The Tra Vigne Cookbook - Hardcover

Chiarello, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0811819868 ISBN 13: 9780811819862

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 1999

Synopsis

People the world over come to California's wine country for a taste of the good life. They find it in abundance at Napa Valley's celebrated Tra Vigne restaurant (the name is Italian for "among the vines"), where an enchanting vineyard setting and chef Michael Chiarello's robust Italian dishes make for an unforgettable dining experience. Now, Chiarello takes readers behind the scenes at the restaurant, sharing recipes and reminiscences inspired by his years at Tra Vigne and the good Italian cooking of his family. The Tra Vigne Cookbook celebrates the natural beauty and abundance of the Napa Valley with a passionate gastronomic journey through the changing seasons. In addition to seasonal delights like roasted asparagus, lemon-braised artichokes, and pumpkin polenta, home cooks will discover the secrets for Tra Vigne classics such as herb gnocchi with braised lamb shanks and wild mushrooms, crunchy fritto misto with tomato vinegar, rich and crumbly Italian holiday cookies, and a decadent chocolate tiramisł. With lush photographs and a strikingly contemporary design, The Tra Vigne Cookbook is a must-have cookbook this fall.

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About this title

Review:

"The closer your cooking stays to the seasons, the simpler--and better--your cooking will be." Michael Chiarello's mom told him that as he stood beside her at the stove, learning what a real Italian tomato sauce looks, smells, and sounds like as it cooks. Those lessons led him into the chef's life and his own restaurant in the heart of California's wine country, Tra Vigne. So it should come as no surprise that the subtitle of his lush cookbook, The Tra Vigne Cookbook is Seasons in the California Wine Country. And such is the organizing principle. Not only are the sections of the book divided into the four seasons, but the subsets include four ingredients key to each season: asparagus or garlic in spring, for example, or mushrooms and eggplant in fall.

Chiarello describes his own cooking style as "combining spectacular ingredients, professional technique, and imaginative presentations." He shows how to take this into your own home kitchen, in word and technique. A lot of the exceptional flavors he is able to muster come from the flavor enhancers he has put up in his pantry through the seasons--the flavored olives, the dried figs. To read his section on the pantry is to yearn for a dark, cool basement. "Take the time when you have it in order to reap the rewards later when you don't," Chiarello encourages.

The Tra Vigne Cookbook is a carefully layered dish of family reminiscence, tech tips, master recipes, and heartfelt yearnings for the seasons and the way they pass outside the windows of a country restaurant, the way they feel on the skin, the way they taste and smell. It's about attitude. Chiarello grabs it all and makes it accessible. The Tra Vigne Cookbook is a large-format, elegant book you will want to leave open on the table to flip through. Let your attention get caught up in it and carried away. Chiarello stays with the seasons, and his accomplishment is simpler and better as a result. And therein lies a world of glorious, flavorful complexity. --Schuyler Ingle

About the Author:

Michael Chiarello -- chef and owner of the acclaimed Tra Vigne restaurant in the Napa Valley -- is the creator of Consorzio, a popular line of flavored oils and vinegars.

Penelope Wisner is the co-author, with Michael Chiarello of Chronicle's Flavored Oils (over 40,000 copies sold).

Karl Petzke is the co-author, with Sara Slavin, of the award-winning book Espresso and is the photographer for Pears (both from Chronicle Books).

About this edition

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0811819868
• ISBN 13: 9780811819862
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208