David Ruggerio's Italian Kitchen: Family Recipes from the Old Country

As he did so lovingly in Little Italy Cookbook, his joyful evocation of Italian-American neighborhoods and cooking, David Ruggerio, multistarred chef, restaurateur, and television personality, invites you into the kitchen--this time to the family kitchens of the old country, Naples and Sicily.

The son of a Neapolitan mother and a Sicilian father, Ruggerio is 100 percent Italian: Neapolitan in emotion--passionate and fun-loving--and Sicilian in character--deep and soulful. From these contrasting strains comes David Ruggerio's Italian Kitchen, a family album filled with more than 150 recipes: lamb roasted with the Mediterranean's finest olives, chicken baked in clay, fish roasted in a paper bag, Aunt Philomena's pasta with sardines, the famous Sunday gravy, Easter sweet rolls. Stunning photographs of food, family, and countryside, along with charming stories of old country traditions, make David Ruggerio's Italian Kitchen the heart and soul of old country family cooking.

Oh yes, my friends, at one point in David's life, he was a much-celebrated celebrity chef. David honed my culinary skills in France at several of the country's leading restaurants. Among them, the Hotel Negresco with Jacques Maximin; Moulin de Mougins with Roger Verge; Les Pres d'Eugenie with the mythic Michel Guerard, and l'Auberge du Pont de Collonges with the iconic Paul Bocuse. David was honored in 1995 by noted vintner Robert Mondavi as one of the best thirteen Rising Star Chef in America, in the first year of this national awards program.

Ruggerio's experience also includes being the chef and partner of Pierre Cardin's New York Maxims. Yes, that's the same Pierre Cardin with cologne and everything else in the world! With Cardin, David was instrumental in the expansion of Maxim as a brand in restaurants and hotels. David was also the executive chef of the famed Le Caravelle ( David was only 25 at the time-go and figure) and executive chef and owner of Park Avenue's Le Chantilly. All three restaurants received numerous national accolades. 

Ruggerio authored two acclaimed cookbooks, "Little Italy with David Ruggerio" and "David Ruggerio's Italian Kitchen." David hosted my own PBS cooking series; "Little Italy with David Ruggerio." and went on to host my own cooking series on TV Food Network entitled "Ruggerio To Go"(check out some of the episodes on David's YouTube channel, they'll make you smile).

Ruggerio has a wonderfully scary upcoming horror novel entitled; "A Wistful Tale of Gods, Men, and Monsters, which will be released on Halloween Eve of 2019. Could you pick a better day to release a horror novel? Boo!

For more about David Ruggerio, his ongoing escapades, and upcoming events and give-aways please visit his personal website: 
davidruggerio.com