Days: The Food of Italy

The Food of Italy by Waverley Root
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is kinda long read, actually, especially if you're not fond of, nor familiar with technical aspects of cooking. But really, I learned a lot from it (particularly about sausages, hams, cheeses, wines).  It's a great introduction to Italian history and culture, more than anything else.  


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I live with a landlord who's of Italian descent in Staten Island, close to the ferry terminal, in an old but updated and modernized house that has 21-rooms (excluding the bathroom). Along with that arrangement is the fact that I do most of the cooking these days, which I didn't do much back when I was still living in the Philippines. But since I've moved into this household, I've learned to prepare and cook mostly Italian foods, the American-ized variety, admittedly. The book, which I reviewed briefly (almost like as if I didn't want to share what I learned from reading that thick book), helped me a lot in putting into context the meals I prepare these days with the help of my landlord who used to own and operate for over 10 years his own restaurant that offered Italian-American meals.

My landlord's family hails from the northern part of Italy, which he explains has a distinctly different cuisine compared with those meals in the south. He says it's more French-y in influence, among many strong influences---I'm aware that I don't fully understand what that remark means exactly, except the fact that I'm not exactly excited by French cuisine because it requires me to read it properly (or else, I'll feel stupid having it) with the correct accent. But the author of this book, 'The Food of Italy' happened to have written another book, which is 'The Food of France', of which I'm sure I'll be reading one of these days to make me understand and appreciate French cuisine (and get me started to making such meals soon).

But other than the context that Waverly Root's book has provided me, the book also gave me the chance to imagine myself being in Italy. It's really a thick, well-researched book that has been mostly based on the author's actual experiences of living, eating, being in Italy. And of course, nobody could beat that, including researchers who pore mostly on secondary sources. My recollections of Mr Root's food book on Italian cuisine has prepared me to take lead in understanding the meals I make these days at my household.

Among Italian cuisine influenced meals I make these days, I love the chicken parmigiana, the chicken cutlets of which we fry instead of bake. This meal takes a lot of work to prepare, such that it makes sense to make a big batch of it to make best of your time making it. Of course, I like the many tomato based sauces we make with different kinds of pasta. I like to emphasize that what sets the difference in preparing these meals is basically on using the most fresh ingredients you can hold of. Also, you want to make sure you have a reliable source or supplier of pre-cooked ingredients, including the raviolis and the tortellinis,  that use you in preparing these meals. I tease my landlord that these raviolis and tortellinis are basically Chinese dumplings, and he would roll his eyes from hearing the sacrilege I'm committing, and we would laugh aloud.  Also, I love hearing my landlord as he makes comments on the cheese, which to me, is almost ridiculous.

But as I keep on having and enjoying these meals, I get a better appreciation of how regional influences, including those far away countries, have seeped into what we prepare these days. Preparing these meals takes a lot of hard work, love, patience, and loads of practical intelligence and lessons gained and transferred from one generation to another. It's just that Mr Root has taken the time and effort to write down in a book what he has learned from eating, cooking Italian meals (purportedly while he was still in Italy, or while he was connecting with his network based in Italy).

Go, buy the book, and try to read it. It's loaded with so many tips that you may find useful if you're keen on knowing more about food, especially the type being cooked in Italy.