Carol Field is a leading food writer who writes cookbooks about Italian cuisine. Unlike other cookbooks, these are composed of equal parts food anthropology, recipes, and admiration for the lives Italian live. These are cookbooks to be read and savored because the lifestyle that has produced Italy's handmade cuisine is vanishing rapidly.
1. In Nonna's Kitchen
Subtitled "Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers, Carol Field documents the women who have kept delicious food on their family's tables through both good and bad economic times. It is a work of great love, where ancient preservation techniques and the use of local, easily available edibles is turned into great cuisine by the masters of it all: the grandomothers.
2. Celebrating Italy
"Celebrating Italy" and "In Nonna's Kitchen" occupy the top spots on my cookbook shelf. Celebrating Italy is about traditional food served during the time of the festival, a time when families gather and together celebrate spiritual times with special food. There are great descriptions of the major Italian festivals here. Like Nonna's Kitchen, you can buy this book to read even if you don't cook.3. Italy in Small Bites
Tapas and small plates; grazing has become a phenomenon in the US. The summer merende, or mid morning or afternoon snacks, are what this book is about. If you've been to Italy, you know how perfect a bruschetta or crostini can be with a glass of dry white wine, and how something as simple as mushrooms drizzled in olive oil and topped with curls of parmigiano can glorify a hot summer's afternoon.