CONTAINING MORE THAN three hundred recipes, Claudia Roden's timeless and enchanting book is set against a backdrop of the story of Italy and its people and is the most authoritative and approachable guide to one of the world's best-loved cuisines by one of the great food writers of our time. For an entire year Roden traveled up and down Italy, through every region, taking in city and countryside, to discover the local specialties on their home ground. She visited the kitchens of both professional and private cooks, watching them at work and listening to their stories. From simple and rustic to grand bravura, the recipes collected here represent traditional regional dishes as they are cooked today in Italy, and as they can now be cooked with ease and delight in our own kitchens. "The Sunday Telegraph has called "The Food of Italy, "Excellent . a collection of delicious recipes chosen on the basis of strong flavors and ease of preparation." "A glorious feast of a book, a splendid history, geography and cooking lesson rolled into one," says the "Financial Times."Claudia Roden is no more a simple cookbook writer than Marcel Proust was a biscuit baker.

She is, rather, a memorialist, historian, ethnographer, anthropologist, essayist, poet."-- Simon Schama"Claudia Roden's "The Food of Italy is one of the most used and loved books on our bookshelf. Her knowledge and understanding of the regions and their food and culture makes this one of the most authentic of all Italian cookbooks."-- Ruth Rogers And Rose Gray, The River Cafe.