Marcella Hazan (1924–2013)

This woman seriously knows her stuff, and makes no bones about it with her confident, no-bull tone--she's a little like Anthony Bourdain if he'd been raised more like Ina Garten! I find her attitude quite refreshing and helpful in a cookbook, I must say.

Special thanks to Knopf for reissuing Marcella’s Italian Kitchen to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Marcella Hazan’s birth.

I read Hazan’s The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking last year, and loved it, of course. That book would be accessible to all kinds of cooks, from newbies to experienced chef wannabes.

The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking combines two volumes previously released separately, and so many recipes that it will likely overwhelm a novice cook. I had hopes show more that this cookbook, the last one released by Marcella Hazan, the self-taught godmother of Italian cooking in America, with its more manageable 250 recipes, could be a less daunting read.

Alas, no. Marcella’s Italian Kitchen contains a number of ingredients that depend on access to prosciutto (never bacon!), French or Italian food mills, bronze-cut pasta, Italian canned tuna, sole fillets, real Parmigiano-Reggiano — well, you get the idea. Cooks in rural areas might find fewer suitable ingredients than Brooklynites. But do not give up! Hazan still has recipes even for cooks trapped in food desserts. Especially for some trapped in food desserts, as some of her delicious recipes rely on pasta and canned tomatoes. (Even using common pasta, a mediocre extra-virgin olive oil and dried spices, Hazan’s recipes will still be special. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.)

Newcomers to Hazan will find her strongly opinionated. “In Italian cooking there is no cream of anything soup.” No adding Parmesan to sauces cooked with olive oil. “Chopped parsley in a recipe means chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley leaves.” Don’t chop parsley when wet. Pressed garlic “is not suitable to careful cooking.” Ouch!

Listen, readers, Hazan knows of what she speaks! Her writing can occasionally seem a bit crochety, but there is no cooking advice that’s better or recipes that are more exquisite. The first recipes in the cookbook might strike American cooks as odd; if so, just skip them. I promise there are wonderful recipes to come if you don’t like the initial ones, no matter where you live.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor in exchange for an honest review. show less

I've had this book for about 25 years. It was a revelation to me at the time and I would be using it now if I were still able to cook. I cooked so many of the recipes when my children were young that they consider them to be "Mama's". They rebel against standard pot roast because I regularly used to make Marcella's braised beef with celery and onions (actually in More Classic Italian Cooking). I started to prefer my own cooking to most restaurant fare.

Many of the recipes are basic and within show more the skill set of all but the utterly inexperienced cook (although others are too fussy for everyday meals). What I especially like about her instructions is that she she always gives you an observable endpoint. For example, "Cook for about 1 hour, or until the skin is well browned and crisp."

By now my volume has burn marks, spatters, and scrawls; it's more a stack of loose pages than a book because the spine has separated. show less

I don't think the introduction to a cookbook has ever made me sad before, but this one did, talking about Marcella Hazan in her single life being a teacher and never thinking about cooking. I think at one point she even says "when I married and perforce became a cook," which makes it clear that this isn't what she ever wanted.

Still, it's a really great cookbook with some very solid, classic recipes. The only real problem is that so many of these are foundational that they're no longer show more useful. We already know! show less