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 enlarge | Authors: Michael Chiarello, Penelope Wisner
Creator: Karl Petzke
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.49
You Save: $11.46 (46%)
New (33) Used (8) from $13.49
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 39392
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 216
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.7
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 9.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 0811863794
Dewey Decimal Number: 641
EAN: 9780811863797
ASIN: 0811863794
Publication Date: May 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
The true tale of a meat lover's conversion November 13, 2002
42 out of 43 found this review helpful
I've had the Tra Vigne Cookbook for a few years now, and I use it regularly. It's an attractive book, with beautiful photos and intriguing introductions to the recipes. It's hard to stop browsing once you open the book, and an inspiration to actually do some cooking. The dishes are great. The Chicken with Roasted Lemon and Rosemary Sauce is a favorite, as is the Fusilli Michelangelo. My niece from Thailand, for whom I made this dish several years ago, still remembers and asks for it. (Read the intro to either of these dishes and you're likely to cook them.)
The book is arranged seasonally, with chapters on essential ingredients for each season. Spring ingredients include asparagus, garlic, peas, and potatoes. Summer ingredients include corn, tomatoes, and bell peppers. And so on. I shop at a grocery store, not a farmers market, and I've had a less-than-happy relationship with vegetables since infancy, so I was skeptical of the whole seasonal-cooking thing at first. But I enjoy browsing through the new season's recipes as the year changes, and I've tried dishes and ingredients that are not usually a part of my diet. It's hard to object to broccoli when it's served in a creamy Very Green Soup sprinkled with crunchy gremolata.
It would have been nice in book a subtitled "Seasons in the California Wine Country" to have more information about wine. Few recipes actually use wine and there is no advice on what wines to pair with the food.
Despite the elegant presentations shown in the photos, none of the recipes are too difficult to try. They're just challenging enough for the amateur cook who likes to do a little more than the usual home cooking. The Tra Vigne Cookbook is a lot of fun, and the food is delicious.
give yourself a gift December 19, 2001
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
the tra vigne cookbook is going on the top shelf of my fairly extensive cookbook collection. It is definately one that I will use frequently.The photos and text are exceptionally well done,the book lies flat and the print is easy to read. the instructions are so clearly written and the information so extensive that I would not hesitate to recommend it even for novice cooks. The glossary and chef's notes are particularly helpful if you are unfamiliar with some of the methods or ingredients.I couldn't wait for spring to try the asparagus pesto....absolutely wonderful.This book is worth it's price and then some
Exquisite cooking by Seasonal Ingredient February 3, 2001
28 out of 29 found this review helpful
For long, outstanding chefs have encouraged us to shop and get the very freshest ingredients of the season, and then cook around them.Here a master chef California Wine style aids us with just such a presentation of the four seasons based on produce of that season. As I just purchased this and am in winter, tried the winter dishes and achieved spectacular results without extreme fuss. Flavors are intense and bold. Lemon-baked Sea Bass and Spinach Salad and Pumkin Polenta with Lamb Stew have certainly warmed up the winter blast at our table. Format is wide, broad book, usually flanked by full-page photo of presentation next to recipe. Love this format since it lays so wonderfully on the counter cooking and is not tiny print. This is truly a cookbook to go through the seasons with, cooking excellent, intensely flavored gourmet Italian, Meditterrean food.
the magic of chef chiarello November 6, 2000
19 out of 23 found this review helpful
some of us are lucky enough to live only several blocks away from this amazing restaurant, sit and gaze at the stars while dining in the magnificent courtyard... and be continually spoiled by chefs like Michael Chiarello and the wonderful food & wines of napa valley. If you can't be here... then this cookbook is one way of bringing the Napa Valley to your home with the incredible Italian recipes found inside. Michael is a great story teller, and a great chef. his ideas are as important as his food, and his style really comes across on each page.
Ah, que bella! August 14, 2000
39 out of 41 found this review helpful
To those already in the know, would you expect anything less from such an incredible place?Of course not. To those considering, consider no further. This book is IT! Why? Well: Superb graphic design--almost worthy of the price of admission in itself. The recipes--Absolutely perfect for implementing your own Pavlovian experiments. One almost begins salivating just thinking about the contents of the book. The difficulty (of the above)--Minimally difficult. At times, the recipes can become a bit vexing for those who have only dabbled exclusively in (a) stir-fry; (b) deep-fried anything; (c) shake n' bake; or, (d) Stouffer's. Joking aside, some of the recipes are difficult. Most however, a very well suited to the novice chef. The dialogue--Excellent. I can close my eyes and be in the courtyard...having those wonderful smells waft to and fro...the feel of the crisp air...particularly when there is that ever-so-slight chill in the air. Michael's wonderful abilities are no longer limited to the kitchen. They never were, mind you, however now others can realize that. The book will bring to mind an array of images and memories in a strikingly Steinbeck-ian, Hemingway-ian, Calvino-ian, or [insert your favorite author here]-ian way. Get this book. It, in many very real ways, is more than a book of recipes. You will enjoy it.
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