Cucina Povera by Pamela Sheldon Johns

    For this reader/food lover there’s nothing more tempting or satisfying than Italian food, especially the recipes offered by Pamela Sheldon Johns in her beautifully illustrated book.  While “cucina povera” literally translated means poor kitchen these dishes are priceless!

    Jones opens with an Introduction in which Virio Neri, the cobbler of Montepulciano, is quoted as he praises the food of his youth, a childhood spent “in a time of poverty and intense hunger.”  He rhapsodizes about fava beans with a touch of sheep’s milk cheese, a simple cake.  Perhaps, the author notes, “those simple, pure flavors are harder to find now.”

    Not so, thanks to the over sixty dishes Johns has collected over the years from neighbors, friends and local food producers.  The dishes may be simple, but they are supremely satisfying such as the Gnudi, Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings served in a bath of tomato sauce or the Acquacotta, Bread, onion, and Greens soup.
  
    Photographs throughout by Andrea Wyner are gorgeous, and often evocative of happy times past.

    One of my favorite parts of a cookbook is the Resources section, which is where I discovered Gustiamo, a purveyor of the finest in Italian foods and found at www.gustiamo.com.   We used their Bucatini by Carlo and Carla Latini to make Pasta all Bricole (p.93).  This is an amazing dish, comfort food I’d call it,  topped with spicy bread crumbs, which are often called “poor man’s Parmigiano.”  Delicious!

    Pamela Sheldon Johns suggests we take pleasures in small things and eat well - eating well comes easily, simply, inexpensively with Cucina Povera.

    - Gail Cooke