The Short of It:

This book includes super yummy, affordable comfort food. Perfect for those on a budget.

The Rest of It:

I am such a foodie. I read cookbooks like they are magazines and drool over all of the luscious photos. I was devastated (not an exaggeration) when I was forced to go gluten-free back in May. I love bread and pasta and when I learned that I’d have to skip those two items I just about fainted and then I realized that food is what you make of it. My life did not end at not having pasta and bread. I’ve found alternatives and although this cookbook is not a gluten-free one, I was able to adapt many of the recipes to satisfy the foodie in me and the photos are gorgeous!

The philosophy behind this book is not to waste anything that is edible. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tossed out a bunch of broccoli that turned brown at the bottom of the produce drawer, or that entire loaf of bread that went moldy because I insisted on buying the kind without preservatives and then promptly forgot to keep it in the fridge. This book helps use up all that stuff and includes recipes for appetizers, soups, main & side dishes and dessert!All of the recipes are simple and easy and don’t require any special gadgets or unusual ingredients. Many of the items you’ll find in your pantry.

Johns spent over 20 years collecting these recipes on her visits to Tuscany. I read this book in e-book form but now I want the actual book because it’s just so lovely.

For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter ( )

This was a fantatsic book - a cookbook yet it's also scarpbook of family photos and locales, recipes...the book has almost a parchment like feel to the pages. Loved it.

See recipes and some good food here: http://tinaculbertson.blogspot.com/2011/10/cocina-povera-tuscan-bread-pollo.html

and see review and more food photos here: http://www.novelmeals.com/2011/10/cucina-povera-by-pamela-shelton-johns.html ( )

This week I got a notice from NetGalley that they had some cookbooks available for pre/review. I don't usually like cookbooks in an e-format, particularly since I don't have a color e-reader. However, I went to browse through the list to see if anything jumped out screaming "buy me buy me!!" I am so glad I looked.

In spite of what Andrews McNeel Publishing says, I think this one was edited in heaven by my Nona and her son, my father. I am positively drooling over this book, and have already sent an email to my daughter strongly suggesting that this one appear in my stocking from Santa later this year (it's not due for publication until next month.)

I found many of the recipes to be familiar from my childhood, others exotic but with ingredients that had me making a market list to try them as soon as I can get my hands on the real book. In fact, my sister, who is also an excellent Italian cook, was just visiting last week, and we had a discussion over whether or not one could substitute olive oil in a cake recipe that called for vegetable oil. The recipe for Ciambellone (Tuscan Ring Cake) on page 156, left no doubt that olive oil was quite acceptable. In fact, that cake looked so good, I may just have to move my laptop to the kitchen and bake it tonite to serve with some fresh Maine blueberries. Because, you see, the secret of Cucina Povera, in fact the secret of all good Italian cooking, is to use the fresh ingredients one has on hand, to make simple, elegant, wholesome, healthy food.

The cover recipe "Pomidori, Fagioli e Cippoline" (Roasted Tomatoes, Beans and Onions) p. 135, makes me wish for a cold rainy day to come quick. My family was quite fond of our Nona's gnocci - they were her specialty. But I was quite taken with a dish I'd never seen before "Gnudi" on pg.90. Literally meaning "nudes", they are spinach and ricotta dumplings - similar to the filling found in ravioli, but without the pasta shell. On a bed of homemade tomato sauce, they would be worthy of royalty.

The book is well laid out, has an excellent index, and although the e-galley is lacking a table of contents, each section has an individual TOC. The photography is spectacular...if you had a fork and spoon, you'd feel you could dive right in. The actual recipes don't start until page 43, but you don't mind because Johns takes us on a pictorial and memory tour of the area, introducing us to locals who have been cooking and growing these foods for all their very long lives. She gives us introductions to herbal remedies handed down by the monks in a local monastery, explains why basic ingredients are so important, and how and where they're produced. In short, we get culture, history, geography and cuisine all in one small volume. It's a winner. ( )

This book is much more than a cookbook. In fact, for me, the strength of the book was not in the collection of recipes, but in the information on the foodways or food in culture of Italy. The first section of the book was devoted to a glimpse region by region of foods in that area. The illustrations for this section depicted the people. What a wonderful glimpse of the Italian culture! While the recipes are very typical of foods that would be served in Italian homes, I will probably use very few of them. I might enjoy trying stuffed squid in a restaurant, but I don't think it's something I would want often enough to create at home. To be fair, that is a rather extreme example, but overall, I felt that I would not use that many of the recipes in my own kitchen. The illustrations are marvelous, but not every dish is illustrated. This review is based on an advanced readers copy provided through NetGalley. ( )