Marcella Cucina focuses on the source recipes from the markets and homes of Italy's diverse regions. With a masterly touch, Marcella covers all the bases from Antipasti to Dolci, including a guide to shopping for ingredients and a primer in the elements of taste. Recipes include a wide range of both classic and little-known dishes, from crisply elegant frico, a sort of lacy cheese pancake, to a special Sardinian clam soup with couscous; from crackling panroasted rabbit with herbs, walnuts, and olives to a Piedmontese apple timbale fragrant with cinnamon and cloves. Though rich in flavor, the dishes are marked by a simple utilitarian approach relying on the freshest seasonal ingredients -- the hallmark of classic Italian cooking.

Filled with lush color photos and the definitive commentary of the doyenne of Italian cooking, Marcella Cucina is a celebration of the flavor and texture of Italy. It is truly the masterwork of a living culinary legend.