Did you see the New York Times' Book Review two weeks ago? It was the food issue -- reviews of books about food, cookbooks, and a rambling feature that asked leading food people about their favorite out-of-print cookbooks. I was surprised by many of the books, as none were too obscure or hard to come by. Except for one -- Mario Batali's choice, Veneto in Bocca (I think this was his choice, or was it this one, Toscano in Bocca?), which was part of a series of Italian regional cook books published in Italy in the '80s in both Italian and English. Apparently Nach Waxman carries the books -- for display only, in his shop, Kitchen Arts & Letters. If you want to buy a book from the series (basically "Italian Region Name here" in Bocca) it will set you back around $135.00 via the usual bookstore suspects here).
Reading his entry made me recall a book that I have in my collection:
Yep, there it is. I was wondering about this cook book, I think I picked it up for about $10 at some random bookstore during a period when I was obsessed with Italian cuisine. I usually remember where I buy everything, so it is strange that I can't seem to recall where I picked this one up. I guess in Liguria people smoke pipes, get tattoos of fish, and walk around with parrots on their shoulders while wading in the Mediterranean. Yes, the cover really is made out of corrugated cardboard, and the illustrations are really that vulgar. What a cookbook! One of these days I've got to cook something out of it. Why don't you come over for dinner?
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