A Taste of Venice: Traditional Venetian Cooking

Whether preparing a foreign feast on their home turf or an itinerary for a culinary tour of Venice, cooks will relish the regional dishes emphasized here (e.g., polenta, baked salt cod, dessert fritters). Offerings include aperitifs, hors d'oeuvres and numerous first courses. There are 30 rice and risotto recipes alone, many incorporating artichokes, scampi, rockfish, malaga-type grapes and cuttlefishwith and without ink. Main courses include kid roasted with garlic and hare Salmi. Recipes for fish and shellfish, mainstays of Venetian cooking, are yet more varied, and vegetables, sauces and desserts (almond toffees, toffee-covered nuts) round out the fare. Nordio, a chef at a Venetian hotel, also familiarizes readers with traditional holiday dishes. For cooks who have visited Venice, her pretty and practical book will rekindle thoughts of the city; for others, it will serve as a charming introduction. Nearly every page includes a watercolor illustration of the Venetian cityscape or a visual vignette of local foraging, from parsley to the Grand Canal. (Jan.)