Marcella Hazan has died. I have long loved her books and her manner of cooking, beginning years back when I took a copy of The Essentials on a long train trip and found myself reading it like a novel. I propose to dive back into her lovely books and cook some of her good food in tribute to a great lady. Want to join me?
I have always considered her Essentials the only Italian cookbook you really need to have. Furthermore, as a cookbook it is a model of the instructional type regardless of cuisine.
I am so ignorant -- I had not heard of her before I came across her obit in the NYT. But her obit I read with fascination. I'll be looking for her books now, and considering her books as good candidates for our cooking club!
My cooking club is still going strong, and I decided we would use Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking". So far, one of my friends has selected her recipe for tripe!
I have to say of all the choices, tripe would not be mine! There are several of her cakes I'll be making -- two old favorites and one I've never tried before.
I've never cooked tripe but I've eaten it and it can indeed be delicious. It's a bit like tofu, not intrinsically very interesting but can be combined with all sorts of yummy ingredients. It has a bad reputation from the traditional English style, which involves white sauce and can be disgusting!