cover image La Tavola Italiana: A Regional Guide to the Classic Cuisines of Italy with Over 235 Recipes and Recommendations . . .

La Tavola Italiana: A Regional Guide to the Classic Cuisines of Italy with Over 235 Recipes and Recommendations . . .

Tom Maresca, Thomas E. Maresca. William Morrow & Company, $22.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-688-06629-1

Lucid directions and brief, pointed wine suggestions accompany an enticing assortment of Italian homestyle recipes. The fare is organized by broad geographic regions. The ""bold and forthright'' Northern dishes include tortellini with Bolognese meat sauce, lamb with fresh horseradish, duck braised in Barolo, broiled tuna steaks with fennel and sage-scented tea bread. Garlic bread with tomatoes, linguine with clam sauce, veal scallops with prosciutto, chicken liver and anchovies, potato gnocchi with tomato sauce and hazelnut macaroons are items on the Central Italian menu. The flavors of the South, which the husband-and-wife authors (he wrote Mastering Wine and she is a food and travel writer) call ``light, bright, and vivid,'' appear in rigatoni with ricotta and sausage, eggplant baked with mozzarella, veal marsala and zabaglione. Illustrations not seen by PW. (February 23)