I have a great creole/French to English cookbook I bought in the Lesser Antilles which makes almost every local dish comprehensible. I was wondering if anyone knows of a similar cookbook to make understanding what I am ordering in Italy clear? I just love good food.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5833 posts
I assume that you want to look at these before you go as opposed to carrying around on your trip. If you are looking for more of a translator, these won't do.
Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" is an excellent northern Italian cookbook.
The Silver Spoon is a very large (1000+ pages) Italian cookbook that was recently translated into English. I've heard it referred to as the 'Joy of Cooking of Italy'.
You might try to see if your local library has these.
Posted by
OP
Cape Cod, MA, USA
3 posts
Thanks for the cookbook recommendations. I will look into them. The more I think about it what would really be helpful would be a sort of menu dictionary where a large host of Italian dishes would have an English translation so that when I read Melanzae Alla Parmigian on a menu I would know that it is eggplant parmesan. This would really be beneficial if it included all the different types of fish translated into English as to name of fish and how it is prepared.
Posted by
nederland, colorado, usa
127 posts
in that light: when i was in Naples, i grabbed what i thought was a crab cake a the outside vendor of a restaurant..it was spaghetti!! i went back for more, and asked what it was : after many false translations, it is "frittata de spaghetti"..i looked all over the internet, and although i DID find some recipies, it just wasn't what i had..if anyone knows what i am referring to, and the real authentic recipie found in naples, please let me know!!![it was fantastic]