Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, University of Toronto Press 2003. ISBN 0-8020-8657-8. This is not a sit down and read start to finish type book. So I read out of it every morning to inspire and give colour to my day - I presume like some people read the Bible.

I totally appreciated the explanation of the frog's entire life cycle in the recipe for Frog soup. Very insightful, as long as do not over think this! Artus's book stands with Manzon's great novel, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed), and the music of Verdi as works that not only are great unto themselves but represented a sense of identity and self-worth to a nascent country with no nationalistic feeling ... Artusi chose to give Italians their definition by telling them how they ate ... Anyone who seeks to know Italian food avoids Artusi at his or her peril. He is the fountainhead of modern Italian cookery.' - Fred Plotkin - Gastronomica Artusi's book stands with Manzoni's great novel, " I Promessi Sposi "(The Betrothed), and the music of Verdi as works that not only are great unto themselves but represented a sense of identity and self-worth to a nascent country with no nationalistic feeling ? Artusi chose to give Italians their definition by telling them how they ate ? Anyone who seeks to know Italian food avoids Artusi at his or her peril. He is the fountainhead of modern Italian cookery.?--Fred Plotkin "Gastronomica " His most famous work is La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiare bene ("The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well"). The title is clearly of a positivist bent; Artusi worshipped progress and the scientific method, which he used in his book. He was also an admirer of the physiologist Paolo Mantegazza. His book, in fact, can be considered a "scientifically tested" manual: every recipe was the result of trials and experiments. Skip to a dinner I was having with friends ten years ago whereI asked them as we ate, “So, most of the industrialpasta that we cookwithis made of semolina flour and water, right?” They nodded their heads. I follow this up,“So, the recipe is same for all the pasta we eat—be it spaghetti or spaghettini or fettuccini or orecchiette, etc?” And they all agreedit was. And then the controversial question: “So what is the difference in the pasta? I mean it’s the same recipe, so it’s the same taste, right?” An uproar ensued, hands in the air, “ Ma cosa dici?” and there I was in the midst of a new cooking lesson.

The dishes described are authentic, largely easy to follow and still feel modern - many are still cooked the same way, to this day. But what sets it apart is the tone. The author befriends you from the outset - so good-natured, with gentle humour - and continues to endear himself with little tales and stories around each of the recipes.

Once in Livorno, Artusi went to a restaurant to have dinner. After eating minestrone, he decided to rent a room in the building belonging to a man called Domenici. As Artusi would later recount, he spent the whole night suffering from horrible stomach pains, which he blamed on the minestrone he had eaten. The next day, returning to Florence, he got the news that Livorno had been hit by cholera and that Domenici had been a victim. It was only then that he realized what had happened: it had not been the minestrone that made him ill, but the early symptoms of the disease. The event inspired Artusi to write an excellent recipe for minestrone.Pellegrino Artusi (1820-1911) was an Italian businessman and writer and is credited world-wide as the Inventor of Italian Cuisine. Originally a silk merchant, Artusi brought his passion for science, health, and food to the entire nation of Italy. Da "grande" ho provato tutte le ricette dei dolci (una passione comune, oltre alla scrittura e alla lettura).

But where does Ragù come from and where do its two most famous versions (the Neapolitan one and the Bolognese one) come from? Ragù, even if famous, was still considered a meat dish with sauce, and this is how Puccini remembers it in his Bohème. Although provolone is not mentioned in the article, you can find “Provolone Valpadana DOP” on the published map just south of Piacenza. One of the defining documents of what it means to be Italian.?--John Allemang "The Globe and Mail " Our client is a forward thinking well-recognised luxury... C&M Travel Recruitment Ltd: Business development managerFirst published in 1891, Pellegrino Artusi's La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangier bene has come to be recognized as the most significant Italian cookbook of modern times. It was reprinted thirteen times and had sold more than 52,000 copies in the years before Artusi's death in 1910, with the number of recipes growing from 475 to 790. And while this figure has not changed, the book has consistently remained in print. Although Artusi was himself of the upper classes and it was doubtful he had ever touched a kitchen utensil or lit a fire under a pot, he wrote the book not for professional chefs, as was the nineteenth-century custom, but for middle-class family cooks: housewives and their domestic helpers. His tone is that of a friendly advisor - humorous and nonchalant. He indulges in witty anecdotes about many of the recipes, describing his experiences and the historical relevance of particular dishes. Artusi's masterpiece is not merely a popular cookbook; it is a landmark work in Italian culture. This English edition (first published by Marsilio Publishers in 1997) features a delightful introduction by Luigi Ballerini that traces the fascinating history of the book and explains its importance in the context of Italian history and politics. The illustrations are by the noted Italian artist Giuliano Della Casa. Soup is only as good as the Sofrito" this is not only true of soup but also of life. Select every ingredient with attention, prepare it with your soul, add some good music and you can be sure to have a dish that will not only fill you, it will also satisfy. La Scienza in Cucina is more than just a cookbook. Pellegrino Artusi read widely, corresponded with the intellectuals of his day, and had something to say about just about everything. Almost half the recipes contain anecdotes or snippets of advice on subjects as varied as regional dialects and public health, and while cooks may open the book to find out how to make minestrone or a German cake, they northern Italy in the 1840s were like. While today his comments are merely interesting, at the turn of the century they undoubtedly provided the first glimpses of the outside world to many of his readers who lived in small towns and had neither the means nor the opportunity to travel. I'm constantly fascinated at how these 125-year-old recipes are still perfectly useful in today's kitchen. A good, trustworthy classic doesn’t need any alterations, variations, or remakes—when a good thing works well, there’s integrity in passing it down as is and upholding traditions. As Italians say in true Italian fashion, " La squadra che vince non si cambia": Don’t change a winning team.