Gina DePalma: Dolce Italiano

By JULIETTE ROSSANT It would be hard to find a more competent guide through the intricacies of Italian desserts than Gina DePalma. Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen (Norton 2007) explores the fragmented geography of Italy through its regional specialties. This book is uniquely suited to home cooking because it came out of the Babbo's kitchen, tiny, cramped kitchen. Even if you have tons of counter space, this cookbook is useful in terms of focusing you on what things taste like rather than what they look like. Gina's search for intensity of flavor is at the heart of Italian cuisine. Don't skip the introduction: The term "seasonality" has become a cliché in the ever-spinning cosmos of professional cooking; too often it is a trendy, convenient way of stating the obvious. Efficient use of what the surrounding landscape provides is common to every world cuisine, even American cooking. Italy does not own this concept. (p. 5) Good to keep in mind in today's world with talk of locally-sourced ingredients starting to sound like a mantra. What distinguishes Italian desserts in my mind–and my heart–is the particularly vivid sense of history, religion, culture, and locale that accompanies them. There seems to be a story, a quirky name, or a celebration for nearly everything Italians eat, and I find this sense of time and place in food mesmerizing. (p. 5) The same could, arguably, be said for Chinese or Turkish cuisine or many others, but Gina's deep appreciation and knowledge of those association is what counts here. She is a guide to making dishes with meaning. Her own experience, elaborated in the introduction, begins with her Calabrese mother and grandmother, and her tiny Babbo kitchen in New York. It is typical to find in cookbooks a section about how to use the book and what to stock in your pantry. Gina goes further. She includes an excellent essay called Learning Italian (p. 12) in which she discusses Italian regions, DOP and IGP designations, roughly equivalent to the French Appellation d'Origine Controlee or AOC, and Ten Italian Ingredients You Should Know (p. 15) from Ricotta to Sweet Wines or Vini Dolci. Cookies or Biscotti recipes come first, just in time for holiday baking and sharing. The recipes range from Babbo classics like Chocolate Kisses (pp. 44-45), two chocolate cookies sandwiched with ganache–don't even think Oreo–to Polenta Cookies from the Veneto (pp. 58-59). The headnotes are full of personal history and ingredient notes. Gina favors lemon in many of her creations–so lemon-lovers rejoice. After Christmas, Gina suggests baking La Befana's Stars (pp. 70-71), a special cookie for the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th. The story of La Befana follows the recipe. The stars are flavored with anisette and covered with multicolored sprinkles to represent the Star of Bethlehem. On the cover of Dolce Italiano is a slice of rich Honey and Pine Nut Tart (p. 145). It turns out to be Babbo's most popular dessert. So, instead of making an American pecan pie this Christmas, try this rich yet thin tart and celebrate Italy instead. Previous articles: Mario Batali Tailgates NASCAR STYLE Mario Batali: Molto Italiano [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef