Made in Italy

Starred review from October 1, 2007
By unspooling charming stories and encyclopedic information about ingredients, Locatelli, chef at London's Locanda Locatelli, conveys the atmosphere in a busy restaurant kitchen after hours. When Locatelli waxes sweetly sentimental about the joy derived from feeding others—first discovered at his family's restaurant in the small town of Corgeno, Italy—and what he has learned from having a daughter who is allergic to some 600 foods and once went into anaphylactic shock after eating a bit of smoked salmon, he comes off as an Anthony Bourdain without the bluster. With reams of good information about everything from cheese and eel to how to judge a dish of pasta by sight, this volume is a major addition to the English-language Italian cookbook shelf, particularly as a reference. The savory recipes are mostly carefully considered Italian classics like Linguine with Pesto and Chargrilled Chicken Breast with Spinach, though desserts are not the simple pieces of fruit Locatelli admits that Italians prefer, but presumably restaurant-derived showstoppers like Blood Orange and Fresh Loquat Salad with Violet Jelly and Yogurt Foam. At more than 600 pages, the range of recipes is almost as large as Locatelli's personality. One caveat, though: Britishisms abound, as when Locatelli refers to tomatoes as “the steak and kidney pie of Italy.” Despite that, this is an impressive achievement, marking Locatelli as a major talent, comparable to Marcella Hazan in his ability to explain Italian cooking.