Biba's Northern Italian Cooking - Biba Caggiano [0]
Title Page
Copyright Page
Some Basic Ingredients
Appetizers
Soups
Pasta
Gnocchi, Polenta and Risotto
Fish and Shellfish
Game and Poultry
Lamb, Pork and Variety Meats
Veal and Beef
Vegetables
Salads
Eggs and Sauces
Desserts
Seasonal Menus
English Index
Italian Index
About the Author
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Published by The Berkley Publishing Group
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375 Hudson Street
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Copyright © 2002 by Biba Caggiano
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
eISBN : 978-1-557-88380-3
I.Title.
TX723.2.N65 C32 2002
641.5945—dc21
2001051658
http://us.penguingroup.com
Fabulous Food of Northern Italy
I often ask myself: How did I become a cook? And most of all, where does this passion and devotion to good food come from? I suppose, it all began in Bologna, the city of my birth and my youth, a city well known all over Italy for the unsurpassed excellence of its food.
I was literally raised in the kitchen because the kitchen was, at that time, the center and soul of the house. My mother was a great cook. Her food was the simple, straightforward dishes of the area, loaded with aroma and taste, and she prepared it daily with an abundance of love. So, I can truthfully say, that I was raised on a great diet. Good food and love.
When I moved to New York to follow my American-born husband, this heritage of food stayed with me. For almost eight years I worked outside the home, took care of the house and prepared meals for my husband.Then we moved to Sacramento, California, where my time was spent raising our daughters, Carla and Paola, taking care of the house and doing a great deal of cooking for family and friends.
Upon the insistence of some friends, I held my first cooking class in my kitchen in 1977. Within a few years I was teaching very popular classes in Sacramento and all over California. The food of Northern Italy, with its enormous range, simplicity and great classic dishes, had won the hearts of my students.They went home and cooked.They made gnocchi, polenta, pasta and risotto. They learned at the classes and in their own kitchen that northern Italian food is simply outstanding and outstandingly simple.
Anyone who has traveled to Italy will tell you that Italian cuisine is unbelievably varied. Before the unification of Italy in 1861, each city-state had different rulers, cultures, customs and dialects. Each also had its distinctive cuisine. Italian food has its roots drawn from peasant cooking. However, for centuries Italy has had popes, courts and great families who have brought a more sophisticated and lavish style to the cuisine.The blending of these two styles of cooking has resulted in la buona cucina casalinga, good home cooking.
The cooking styles of northern Italy are as diversified as the Italian landscape.The cooking of Piedmont, for example, is very different from the cooking of Emilia-Romagna. Piedmont is dominated by mountains. Its cuisine is robust, sober and elegant. Game, truffles and meats braised in full-bodied wines are all part of Piedmont cooking. This region is also the greatest producer of rice in Europe.
By contrast, Emilia-Romagna is located in one of the flattest parts of Italy with the Appenines in the northwest and the Adriatic Sea to the east.This area is known for its generous use of butter and for pork products that find their way into innumerable dishes. Emilia-Romagna leads Italy in the production of wheat and consequently is famous for the quality of its homemade pasta.