Buon Gusto!

Margaret Bremmer was an artist and illustrator in Chesterville, Ontario.

Subtitled “the best recipes from five top Italian restaurants in Toronto,” this book is divided according to restaurant — Bindi, Cibo, Orso, Pronto, and San Lorenzo. Each “chapter” begins with a short chat about the particular establishment and includes line drawings by David Montle of the owners / operators and of the restaurant. Immediately following the foreword is a 10-page section on “Shopping Italian,” which discusses many of the ingredients of Italian cuisine, and offers advice as to where to shop for these items in Toronto (in great detail), Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, and Winnipeg (in lesser detail). At the end of the book is a glossary of Italian terms, which is both useful and fun. The index is generally according to course — “Antipasto,” “Meat and Chicken,” “Soups,” “Desserts,” etc. — individual dishes are mentioned first by their Italian name, then in English. There are 16 pages of luscious colour photographs by Rolf Heinecke.

The ingredients are listed on the left-hand side of the page, cooking instructions on the right. Metric measurements are given in brackets. There’s a wide variety of food, from beef to squid, cake to strawberries, tomatoes to zucchini flowers, plus the traditional pasta and pizza. Whether it’s the Italian element, or a self-imposed obligation of fancy restaurants, more than half the recipes include wine, vodka, brandy, etc. If you don’t mind that, and if you’re a fan of Italian cuisine and can obtain some of the special ingredients, check out this book — it may be for you. Toronto, after all, has the highest Italian population of any city outside Italy!