Unplugged Kitchen: The Simple, Authentic Joys of Cooking

LaPlace (Verdura) extols the sensual rewards of cooking--and eating--simple Italian fare. In her utopian kitchen, produce from roadside markets shares space on well-worn countertops with hand-driven tools. Slicing, chopping, grinding a pestle in a mortar or turning the handle of a food mill or cheese grater are physical acts that bring the cook close to her ingredients and preclude the need for kitchen machines. Some 200 meatless recipes rely on established tradition and embrace the current vogue for simplicity. Most call for surprisingly few ingredients and preparation steps, allowing cooks to attend closely to selecting the best ingredients, to engage fully in the processes of preparation (one of which is the oft-forgotten step of tasting) and presentation. Recipes include such earthy fare as Persian Herb Pie; Red Squash and Bread Soup; Refined Artichoke and Potato Stew; Green Tomato Risotto; and Fresh Figs with Almond and Chocolate Stuffing. LaPlace's focus on simplicity revives such elementary satisfactions as a Tomato Cocktail, a Peach Sandwich or tangerines eaten with a cup of espresso. Chapter headings and brief essays scattered throughout recall how a food or dining custom transformed a routine moment into a lasting, redolent memory. This is a purist's book that is likely to reawaken for many modern cooks the essential pleasures of the basic acts of cooking. (Oct.)