Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Italy

Dean Tudor is a journalism professor at the Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute and founding editor of the CBRA.

This is another excellent cookbook, for its photographs and for its innovative dishes and ideas. Bugialli is a cooking school instructor in Florence, a frequent visitor to North America, and a television chef. He has authored two previous Italian cookbooks (in 1977 and 1982). The photographer is John Dominis, on staff with Lift for twenty years; he has had lots of food photography experience. And it is the photography that succeeds above all else. For instance, the chapter on wine is not terribly informative or interesting, but the photographs are excellent. The chapter on cheese has appeared in Cuisine magazine, but here there are original photographs. Topics in the book include vegetables, grains, fish, seafood, meat, poultry and game, and desserts. The recipes are good in their conception — e.g., the schiacciata with fresh grapes for dessert, the scottiglia (game stew), and the verdure con zabaione secco (an appetizer with savoury zabaione), but the instructions for their execution leave something to be desired. Bugialli is often vague, or he presumes too much; the cook is repeatedly put in the position of having to second-guess the recipe. Experienced hands might appreciate this, but others won’t. The book has 125 recipes, and twice that number of full-colour photographs!