Jeff Smith (2) (1939–2004)

There was no one that could weave a story about food quite like The Frug. I watched his program religiously, until the legal allegations took him off the air and out of the limelight. Jeff Smith was truly adept at revealing the meaning behind foods and meals, and I loved (and still love) that side of his entertaining and engaging cookbooks.

Smith had the entertainment sense of Martha Stewart, but without the holier than thou sensibility or the pretension. When you read this book you get a show more sense that a dinner at his house was a relaxed pleasure for he and the guests.

And the thing is, you DO read this book. It's not a reference book of recipes so much as an adventure in food. The only cookbook that I have read that delivered this same sort of storytelling and engagement was the first addition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. show less

Jeff Smith was one of the few early cooking show hosts I cared for. He was passionate about food, wanted everyone to understand the cultural significance of particular dishes, and cooked up some good stuff without pretension. I decided to revisit this first Frugal Gourmet cookbook to see if it still warranted taking up space on my crowded cookbook shelf, and I'm afraid it's a goner. There are a handful of dishes that I've adapted from this book and kept in my cooking rotation, but I find show more several drawbacks to most of its recipes. They rely heavily on frozen and canned products, which I now rarely use. They are also very lightly seasoned with spices and herbs, and I tend to go for the more aromatic. Neither of these drawbacks can't be overcome: you can substitute fresh for packaged and goose up the seasoning. But I'm afraid I've mentally relegated this cookbook to the era of Fanny Farmer. show less

I aboslutely LOVE this book! It has many of the great italian recipes I grew up with and I use it as a guide all the time. My favories (by favorites I mean they are EXCELLENT recipes!) that you must try if you own this book- 1) Capanota on page 64 - to die for and you can make multiple dishes after you make the basic recipe (I double or triple it) then go to page 156 for Spaghettini Capanata! , Penne with Light Cream and Spinach and Focaccia to name a few.. Its one of those books that show more EVERYTHING you make.. you and everyone you feed Loves it! Great explantions and comments before each recipe.. oh.. don't forget the Baccala Salad! too many to mention. show less

I enjoy all of The Frug's books, but this one was a particular favorite. So many cookbooks take a distinctly regional approach, so i really liked it that he combined these three disparate cuisines in one book.

As with all of his books, his love of people and history and each culture's particular approaches to cuisine come through on every page. I made so many of the dishes in this book and was never disappointed.

Once again, Smith wrote a cookbook that was as much an enjoyable read as it was show more a collection of recipes. show less